Professionals Do Not Forward E-mails Without Comment

Almost daily I receive a business e-mails that are forwarded without any comment from the Sender. Am I to take action? Do you have a question? Is your time more important than mine that you don’t feel you need to take the time to type a nice greeting, a simple sentence or two in regard to why you are forwarding that information and what you would like me to do with it?

In the course of going through this morning’s e-mails through my WordPress Consulting company, I received four such forwards today. All four, I assume, want me to do something with the information within the e-mail. But if I assume incorrectly — and that has happened — about what they want me to do (or more accurately assume I would do), I’ve wasted my time.

Unfortunately, if I assume incorrectly from the client’s point of view, I am not to charge for my time to redo what it is they really wanted that they didn’t take the time to verbalize. So, as a policy, I do not consider forwarded e-mails a “work order” or direction to do what I assume should be done and to charge accordingly.

I’ve had that happen in the past. “I didn’t know you would do all that…” or “I didn’t know what was involved…” because I took action based on the e-mail they forwarded with no comment or direction. That’s where including comments like: “Hey, Judith — can you check this out and let me know what is involved? Thanks for your help!” works wonders. Heck, it took me only a couple seconds to type that!

In most cases, I consider forwards without comments and FYI — to be filed away for future reference. If the topic is that which I know requires immediate action, to avoid any possible misunderstanding, I then send a follow-up e-mail asking for specific direction. An e-mail that could have been avoided if the Sender had just taken the time — and courtesy — to let me know why they were forwarding and what they wanted me to do.

The moral of this story is something many seem to forget. Part of business e-mail etiquette is not just thinking about how time strapped you are at the moment. It includes thinking about the person on the other side — who, by the way — may be just as time strapped as you are.

Business professionals know that no one person’s time is more valuable than another persons. You build solid business relationships by not being “all about me” but by considering the other side and reflecting that by taking the time necessary to type a simple sentence or two to ensure your requests or inquiries are explained and understood.

How do you handle e-mails that are forwarded to you without any comment as to why they are being forwarded to you?

No E-mail Etiquette; No Response?

Who needs Business E-mail Etiquette? Each and every person who is online using technology for commercial gain — that’s who! Business onliners e-mail me daily wondering why they do not receive responses to inquiries when their inquiries to me do not even include the very basics that can lend to their credibility and legitimacy.

Business E-mail Etiquette is simply a set of guidelines that help you to:

1. Use technology properly so you don’t look as though you are fish out of water and so that you are taken seriously. Don’t make these efforts and you will be perceived as uneducated, lazy and inconsiderate.
2. Understand that regardless of how you run your life — your business e-mail is not all about you and what you are willing to do or not when using it. By having that attitude you show no concern for the person on the other side. You really need to think about how your e-mail activities and efforts (or lack thereof) will impact those you communicate with.
3. Communicate with clarity and courtesy so that you are a pleasure to communicate with so folks don’t cringe when they see your name in their inbox! And, believe me — they do cringe!

There are still a great many online for business who by virtue of their e-mail activities, are perceived as though they didn’t make it out of grade school. Their e-mails are demanding and terse because they refuse to integrate simple courtesies that only take a moment to include. Mention this to them and all you get is more of the same.

I had a site visitor e-mail me just this week with this same dilemma stating she would no longer respond to coworkers who e-mailed her without any basic business e-mail etiquette. I understand her frustration, however, on the job you cannot ignore coworkers — lead by example and show them how to e-mail properly knowing you are doing the right thing.

The fact there are folks who feel courtesy is not important in their e-mails speaks volumes as to what they will be like to communicate with. Professionals take the time, make the time to be courteous.

If you are going to e-mail a Business E-mail Etiquette site — you need to be on your best behavior.

If you are going to e-mail any site or person that doesn’t know you in regard to your business, believe me it behooves you to do so in a professional manner.

How do you handle business e-mail etiquette resistant e-mailers? Do you correct them, do you ignore them?

[Updated: 01.07.10]

Business E-mail Etiquette is Not All That Complicated

E-mail Etiquette, especially when it comes to business communications, seems to be gaining in popularity and officially seems to have a bandwagon. Based on the number of “experts” and materials popping up on a daily basis one could think E-mail Etiquette is now actually mainstream. Some write based on experience, while others are simply trying to piecemeal the available information online to try and make a buck.

I am encouraged that so many are writing about these issues regardless of their motives. Even more so from the input and great comments I get here and on NetManners.com from site visitors from around the globe.

What sort of amazes me is how difficult some of these folks seem to want to make Business E-mail Etiquette seem. We need courses and training sessions and seminars all for, if you really think about it, issues we learned in grade school when it comes to written communications. The fact is Business E-mail Etiquette isn’t rocket science. It is basically just a tad of knowledge, a bit of courtesy then combined with a dash of discretion.

The knowledge part is easy, read this site, or join my free e-mail etiquette services and you are informed. The next step is to apply that knowledge by not just thinking of yourself — while using your discretion. Ah, but there’s the rub…

You can’t teach discretion — and it’s subjective.

discretion –noun

1.	the power or right to decide or act according to one’s own judgment; freedom of judgment or choice

2.	the quality of being discreet, esp. with reference to one’s own actions or speech; prudence or decorum

No matter how many books or sites you read, discretion requires you stop and think about what you are doing, how you are dong it, if it is appropriate and if it takes into consideration the current situation and the person on the other side. That’s the courtesy part that is so hard to find in our narcissistic culture.

There is a healthy portion of folks that no matter how much they hear or read about Business E-mail Etiquette, they will still choose to ignore it and do their own thing anyway. (I have clients who have been with me for over a decade who prove this point.) No amount of money spent, no class, no book or Web site will change that.

Between my two main sites that have been online longer than most, I’ve got all the bases covered for you if you are serious about learning about the issues important to your online success. Spend some time in my E-mail Etiquette articles area. Read up on those topics that site visitors asked I address in detail — I bet you’ll find some of the dilemmas you deal with are covered there. You’ll find this information will also apply to your day to day business e-mail communications as well.

If you have a topic that I haven’t covered in my articles and you would like to see me do so here on this Blog, feel free to comment below or to let me know.

For over a decade I’ve been here to here to help you get the information you need to understand Business E-mail Etiquette — from your point of view. Based on what you tell me is important and what you struggle with.

E-mail Etiquette is not a profit concern for me; getting the information and tips you need is my priority. I hope I’ve helped and plan on being here for you in the years ahead long after the bandwagon has pulled off the road.

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