An out-of-office message is an effective way to inform people why you are not responding to their calls or messages and when they can expect a response. This information saves them from getting frustrated and avoids any negative impression from the inability to respond. If you have long-term relationships with your customers, such an auto-response system is highly significant as it avoids any inconvenience.
When one of my colleagues is out of the office, he doesn’t mess around. In fact, he’s turned his auto-responses into a running series of commentary from fictional cartoon character Troy McClure.
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Every time the grocery store clerk asks, “Would you like to donate to breast cancer?” I have to bite my tongue.
Season’s Greetings! 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 [FAVORITE HOLIDAY MOVIE]. I’ll be back in front of my computer on [DATE] and will respond to your message at that time. If you need immediate assistance, please send an email to [NAME] at [EMAIL] so that the other elves in this workshop can help you out. Happy ho-ho-holidays!
Here are some of the common questions and answers about holiday messages to employees.
Exactly. It doesn’t matter if I’m sitting on the beach, on my couch, or in a hospital bed–I’m not reachable and you’re gonna have to wait until I get back or contact someone else.
And… it’s playing in the background as I write this email. Guess what? I’m on vacation! And I do love my occupation.
Unfortunately, I’m going to have to return your message. As it’s the holiday season, I’m currently away from the office. When I return, I’ll give your email a good solid read and find that your request is exactly what I needed after all! But until then, I’m going to keep it in the inbox so it doesn’t get damaged and revisit it after the holidays are over.
2.) Welcome to John Doe. Due to our company holiday our service staff will be available again for you from Monday, the 4.7.2016. The shipping of the orders will start again on 01.11.2016. In the meantime you are welcome to send your request to our email [email protected] or through our contact form. Many Thanks!
6.) Bienvenido/a a John Doe. Nuestras líneas de teléfono no están operativas durante los períodos de vacaciones. El horario de oficina se puede encontrar en nuestra página web www.johndoe.de. Le damos las gracias por su confianza y le deseamos a usted y a su familia unas felices fiestas y un próspero año nuevo.
The hours in your signature is a great idea! I’m about to have a non-standard work schedule to accommodate medical appointments. Totally stealing this idea!
Just hang in there, the holiday break is near. Alas! You can finally disconnect, recharge, and relax.
There are some places where the culture absolutely embraces this type of…expression so it may be that it works just fine.
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."
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Auto-reply email sample: Hi [first_name], Thanks so much for reaching out! This auto-reply is just to let you know… We received your email and will get back to you with a (human) response as soon as possible. During [business_hours] that’s usually within a couple of hours. Evenings and weekends may take us a little bit longer.
Not just that, but some e-mail systems (Gmail comes to mind) have taken to hiding the signature underneath a little expando-button. You don’t see it unless you go looking.