Merry Christmas and thanks for your email! I’m taking a few days off to spend time with my family and friends, so I won’t be answering emails as quickly as usual. You can expect to hear back from me by (insert date). Hope you have a Merry Christmas!
This entails informing your loyal customers about the holiday closure of your business in a clear, informative and (optionally) festive manner. Knowing that holidays can be a busy time of the year, we provide you with several pre-drafted email templates that you can use for announcing the holiday closure for your business.
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Witty and funny out of office messages are great, but check out how New York Times' VP of Operations, Erin Grau, uses her out of office response for parental leave as a teachable moment. That's a powerful message about something she feels passionate and connected to.
The weather has changed, so I have decided to book myself a little break in the sunshine.
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.
Even though you're not actually responding to the email, you still need to mind your Ps and Qs. After your greeting, add "Thanks for your email."
Our Public Service Announcement: Each year, Americans leave 700 million DAYS of paid time off on the table. Stop and think about how many great out of office reply opportunities are missed because of this!
Me too. I don’t say why I’m going to be out when I take time off either, unless it’s a vacation I’m really excited about and just talk about naturally.
I work for a hospital, in a role unrelated to patient care. My first out of the office message was just my name and department. After a series of increasingly plaintive messages one evening, I added, “If you are calling about patient care, you have the wrong number.”
Website: https://www.eou.edu/coronavirus/2020/03/24/march-24-2020-voicemail-and-phone-instructions-when-working-from-home/
I agree, especially coming from a SVP. It’s not just a funny OOO message then. It’s a subtle reminder that if someone that high feels they can step back away for a few days without things falling apart without them, chances are the same could be said about you. Leading by example indeed and in a way that gets their point across to probably lots of people that may not have noticed otherwise.
I found the link…and they gave the incorrect sign to the person who approved it for printing as a gift when he retired! https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/man-responsible-welsh-translation-gaffe-15214716.amp
Website: https://asthedrillturns.com/2019/02/18/dental-office-voicemail-etiquette/
Giving the option to contact an email address containing “interruptyourvacation” provides two things — 1) A dose of humor, and 2) discouragement from actually doing what the name suggests. Plus, he prefaces it with a request for empathy, by explaining that he promised quality time to his family.
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!
But what should you do to keep the message informative, engaged and maybe a little festive?
Whatever style you may ultimately decide to adopt, each of these emails should feature these essential elements: Precise reference to the period in which you will be away, as the receiver will want to know when they can reach you again. Inform your correspondent about the date by which they can expect to receive a response to the email they send you during the holiday season. Indication that your will reply to the email when they return. Check Out these examples: