What to change about the way you send emails during a crisis
COVID-19 has changed the way we do many things, including how we send our emails. If you are an organization, it may be time for you to relook at the mails you send and how they need to change in the face of COVID-19. In our last lesson, we looked at general etiquette for sending emails. Today, we will look at some things that organizations need to know about sending emails during this crisis. It will be a review of do’s and don’ts and what is likely to work for you. As we all know, the volume of emails being sent out by organizations to clients has increased as many businesses have been forced to operate online and reduce face-to-face interactions with clients. You should adapt too and here are some ways you can make that transition smoothly.
When you should send a mail
- When you have useful information they must know about
- When the crisis has affected the way you serve your clients
- When you are offering some kind of relief to your clients in the crisis
When you do not need to send a mail
- When you are simply restating what you have already sent in an earlier mail
- When you are simply sharing information from other sources (especially on the virus or on an issue you are not an authority)
- If the COVID-19 is not going to affect your business in a significant way
- When it is just to look like you are also serious since others are doing it
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What you need to consider for such a mail
- Think of what your customers need
In this time of COVID-19, what is on the minds of your customers? Try to find answers to their top concerns and address it in your email. People may be wondering how their lives have changed, and even if it is worth still patronizing your business in the harsh economic climate. Address these concerns in your mail. What would they need in these times? Do you have it? Offer to have it delivered to them at home – for free, maybe. If you lack ideas, you can simply ask them. In your mail, let them know you would like to have feedback on what you can do to help. You may be pleasantly surprised at the store of ideas they could help you with.
- Let them know you are thinking about them
It is a good time to genuinely put your customers first – and let them see it. Let them feel that you are not only concerned about when next they will buy your product. Customers are smart and they can see through when you are trying to patronize them by saying a few things about the pandemic and spending majority of your mail talking about reasons to buy this or get that. It’s COVID-19 time, and people would want to see how you care about their health or their finances or how they are simply coping in these times. Encourage them and give them tips on how they can make life easier for themselves in difficult times. It should never be all about you.
- Watch out for automated or existing campaigns
If you are a business that sends out regular automated emails, you may want to revisit them to check if they are still relevant. It will be really embarrassing for you for a client to receive a message to stop by your shop for an offer when a city is in lockdown. This is especially useful for businesses that are no longer in full operation, like hotels and airlines, due to restrictions on movement. If your clients keep receiving such irrelevant mails from you, they will begin to see you as irresponsible and lazy.
- Make your email presentable
This is my favourite. Do you know how many emails an individual receives on average in a day? 121. And in COVID-19 times, we could be looking at an additional 50% of that number. What would make someone stop to actually read what you have sent in the mail? Apart from the content, a good way to get your emails read is to make it as presentable as possible. Use paragraphs. Write short sentences. Use bulleted items and lists instead of long essays. Use sections headers or subtitles and make them visible. And my most valuable tool – use visuals. You may want to cut down on the text and represent it with more images. You could even share stories of how others are coping in these times. And check for spelling and grammar. It is always worth it taking your time to go over that mail one more time before sending out to your cherished customers.
We hope these tips will help us to send better emails in COVID-19 times. Hope to read your emails soon.
Image Credit:
https://www.wired.com/story/email-during-coronavirus/
