Friday Five - When email fails

Email is not infallible. Unfortunately there are so many of us who rely on email to get our message across, we forget this. It is unfortunate, but not all emails get through.

There are a number of reasons emails don’t get through, or get answered as quickly as you may like. Here are 5 possible reasons you don’t get a reply.

1. The email has not arrived - this could be due to a number of reasons. You may have entered the address wrong, there may be issues with the ISP, or it could be something to do with the phase of the moon! Sometimes there is no reason anyone can pinpoint, sometimes emails just don’t arrive.
2. It went to junk email - some computers have amazing amounts of security that puts emails into junk if they think it’s spam. While people aim to check regularly for real emails in junk, sometimes there are so many messages in junk email, this isn’t possible, or an email simply slips through the cracks.
3. Too many emails - this is also common with many small businesses, they receive so many emails that they can’t all be responded to in a day. Often people will sort emails and prioritise them and answer as quickly as they can. This doesn’t mean your message isn’t important, it could mean there are more urgent enquiries and you may need to wait an extra day for a response.
4. Other methods of support - there are some businesses who use a support ticket system for enquiries, especially for businesses that do technical support. When this is in place, they may not respond to email enquiries. If this is the case, submit your enquiry again via their support ticket system. Often this will give you a faster response.
5. They replied and you didn’t get the reply - email fails both ways. The person you emailed may have sent a reply and it didn’t arrive at your computer. This is possible.

So, when email fails, what should you do? First thing is stay calm. Because someone hasn’t responded doesn’t mean they are ignoring you. Kathie Thomas over at the Virtual Assistant blog recently did a great post called “Pick up the phone!”. If email fails and you don’t get a response, then pick up the phone and call the person you are emailing. Often enquiries can be sorted out right away, and you will get an explanation why your email wasn’t responded to.

For business owners, if you send an email, it is a good idea to schedule a follow up phone call after sending emails, especially quotes. The person you emailed may not have received your reply.