E-commerce Link: Inbound E-mail

Don’t miss the opportunities presented by these customer communications

April 2008 By Regina Brady

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Auto-responder messages. Most of these messages note that an individual is out of the office and give a date of return. But there are nuggets of gold in some of these e-mails. Some auto-responder messages explain that the individual is no longer with the company and include his or her new e-mail contact information. Most inbound e-mail filters have rules in place that fail to catch the e-mail-change-of-address situation. This is a missed opportunity.

Challenge responses. Some businesses and Internet service providers allow their users to establish settings so that no mail comes into their inboxes unless the senders are listed in the recipients’ address books. If mail does not meet this criterion, an automatic challenge goes out to the sender. The challenge usually contains a relatively easy task to complete—such as re-entering a code that displays on the screen—and once the sender submits the response, the mail goes through.

It’s a simple process. All challenges requiring a response are delivered to an administrative inbox. However, they must be handled within a few days or the responses will be ignored.

Challenge responses are easy to deal with—the only catch is that they require manual intervention. If you are using a third-party e-mail service provider, ask if it is handling this task on your behalf. If not, designate this responsibility to someone in your company.

A Sampling of Results
I’ve been privy to some private studies conducted by marketers who’ve put a focus on online customer service. Some of their findings are eye-opening in terms of reducing e-mail list churn and the ability to generate future sales.

For example, more than 2 percent of outbound e-mails result in challenge responses.

The number of opt-out requests sent in replies is only 20 percent less than the number of clicks on the opt-out link in the footer of the outbound e-mail. Customer respect and legal compliance are overlooked if these e-mails are not addressed.

Based on outbound e-mail volumes, more than .25 percent of changes of
e-mail addresses were captured from auto-responder messages or direct replies. And more than .15 percent of outbound e-mail resulted in a customer-service reply or a request for price, product information or literature.

So, pay attention to your inbound e-mail. Then make the commitment to timely and efficient e-customer service. The returns are more than worth the effort.

Regina Brady is president of Reggie Brady Marketing Solutions, a direct and e-mail marketing consultancy. She can be reached at (203) 838-8138 or reginabrady@att.net.

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