An easy win here is to be specific about your out-of-office dates, or to be upbeat about why you are out of office.
Hi, Our store will be closed until the end of the week for Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year]. We are happy to inform you that all of your emails will be answered once we are back on [date]. Kind regards.
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Your clients don’t have a lot of time, and neither do you. Use the following short voicemail greetings to get to the point quickly and invite them to leave a message.
Then, all that’s left to do is turn it on before you abandon your desk, and get prepared for a relaxing holiday break—without feeling the need to be constantly tethered to your inbox.
To ensure that you keep customers happy and present a professional image, make your auto-attendant easy to navigate. We’ve compiled some sample call center greeting scripts that can be used in different situations, whether your company has a small customer support team or a massive call center with hundreds of people.
I absolutely hate this and it would definitely irritate me if received. I agree with the letter writer that it comes over as condescending and also a bit passive agressive in places. I’m definitely not the audience for this one! Presumably this is an internal only version and the company culture would find this cute / funny.
The recipient may have filtering turned on that would reject the automatic reply;
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Out of office messages can also make your workload easier when you return to the office. Colleagues and clients who know you are on vacation or at a conference might be less likely to fill your inbox with messages. If someone does need immediate help on a project, they can know who to contact in your absence to make sure it gets handled on time.
My favorite OOO to set is something like this: “I’m at sea from X to Y with very limited bandwidth. I’ll reply to urgent emails as soon as possible (but there may be a delay); if you don’t hear back from me by Z, please resend you message.”
I mean, sometimes I put up an OOO because I’m on vacation and not checking email. Sometimes I put one up because I’m travelling for work and will only have sporadic access to my laptop, but might get to check once or twice a day. In my role, it’s important to make that distinction. Maybe it’s not so important for other people.
“Thank you for the message. I am currently out of the office and will not be back until [date]. I shall reply to your message as I return. Should you require any immediate assistance, feel free to contact [person] at [phone number] in my absence. Have a wonderful holiday season.”
Josh Kopelman’s vacation email is a classic example of taking a blunt approach at OOO messages.
Thank you for getting in touch! I’ll be out-of-office from [date] to [date] and will not be checking email during that time.
You are regarded as a responsible netizen when you imbibe the habit of leaving out-of-office messages. For employers and HR managers, it is worthwhile to teach this practice to your employees. Out-of-office emails show that you are polite and professional, lending credibility to your corporate culture.
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.
Oh I also saw one from a person who used to be my manager (thank goodness that nightmare is over). She had: – An extra space in the email address to contact in her absence, which would create a bounce back if someone tried to use it as she typed it. – Had a date that was clearly a “fill in the blank” that she didn’t look at, because it was something like “3th” instead of “3rd.”