Cc: and BCc: Reply Expectations

I get asked about this all the time — 4 times this week so far. What is expected of you when your name is either in the Cc: field or you are BCc:’d on an e-mail?

Here are some considerations:

• Cc: notes you are being FYI’d. And only Cc: those who need to be in the know. You only need to respond if you have something to add or that is relevant to the original message. And, only reply back to those who need to be aware of your comment(s). If the others in the Cc: field would not benefit or do not need to know the content of your reply, remove their e-mail addresses before doing so. Make a point of using your discretion here.
• If Cc:’d , hitting Reply To All is rarely prudent and in most cases does not lend to efficient e-mail communications. There are times when it is not necessary for “all” to be aware of your response. On an aside… Refrain from using Reply to All to CYA. Using Reply to All in this manner can lead to you appearing trivial and may backfire causing your e-mails to not be taken as seriously.
• BCc: notes you are being FYI’d without others knowledge and no rely is necessary or expected. Here again, BCc: with proper intentions. Never BCc: to expose others to unrelated or sensitive e-mails without the recipient’s knowledge or to be a e-mail tattle-tail (eTattler). This too can reflect negatively on your lack of professionalism in the workplace.

As is usually the case, we are talking about thinking before doing; and only doing for all the right reasons. Minimizing e-mail volume by only replying and sending to those who are necessary to the conversation at hand will always have your e-mails taken more seriously. With the added benefit of being viewed as a courteous and professional communicator.

How to Check Your E-mail Spamminess

Being I’ve posted about how your e-mail can be blocked if you do spammy things. Outside of following my recommendations, a bunch of folks have e-mailed me privately that they still are experiencing their e-mails being blocked. That means they are still sending spammy e-mails.

Over the past year, I’ve experienced even my plain text, no graphics or attachment e-mails getting blocked by the other side because I inadvertently did something spammy.

In my case, it was usually the original e-mail I was responding to that was spammy to start with (way formatted, had an embedded graphic, etc.) that took my reply right with it — blocked!

The fact remains that e-mail is not a brochure nor was it ever meant to be a fancily fonted graphically enhanced message. Although the temptation is there because the tools to do so are available in your e-mail program, if you are serious about your e-mail getting through, you need to be a “plain Jane” so to speak.

Why would formatting, embedding and such tools exist if they are now causing so many legitimate e-mails from getting through the network? Well, the answer is simple. Back in the day who would have thought that commercialism would so corrupt this communication tool is such a way as to necessitate the need to start blocking spammers. Heck, the word spam used to mean luncheon meat!

When it comes to business, it is best you type your e-mail properly from head to toe while being concise and clear about your message without having to rely on any formatting, caps or embedded graphics. And if you really want to get your e-mails through, plain text is the way to go. Forget about all those buttons in your e-mail program!

I’ve typed about this topic before here on my Blog, but many ignore my advice because they still want their photo, their logo, all their social media buttons or that fancy colored font to be seen in their business e-mails. Fine… then know you risk your e-mail getting blocked. You simply can’t have it both ways.

If you do get an e-mail returned due to “policy reasons” you know the system on the other side picked up on something spammy within your e-mail. You can check to see what that may be by using this free tool online that checks the content of your e-mail called ContentChecker.

And for those who didn’t catch my article on the topic yet, give it a read now and ensure your e-mails get through to their intended parties: Are You Spammy?.

Business E-mail and Grammar

E-mail is simply communicating with the written word. We are not born with these skills or education. Our writing skills are provided to us as we go through grade school for the basics, high school for more instruction and on to college.

Take it from me — this is a perpetual effort. I learn new things about how to write and use the English language properly on a regular basis. Site visitors e-mail me pointing out my errors with some being more kind than others. But regardless, I learn and apply and am always open to continuing that journey.

Proper grammar is so important to being understood, to providing a positive impression and to helping you excel so you are perceived as professional educated and credible communicator. Someone potential customers trust and want to do business with!
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