Mother, May I...?

Remember that childhood game? It is kind of a variation on “Simon Says”, where you have to be given permission before executing the command of the “Mother” in the game. Sometimes, “Mother” would tell you to take three giant steps and then, change “her” mind when you asked, “Mother, may I?”, and switch it to four baby steps. Maybe it was specific to the South where I grew up. You’ll have to tell me.

Email is very much like that game. It’s all about permission and the permissions granted are very specific. Permission-based email marketing and communication is not limited to those “blasts” to thousands or millions. It’s also about one-to-one business communications.

In the last week, I’ve gotten email from two different sources, seemingly out of the blue. The first was from a woman I’d met at some long forgotten networking event whose husband wanted to sell his tickets to the finals of the U.S. Open coming up later this month here in New York. The second was from a guy whose company has a database of people they’d invited to a few business cocktail parties last year. I hadn’t heard from them in more than a year and here he was announcing that his wife is a real estate agent now.

When I replied to the first asking for information on how “she” knew me, I received a reply from the husband who was using her email address. He actually got huffy!

Both of these emails are real spam. The email addresses were not used for the purpose intended. The recipients had not requested this information. The From and Subject lines were misleading. There were no physical mailing addresses included. And, finally, no clear directions on how to remove oneself from future emails.

It takes very little to land yourself on blacklists these days. Your company website may be shut down. Your emails don’t go through. It takes days and sometimes weeks to undo the damage. But, that’s technology.

The collateral damage of ruined business relationships is something that can rarely be undone. If both had just taken a few minutes and a few more lines to explain how we know each other and why they were sending the email on behalf of their spouses, it would make all the difference in the world. Instead of being viewed as completely unprofessional, these emails could have demonstrated how supportive they are and also offer an opportunity to re-introduce themselves and what they do.

There was no “Thank you, ma’am” part of the equation in this case!

Technology does not cancel out the tried and true rules for polite engagement. If you have any questions, please get in touch with us here at PLI.