With the holidays, inboxes will be increasingly filled with out of office (OOO) auto replies. Some are short and sweet. Some are terse. Some are jovial. Some are lengthy and confessional. But most people who set their inboxes to OOO don’t put much time into what they’re conveying to the outside.
They should. And so should you.
Every day you are out of the office, you’re sending out hundreds and hundreds of examples of your work habits, your reliability and your communication style. How do you think you’re coming across?
Just like any other communication, this message is part of your brand. How many times have you emailed someone important and received this response: “I’m out of the office until (date) with limited access to email”? That kind of noncommittal response sets a bad tone. It doesn’t give people any idea of when you’ll be back or whom to contact in your absence.
What’s wrong with this out of office email (below)?
1. It doesn’t provide a timeline about how long you’re indisposed and when you’re going to respond.
2. It doesn’t tell people whom to contact in your absence.
3. It doesn’t set a positive tone.
As a CPA, you’re in the service business. Your professional reputation is key. This out of office message conveys to the outside world that you don’t care about your clients and that you’re taking their business for granted.
Four components of effective OOO emails
1. Set a positive tone. Be conscious of the tone you are setting in your email. Don’t be terse. Don’t try to use humor. Don’t imply that you’re doing people a favor by responding to their email when you’re OOO.
2. Let people know when you’ll be back. Gone for the day? Gone for a week? Let clients know in case they have an issue that is time-sensitive.
3. Let people know if you will (or will not) be checking messages during your absence. If you’re not going to be checking messages while you’re out, that’s OK. Just be honest about it.
4. Give people someone to contact (with an email address and phone number) if they have an urgent matter and they need assistance before you return.
Do you even need the OOO when you’re out?
If you’re only going to be out for a day or two, you might be better off having your assistant or trusted colleague check your emails and let you know about any urgent fires to put out. More often than not, that approach can be better than defaulting to the OOO auto response.
Chances are your assistant or a trusted colleague can answer 90 percent of a client’s questions on your behalf. Nobody wants to come back from a great vacation or a professional conference with 400 or 500 unanswered emails to wade through. If there are any big emergencies, give your assistant or colleague a few set days and times when they can schedule you to meet with clients upon your return.
Your clients don’t care if you’re out of the office on vacation, for a medical emergency, for a kid’s piano recital, or if you’re squeezing in nine holes of golf on an unseasonably warm fall day. They emailed because they need a problem solved.
As a CPA, you have intense work timeframes. After that, it’s healthy to disconnect for a few days. Just make sure you disconnect the right way. Make sure clients are being taken care of and that you’re not coming back to a ticking time bomb.
Your out of office auto-reply may very well be the most-read email you send out each year. It goes out to each and every person who tries to contact you when you’re out of pocket. If done sloppily, OOO can do irreparable damage to your personal brand. But if done well, OOO can be a wonderful opportunity for great client service.