Business Email Etiquette & Website Forms
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Having several websites, I receive inquiries daily. Some appear not to be from a business professional. But it turns out they are. Or do they think they are?
These are folks who are asking questions or seeking my professional assistance. Yet, I can’t help but wonder how successful their business is, or how successful it could be, based on their communication style.
All of my sites are professional. They are not hobby sites or blogs discussing food or the latest trends. You know, the topics that are naturally more informal.
There are two websites about Email Etiquette, and then there is my primary WordPress Consulting website. All are sites where professional communications would be a given.
Does Email Etiquette apply to web forms?
Ironically, on this site about “Business Email Etiquette,” many inquiries are about The Basics. Questions whose answers are covered in the article I just linked to and are at the top of every page in the navigation.
The majority are seeking my point of view about something a business contact is doing or a situation that happened at work. They are not really interested in Business Email Etiquette overall. Instead, they hope I’ll back them up and provide that “gotcha!” moment.
How do I know this?
As they look to Email Etiquette to resolve the situation that has upset them, they do not use Email Etiquette to ask an Email Etiquette expert about it! You would think that if you email the creator of an email etiquette website, you would try to reflect some email etiquette.
My over 30 years of experience have proven, time and again, that those who communicate via website forms without regard to professionalism are not profitable customers. There is a strong and validated correlation.
Will the site owner want to do business with you?
Business Email Etiquette also applies to completing business-related website forms, whether contacting new suppliers, partners, or associates, or just inquiring about the services and products you need to run your business.
How you approach a website owner, the words you use, and the skills and education you choose to display will determine how the recipient of your inquiry perceives you as a potential partner or customer.
An Example that Doesn’t Impress
I used to offer writers the opportunity to create guest posts for this website. At the time, there were some basic guest post guidelines and a specific form for those inquiries. I even had a link on my main contact form that said, “If you are interested in guest posting,” with a link to follow to get those specifics.
That worked so well that I no longer accept guest posts on this website, as I spent too much time weeding through inquiries that had no topical synergy with this site. And for those articles where the topics could work, the drafts didn’t follow the guidelines I posted for guest articles.
I now state that I do not accept guest posts, but I still get tons of email inquiries about guest posting. Ugh. I don’t even respond anymore. If you ignore the content on my site, I will return the favor by ignoring your question.
Or how about those who contact me asking who they should contact in my “organization”? If you read my “About” page, you will know it is just me.
These inquiries indicate that the sender’s focus is purely on self-interest. They do not care to show me, the site owner, the courtesy of reading the basics offered on my site. Instead, they head to the contact link, click it, and start typing.
Use Your Opportunity to Impress
When making first contact through a business website form, you have the opportunity to impress and encourage a response to your inquiry. However, when you type in all lowercase, do not spell-check and make demands based solely on the premise that you “are the customer”; that won’t encourage the response you are looking for.
Or when you complete a form, making it clear you didn’t even bother to search the site first (or read the text on the form page you just completed), realize that some website owners may choose not to encourage you to become a customer, partner, or affiliate by not responding to your request.
Technology is nothing if not a bunch of details, knowledge, and skills we must embrace and execute to accomplish our goals. So, to think that not communicating correctly, with knowledge, understanding, and courtesy when it comes to your business website form requests is a lack of judgment, your competitors will thank you for.
