Some of my correspondents are Internet savvy and almost always at their computers. I’m not surprised when I get responses from them almost immediately. Others use email only grudgingly; some only turn the computer on to deal with email. I wait days to hear back from them.
So, the spectrum is vast. And I don’t know where on the spectrum some of my correspondents are, so I either expect them to reply in what I think of as timely fashion, or I realize that I don't know what their policy is.
How fast are you expected to reply to email?
Maybe your company or industry sets the tone. It may be an important element of customer service to answer as fast as possible. For some, responding to email is a task that takes them away from their work, so they set aside time to batch their responses.
It’s a sticky issue because a fast response tells your correspondent that you believe their issue is as urgent as they do. A slower response may indicate that you don’t think their issue is quite as urgent. On the other hand, you may want to delay your response as a way to push back a bit and remain in control of your time.
An email exchange doesn’t have the steady pace of a conversation. If you asked the person next to you a question and they waited two days to answer you, well, it would be darned strange. But there is no correct pace for email. How do you manage that? Do you request a response within a certain time frame? Any ideas?
When gone on vacation the urgent emails deserve at least an automatic response from you. By paying a reasonable fee you can either get your emails through SMS or get a Killer App to sort them automatically and send you only the ones that present interest. At least to me it seems the simplest solution.
Posted by: Jackie | August 9, 2006 4:06 PM | Permalink to Comment