Laurie Richards
You’ve asked for the information over, and over, and over. But your emails go unanswered — or you get the wrong (or incomplete) information. It can be incredibly frustrating, not to mention a waste of time as you craft additional follow-up emails that, once again, are ignored.
Here are five tips you can use to get people to read — and respond to your emails:
#1 Be specific about what you want
Your request may seem clear to you, but your reader may not be as familiar with what you need.
#2 Make it easy to read
Try a bulleted list of the items you need and their corresponding due dates.
#3 Make it easy to respond
- Include a hyperlink so they don’t have to look it up.
- Ask them to “Hit ‘Reply’ then type your answer in the subject line.”
- Ask them to “forward” items to you as opposed to re-creating them.
#4 Set a realistic due date that is relatively soon
If you ask for a small test that’s due in six months, the item falls off of people’s to-do lists. Instead, send the request 5-7 days out, and they’ll be sure to get it done.
#5 Flag critical items by writing a special note for that direction
For example, “Be sure to sign the last page AND initial each page.” Or, “Just a reminder, the photo must be attached as a .jpg in order to be accepted.” By reminding them, they’re more likely to see it as they skim over the directions.
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