Business E-mail Etiquette Includes Reading?

Having a bunch of Web sites means every single day I get e-mails from folks who do not want to take their time to read the information I provide. In fact, part of E-mail Etiquette includes doing just that! Taking the time to read the information that is available 24/7 or provided to/for you on a Web site, eZine, in an e-mail or order acknowledgment is simply common courtesy.

Who would have thought a mere decade ago that so much information would be at one’s figure tips? In some cases — too much information! That said, for the information we seek out, request or are provided based on our online activities, one should at the very least take the the time to review it. Are we now so rushed, so busy, so lazy we don’t want to take the time to read? Seems so…

This post is prompted by two situations on both sides of fence that I experienced today that I want to share with you and get you input too. One as a service provider and the other as a customer.

In the first instance I had a consulting client e-mail with questions that are clearly addressed in detail in my Terms of Service all clients are asked to review. This concerned me as the issues brought up are clearly covered (in detail and to his satisfaction based on the questions asked) but the client’s e-mail had a bit an accusatory tone assuming contrary to what my policies stated.

The second instance, as a customer, was an experience I had yesterday where I e-mailed for support to a company I partner with. It took 24 hours to get a response asking me for my security key before they could answer my question in regard to a availability of a certain functionality. That security key was in fact included in my original e-mail — and every support request I send includes that info to avoid just this type of delay. When I pointed out the security key was in fact in my original request, it took another 24 hours to advise the functionality I was looking for was not available. Sheesh.

In both these cases, these individuals reflected a lack of attention to detail and/or laziness in not taking the necessary time to review what had previously been provided to them before they asked additional questions that unnecessarily took up both of our time to cover — again.

Technology, when used properly is an excellent tool to increase efficiency and productivity. But one has to make the effort to use it in properly so that they don’t cause those they communicate with to become as inefficient as they are.

What do you think these situations say about customers who don’t read and accuse, and service providers that don’t read a full request causing unnecessary delay? To me these are red flags as to how each runs their business. What say you?

Some More Info for You:

1. The “Need” for Business E-mail Etiquette?
2. Business E-mail Etiquette = $$$
3. Business E-mail Etiquette: The One Thing That Matters
4. Business E-mail Etiquette and Percpetions