For most people, autoresponder means Out of Office message.
But there are many ways you can use autoresponders.
In fact, autoresponders are one of the keys to improving email management and productivity. It can also lower email-related stress.
It might seem impersonal at first. But if you give it a human tone and make it relevant, it won't be an issue. On the contrary, your recipients will appreciate it.
You can, among others, manage their expectations, point them to the right person, or provide them with the right resources.
Let's break it down!
Manage expectations
Using an autoresponder can help you manage expectations.
This can be useful if you're receiving a lot of emails.. In this case, you can use an autoresponder to let the other party know when to expect a response.
That will diminish the urgency of responding to emails. It's especially important as email management is an important factor of stress.
Here are a few examples of how to handle it.
Templates: manage expectations
Template 1: personal mailbox
Hi there,
Thank you for reaching out!
I have received your message and I will process it in due time.
I typically respond within 2-3 business days.
Regards
Template 2: customer request
Hi there,
Thank you for reaching out!
We have received your requests and will be processing as soon as possible.
Our customer service team aims to respond within 4 hours.
If you'd like to add anything to you request, feel free to reply to this email.
Cheers
Redirect to the right person
Some people — especially small company CEOs — tend to get most of the company's incoming mail. Whether it's a marketing request, a customer service request, an email from the accountant,...
Responding to all these emails, even to redirect them, is time-consuming and tedious.
Fortunately, there's an easy way to solve this issue.
If you know the kind of mail you tend to receive, anticipate it in an autoresponder. Let the sender know who to reach out to.
Responsibility is shifted back to the sender.
That way, you can immediately delete any email that shouldn't be sent to you
Here's what it can look like.
Template: redirect to someone else
Hi there,
Thank you for reaching out!
I have received your email and will be processing it in due time.
Due to the number of emails I receive daily, I can't process all of them myself.
For any of the following matters, please address these people directly:
- For marketing requests, reach out to xxx@company.com
- For administration requests, reach out to yyy@company.com
- For customer support, reach out to support@company.com
Regards
Point to resources
Some people/departments keep getting the same requests over and over.
There can be many reasons for that. It can be because everyone wants to do co-marketing with a certain popular company. Or it can be because people hastily get in touch with customer service without checking the knowledge base.
But it doesn't have to be overwhelming. You can anticipate those requests and point people to the right resources.
Here are a few examples.
Template: point to resources
Template 1: customer service
Hi there,
Thank you for reaching out!
We have received your request and will be processing it shortly.
In the meantime feel free to check our knowledge base, it may contain the answer you're looking for.
Feel free to check out blog as well. It contains tips and best practices about our product.
Regards
Template 2: marketing request
Hi there,
Thank you for reaching out!
We have received your request and will be processing it shortly.
If you'd like to write for us, please check out our guest posting guidelines.
If this is a sponsorship enquiry, please check out our advertising packages.
Regards
Known issues
Sometimes, things go wrong. Your servers are down, a bug appeared in your product, or your app is suddenly extremely slow.
You're likely to get a lot of emails about it. All at once.
While you can't avoid the flood of email, you can avoid having to respond manually to most of it.
Template: known issues
This is what it can look like:
Hi,
Thanks for reaching out!
We are aware that there currently is an issue with [XXX] and we're doing everything we can to solve it.
We're terribly sorry about the inconvenience. It should be resolved soon.
Feel free to respond to this email if you have extra questions.
Cheers
This should satisfy the majority of people reaching out about that subject.
Get meetings
Here's a cool way to streamline your sales process.
You might have an email address for someone to reach out to when they want a demo of your product. You might also be a salesperson who consistently gets meeting requests.
You can use autoresponders to reduce friction. All you have to do is include a link to your personal calendar. That way, there's no unnecessary exchange of emails.
Here's how to do it.
Template: get more meetings
Hi there,
Thanks for reaching out!
I have received your message and will be responding to it shortly.
If you'd like a demo of [PRODUCT NAME], feel free to book a slot in my personal calendar.
If none of these time slots work, we'll work something out!
Regards
Former employee responder
Just because someone doesn't work at a company doesn't mean no one is going to try to reach out to them.
Maybe that person held a key position. Or maybe they built interesting relationships for the company. In any case, it would be a mistake to simply delete their email address as if it never existed.
You could also have their emails forwarded to someone else. But it could be overwhelming to the new recipient. That's especially true if there's a cascade.
That is if a previous employee were themselves getting emails from another former employee.
The easiest way to deal with that is to set up an efficient autoresponder.
Template: former employee
Hi there,
Thanks for reaching out!
[FORMER EMPLOYEE'S NAME] doesn't work at [COMPANY] anymore.
You can address your inquiries to [PERSON WHO TOOK OVER] at xxx@company.com or find [FORMER EMPLOYEE'S NAME] on LinkedIn.
Regards
Which one are you going to use?
All these responders are super easy to set up. And they can save you a lot of time.
Also, an automatic message doesn't have to be cold or rude. It's all about the personalization you put into it.
Not only will autoresponders save you a lot of time, but they will also save your recipients some time. And by managing their expectations, you're allowing them to get organized. And to not worry about whether they're going to get a response.
Autoresponders are not only good for you, they're also good for your correspondent.
So which one are you going to set up first?
