After X enjoyable years, I do not work at [company] any more. Please contact [insert name and email] for enquiries relating to [subjects], or myself at [email] for personal matters.
Leaving an email without a responder can appear unprofessional, lose potential business and, worst of all, make you look like Scrooge!
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Dear Customer, Thank you for your email Inquiry, Our office closed is closed celebrating [HOLIDAY]. We will not be able to respond to your email until [date]. Apologize for the delay. We wish you a wonderful holiday season. Best regards.
The dialogue “You may remember me from..” by Troy McClure is uncannily iconic for all Simpsons fans. It has also evolved into an autoresponder saga. By the time the reader realizes that they are going to wait a while, they would have already had the fun of reading this hilarious convo. Have a look at this funny out of office reply and see if your associates would love to hear it:
Feel free to stop by at [location], where I will be speaking about [topic]. Here’s a link to
Because I used to get phone calls that defaulted to, “I need the director”, I had my out of office mail set to:
While you’re writing and activating your out-of-office message, sidestep these pitfalls:
24. "Thank you for calling [company]. We're closed for [holiday] from [date] until [date]. Please leave your message and we'll get back to you as soon as possible. Have a happy holiday season!"
Hey, Thanks for your email. I’m not in the office and am on a family vacation. I assure you that all your emails will be answered as soon as I return to the office on [date]. Kind regards.
It’s my favorite time of year, which means I’m currently out of the office chugging mugs of cocoa, stuffing my face with cookies, and attempting to fulfill my life-long goal of memorizing every single line of [your favorite holiday movie].
Skip the "Greetings," "Salutations," "Dear sir/madam." These are far too stuffy and robotic. Instead, start off your response with a simple "Hi" or Hello."
Next time you’re setting up your vacation responder, consider using this quick guide to help you be more creative and professional when needed. Use your out-of-office message to inform, assist, or delight the email sender. It will be a pleasant exercise for you and might make them smile.
Lead generation emails are the best when it comes to driving sales and promoting your content. Here’s an example template to inspire you:
Thank you for your message. I am currently out of the office, with no email access. I will be returning on (insert date).
Education Details: Here's an example (and here are 7 more out-of-office templates, too!) Hi there, I am OOO on PTO from Friday, December 1 - Tuesday, December 10 without access to email or voicemail. If this is urgent, please contact [NAME], otherwise I will respond to messages when I return.
And if you suspect that you won’t look through all those emails that cluttered up your inbox while you were on a vacation at all? Be honest about it and tell your prospects to contact you again at a certain date.
Education Details: The Out of Office feature is only available for users with a Microsoft Exchange account; however, Home users with non-Exchange accounts can create an out-of-the-office template and create a rule to have Outlook send the reply automatically.