It's Not Flattering Being Chicken Little | Business Email Etiquette

I talk about perceptions all the time when it comes to your use of technology. For business success in general on or off-line, how you are perceived when the #&$* hits the fan, gives those who do business with you a window into how you handle challenges and unexpected situations.

Today I had the pleasure of helping someone who was having issues getting their e-mail on their “crackberry”. And, boy to say they were acting like they needed a fix is an understatement! They were truly in a tizzy!

Another person claimed their mail wasn’t working at all and it was their “Web site’s fault”. Well, that’s not really how it works, but I troubleshooted the claim and found no problems. But panic had already set in and “everyone will think I am out of business!”. Wow…

Technology is not perfect. Things do not work perfectly all the time. Sites will experience problems. There is no 100% uptime guarantee with anything technology. It is what it is. Understand that and accept it.

When disruptions happen know there are a bunch of techs feverishly working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. I’ve never experienced otherwise. And each hoop they jump through is different than the last and a new challenge. The sending of nasty e-mails doesn’t resolve the situation any faster.

There are going to be hiccups and interruptions in service. There are going to be times where you will have to reflect patience, decorum and courtesy while those in a position to try and help you do just that.

Jumping to send accusatory e-mails is not the way to go right out of the gate. But my experience shows that is exactly what many do.

Next time you have an e-mail hiccup, handle the down time with grace. Do something else — I don’t believe for a minute you are relegated to “not leaving your house” because you don’t have your Blackberry! Nor do I believe that if your e-mail experiences interruptions that your business will fail, the sky will fall and it is the end of days.

And I bet when you come back from accomplishing other tasks everything will be fine and working as it should.

So the next time your crackberry has trouble retrieving your e-mail, or you experience and e-mail interruption — don’t become Chicken Little. Take a break, work on that new marketing plan, go for a walk in the park — take a long deep breath.

It will be O.K., honest, because tomorrow is another day!