Let me ask a couple of questions:
Well, in my case, I answered "YES" on both questions. After all, the customer asks for an answer, so it's normal to expect that when you send an e-mail in return, that the customer receives it.
Unfortunately, this is no longer the case.
It is highly important that you get this point, so let me rephrase that:
If you send an e-mail to a customer that the customer wants and expects, it may be that (s)he never receives it!
I've investigated this issue, and the cause of this is the filtering of e-mail by the ISP of the customer, to prevent unwanted SPAM (unsollicited e-mail) to make its way into their mailbox. But not only genuine SPAM is filtered out. Even e-mail that the customer wants (and often expects) to receive, may be caught up in this filter. It's happening so often, there's even a term for it: "false positives".
Sometimes this stays unnoticed, because the customer doesn't get a mail telling her that it was filtered out. Or you don't get a reply from the ISP/filter that your mail didn't pass.
Your "dolphin" e-mail can essentially be caught in SPAM filter "tuna nets".
This can impact businesses on many levels:
When this happens, the customer usually points the finger to the business...
...YOUR business was not responsive;
...YOUR business didn't resolve the customer's issues;
...YOUR business did not deliver!
But, of course, you are not to blame. You responded! You resolved! you delivered! It's the customer's ISP that didn't deliver. An e-mail your customer wanted, and expected.
Mistakes do happen. But sometimes, ISP's and mail service businesses have no interest in righting what went wrong. And since they are not blamed, they get away with doing nothing. But in the mean time, your and my business is hurt by this.
So, it is time to point customers in the right direction. If more and more customers know where to complain if they do not get the e-mail they wanted, chances are that the ISP and/or mail service are forced into action.
There's a lot an ISP or mail service can do. Customers should have the possibility to "whitelist" you. A "whitelist" is a list of e-mail addresses or domains from which the customer allows mail to continue, even when the filter thinks it's "junk". One option that's not an option is to ask customers to switch off the filter. SPAM is just too big a problem for this.
Another company that have taken the heat for filtered mail is SiteSell. They're blamed for not delivering as promissed, because their e-mail was filtered out. And they hit a wall of unresponsiveness when they tried to right this. Or was it that their requests were filtered out? ;-)
As they understood how this is hurting their business, and many other businesses around the globe, they decided to take action, and point customers in the right direction when wanted e-mail doesn't make it into their mailboxes. So they created the "Deliver my mail!" initiative, which I fully support.
I invite you to join them and me. Read more about "Deliver my Mail!" on: http://deliver-my-mail.sitesell.com/sls.html
Let's take a stand, and educate customers on what to do if they do not receive e-mail they really wanted to get. Let customers demand:
"DELIVER MY MAIL!"
About The Author
Erwin Steneker is a senior support consultant with over 13 years of experience in both sales and IT support. Check out his website at http://deliver-my-mail.sitesell.com/sls.html
bedroom cleaning professionals Bannockburn ..What is spam ? ... Read More
E-mails now have a connection back to their servers. I... Read More
If you've been around the interenet any length of time... Read More
The lifeblood of the spammer is email. They need to... Read More
A blacklist, as the name implies, is a list of... Read More
Spam is everywhere. It's the "in-box lunch meat" nobody likes,... Read More
Let me ask a couple of questions:If (potential) customers sends... Read More
You just sat at your desk, opened your email account... Read More
Why do so many people think I need to take... Read More
You're not alone!Who hasn't surfed the web looking for information... Read More
Q: I am so sick of all the spam that... Read More
Email is the quintessential business communication tool, so when it... Read More
I'm sure I'm not the only person on the planet... Read More
The first thing I do every morning when I wake... Read More
Effectively stopping spam over the long-term requires much more than... Read More
A friend asked me: I don't get it. Why do... Read More
Effectively stopping spam over the long-term requires much more than... Read More
What do they do? How do they work? Which one... Read More
Most of us have opened our email program and found,... Read More
You can stop unwanted email spam, you can choose to... Read More
Death by spam is now possible with a new device... Read More
You are familiar with the software applications that you run... Read More
Stop intrusive pop-up ads and regain control of your online... Read More
In 1998, nearly 10% of all email traffic on the... Read More
We've all become familiar with the term spam. It's become... Read More
Airbnb cleaning service Bannockburn ..Are you tired of spam stealing your time, your money,... Read More
I'm sure you find spam just as frustrating and annoying... Read More
We've all become familiar with the term spam. It's become... Read More
We all hate spam and get way too much of... Read More
2004 was really a year when the whole subject of... Read More
English, German, Italian - It's All SPAM To MeHas anyone... Read More
One of our Australian clients sent out a campaign using... Read More
Your message is not being delivered.If you send emails to... Read More
Before we start getting deep into the meat of this... Read More
Most of us have opened our email program and found,... Read More
What's the big deal? All you read on the internet... Read More
Microsoft scores one for the good guysScott Richter, the self-proclaimed... Read More
When you receive an email telling you about a virus,... Read More
It absolutely amazes me how many people over-react to receiving... Read More
You're not alone!Who hasn't surfed the web looking for information... Read More
Did you know that there are software programs that view... Read More
Until recently, spam has been an annoyance, a definite load... Read More
While we all admit that unsolicited commercial email is a... Read More
Marketers usually think of anti-spam tactics as 'how to prevent'... Read More
Spam is annoying. Period. Why people would want to send... Read More
Spam, spam, spam. It's terrible not only for those of... Read More
The harmful affects of pornography use and addiction are well... Read More
What is spam ? ... Read More
You just sat at your desk, opened your email account... Read More
Although there still seem to be some differences among the... Read More
Spam Blocking |