I understand that I come from a different perspective than most. If I’m not sitting in front of my computer, there’s a good chance that I’m either on my tablet or on my smartphone. In any case, I have near-instant access to my e-mail at any given time and, somewhat unfairly, I’ve come to expect nearly everyone else to be the same. I also have come to expect prompt replies.
Did You Read It Yet?
You see, it’s not really enough just to read your e-mail. Yes, I understand that constantly checking for messages can severely stunt your productivity, but there is also no way for the sender to know that you have successfully received and read the message. They don’t know if you’ve had a chance to read it. They don’t know if you’re already acting on what was in the message, so they’re left in limbo. They’re left wondering.
And for me, especially given the business that I am in, I feel that you should be prompt with your e-mail too. This does not mean that I expect you to have a full reply for me if the inquiry is more complex in nature. If you don’t know the answer to a question, that’s fine; you should, however, reply if only to confirm receipt of the message. Let the person know that you got the e-mail and that you will be working on it.
Words Lost in Limbo
As many tips and tricks as there may be to sorting through e-mail and better managing the messages, there is still nothing out there that can reliably tell the sender that the recipient has successfully received the message. Even if the message doesn’t “bounce” back, it could have been filtered away in a rarely-checked folder. And that leaves the sender confused and possibly worried.
In the business of freelancing, an ongoing concern is the possibility of the amazing disappearing client. You do the work, you submit it for feedback, and you hear nothing back. Meanwhile, you become concerned that you may not get paid too. Just as the freelancer should take certain steps when preparing for a vacation (like letting his clients know he’ll be away), I feel that clients should have the same responsibility if there are still active projects on the virtual table.
Diligence and Common Courtesy
Now, I’m not saying that you need to reply to every e-mail. There’s no sense in replying to spam messages, newsletters and general updates that don’t require a response, but if there are actionable items that need to be addressed, a prompt reply is always appreciated. Think about an analogous situation in real life. If someone approached you in person and asked a question, would you stare at them blankly? Would you turn your back and walk away? Even if you didn’t know the answer, wouldn’t you simply tell them such?
Put all parties involved at ease. Be prompt with your e-mail. It’s common courtesy.
Sooo…. did you get my email?
Hi Michael,
I know how you feel and it’s good to be reminding people of the importance of not letting the email senders of very legitimate emails hang up in the air waiting for a reply.
This goes both for personal and business emails that need a prompt reply. But all that can be expected is basically more of the same. I find that it’s definitely not getting better as people are more and more overloaded with information and the ease of communication and the growing ways and multiplying devices to communicate with seem to actually make it harder to reach people than ever before.
It’s because of such overwhelm, I guess, that people don’t bother to be answering their phones, emails etc. as they once did.
I hope that it’ll get better without holding my breath.
Vance
I can totally vouch for your promptness in my email exchange with you.
In my job, I’m working with a lot of Japan-Japanese, and let’s just say promptness of reply (in business email communication)isn’t one of their virtue.
Their unqiue cultural characteristics had permeated into email communication.
I always try to respond to things from actual people as soon as possible. This means not only emails for me, but also social media, IMs, and other websites.
As a side note, I currently have around 200 unread emails, most of which are from newsletters. This post has encouraged me to unsubscribe from a good deal of these to make finding and responding to actual emails easier for me. So thanks.