Top 5 email signature mistakes:
- Not having one – Much like letterhead or a business card, an email signature lets people know who you are, what you do and how to get in contact with you.
- Not including a phone number – Listen, I like email just as much as the next girl but sometimes nothing fits the bill like a phone call. Make sure you’re making contact details easily accessible for your recipient.
- Using an image as your signature – In the same vein, including a company logo is fine but making the entire signature an image can frustrate your recipient. With the advent of smart phones, most people expect to be able to simply click on your phone number to make a call. Conversely, I can’t tell you how many times I went to pull a person’s contact details from their signature to enter into my contact management system only to realize that I can’t simply cut and paste. A simple task is turned into a chore, plus you risk entering the details incorrectly thereby hindering future communication.
- Using a multiple, colors, fonts or images – Not only can this distract the recipient from the content of your message but this can make an ongoing email correspondence string longer than it has to be. You’ll appreciate this if you’ve ever had to scroll through an email string to find a piece of data . . . fast forward to 3 minutes later and you’re still scrolling. Another often overlooked consequence of the fancy corporate marketing generated email signature template could be offending your audience. For example, a friend who works for an insurance company recently commented on his happy go lucky colorful email signature he is required to use. “How do you think this happy go lucky signature will look with the message – we’re denying your 2 million dollar claim?” While I’m a huge fan of corporate branding, it should never be in conflict with your message.
- Including your fax number – It’s not 1995 anymore. Most businesses have moved away from fax communication instead opting for email. If a contact does require it, it’s the exception not the rule. Fore example, recently I had a client ask me for our fax number and honestly, I had to dial a friend because it had be over 5 years since I had given it out previously.
Which are you guilty of? A signature is an important part of the communication between you and your recipient. Make sure you’re helping and not hindering your message with the right information and tone.
Teltek is a Certified Avaya Business Partner, NEC Dealer, Zultys, and Microsoft Partner with two locations in the Baltimore Metropolitan area. We specialize in providing one call technology support for small to mid-sized businesses and nonprofits in Maryland, Washington, D.C., Virginia and Pennsylvania.