Email Response Time Does Matter. Here’s why.

I am often asked:

“What is the rule for how fast you should be responding to emails?”

The short answer: As soon as you can.

The long answer: It is obvious that some emails will be more important to you than others. It is also clear that we only have so much time in a day, and there will be days when you cannot reply to any emails.

So, you do the best you can to reply to everyone as soon as you can.

Email is Instantaneous

We all know that, for the most part, email is an instantaneous medium. We know that our email is in the other side’s inbox waiting to be downloaded or read, usually within seconds, if not minutes, of clicking Send.

If you are so busy that you cannot respond (you’re there but not “away” to require an away message be in place), you are deciding to ignore the Sender. Even if for the time being.

And that’s precisely what they will assume. You’ve decided that their email is not important enough to you, at that moment, or you would have responded.

The fact is there are expectations of a quick response, like it or not. We all have to make these decisions on the fly about how to spend our time.

There is no gray area here. Perception is alive and well regarding how quickly you respond to your emails. (Of course, this does not include spam or irresponsible forwarders.)

When to Use Away Messages

You have the option to have an informative away message in place if you are completely unavailable. Senders will then understand if they don’t receive your prompt reply. This effort can help to avoid any negative perceptions.

You don’t want to use away messages to let everyone know how busy you are and that maybe you might if you have time, get back to them when it suits you — at your convenience. That’s narcissistic and reinforces that the Sender is not a priority.

Create a short message template when you are swamped or have other responsibilities that keep you from responding in detail. Most email programs can create templates or responses that you can insert as needed. A short message stating your situation and that you will respond in detail as soon as you can is better than not responding at all.

It just takes a few seconds to hit reply, insert the response, and click Send. This approach is even more important regarding your business email responsibilities.

That is, if you care….

I’ve had folks email me stating they don’t care what the other side thinks of their response time. That’s fine. You can have that approach.

Just know that when you disregard others’ attempts to communicate with you, they’ll pick up on that. If you ignore them, they’ll also know you are doing that.

Remember, email isn’t always only about you, how busy you are, or what you feel is essential. It’s a communication tool. Communication takes more than one person.

There is another human being involved on the other side of your screen. They emailed you for a reason and are hoping for your prompt response.

Communicate Your Status

Keeping those you communicate with informed about your status is a courtesy that can ensure you are a person who is viewed as a pleasure to communicate with. You also avoid misunderstandings and hurt feelings by thinking beyond your hectic schedule.