This week I received an email message entitled to Stephen. Since my name isn't Stephen, and I am not even a guy, it got my attention. Seems that a well-meaning customer service rep at a company I deal with decided that the way to answer my help request was to pawn me off on someone else.
I understand that one person at a company can't do everything but what are you really saying when:
*You receive an external help request from someone who deals with your company and you
*Deal with it by sending an internal message to another employee who can take care of the issue and
*Carbon copy the internal message to the customer who sent you the help request
Does that mean you are off the hook?
Am I the only person who thinks this is super rude?
Am I the only person who thinks that a customer might be:
1. A bit confused when they get an email from someone they don't recognize?
2. A bit confused when they get an email clearly addressed to another person?
I think the customer would feel pawned off and not appreciated.
Even worse, they just might delete the message because it is addressed to someone else (thinking it is Spam).
My story does not end there. My issue has not been resolved! Do I email the customer service email again, or do I email 'Stephen', the guy that I think is taking care of my issue because I was cc'd on an internal email conversation?
Maybe it would have been better if the customer service rep had emailed me and told me the issue was being taken care, and she would leave the request open until the issue had been solved.
I don't like getting emails that clearly indicate I have been pawned off.
I also don't like getting called Stephen.
And I really don't like being clueless as to the status of my issue.
Customers don't need to know who is taking care of what in your company. They need a response that indicates you care about their issue and it will be resolved. Next time you think it is appropriate to simply 'clean out your inbox' by pawning off an external help request to someone else in your company, think about how the customer will feel when they get a strange email addressed to someone else.
Using Email requires manners and a little thinking about how the recipient will feel when they get your message. If email manners are an issue for you than admit it, and use the telephone.

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Copyright Joan Pasay - 2005