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I used to hire a lot (hundreds) of freelance writers who would each be given a deadline by which their particular project was due. As these were large projects, they typically would have several months to complete them. I soon discovered that a significant number of freelancers (at least 25% if I’m remembering correctly) would email a couple of days before their assignment was due to report the sad news that they would be missing their deadline because “someone close to [them] had just died”.
Thank you again for being the best team one could ask for. Your energy and persistence has driven our company to new heights, and we greatly appreciate it.
Naturally, she had to take the day off — and couldn’t let folks know with any old generic auto-response. Instead, she made a guessing game of it in her out-of-office email, which you can use for yourself, below.
I had a voicemail greeting like that in High School!! I can’t imagine an adult having that kind of VM greeting; it would definitely annoy me coming from anyone older than like 20.
Hey, why are you being so sneaky about where you've disappeared to? If you're not on vacation and your out of office is for a work trip, well darn it, work that! [Editor's note: Pun totally intended.]
o [name] good morning! All our support agents are busy right now. Your estimated queue time is 6 mins. Thank you for reaching out to us. Hey [name] Very good morning to you! I am sorry that you need to wait for [time] as all our support executives are busy. We appreciate your patience. Thank you!4. Out of office automated reply messages
My parents ran a furniture refinishing shop when I was in school. There are workshops and conferences for this trade. I attended a private high school that was primarily a boarding school. Once, when my parents needed to attend a middle-of-the-week event, they arranged for me to stay overnight in the school dorms. Upon being asked by the house mother where my parents were, I said they was at a stripping convention.
Please note on [date], is [holiday name]. Our stores will be closed all day and will open at [time] on [date]. Have a wonderful holiday!
I don’t think it’s rude to do the deletion, but it’s pretty rude to not give some sort of Plan B besides “Wait until I decide I am ready to deal with you.” I’m sure it feels lovely to set up if you’ve usually got a lot of annoying people clamoring for your time on matters that aren’t nearly as urgent as they think, but to not even offer a “in case this is urgent, contact X” fig leaf just shows you don’t care.
Several of my coworkers still have page-long “Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, our department will be…” auto-replies set up 24/7, even though the basic function of our office has barely changed. I’m currently working odd part time hours right now, and if there weren’t so many of these annoying emails going around, I’d have one that clarifies my email timelines, but I don’t want to be another spammer.
An automatic response should include the date when you left, a reason (vacation, sick leave, a conference, etc) and, if possible, the date when you plan to come back. Thank your client for their email, promise to get back to it as soon as possible and apologize for the inconvenience. Also, it should be obvious that you’re out of office from the first sentence.
Pro-tip: You can also create a new template from a copy of an existing template by selecting the ellipsis at the top or the ellipsis in a row. Note: Template Type isn’t used for OOO templates, so you can leave it unchanged.
Create a new email signature or edit the existing one. Step 3. Add the Christmas banner from the gallery or upload your own. Step 4. Save and install your email signature. Notice that you can add a link to your Christmas banner. It may lead to a blog article or a sales offer regarding the holidays.
Creating a voicemail greeting might not be fun, but with the scripts I’ve shared, you should have an easier time. No need to practice time and time again — simply plug in your name, company title, and other details, then read it out loud to your phone’s voicemail greeting recorder. With a professional greeting, you’ll continue nurturing prospects even if you don’t pick up the phone.