I'm often asked to speak to small businesses at a variety of technology or entrepreneurship events. A frequently overlooked but important thing that I always mention is to have an effective email strategy.
People are typically surprised when they hear this. After all, how strategic is sending and receiving communication? Below are some do's and don't's for setting up your company email.
1. Don't use Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail or your ISP's email service as your business email. I cringe every time I see on someone's business card yourcompany@hotmail.com or yourcompany@ISP.net.
Many companies, in particular micro-businesses and small businesses use Gmail, Hotmail or their ISP's email service for business email. This has an unprofessional appearance and gives the impression of a very small or even fly-by-night business.
2. Do use your domain name for your email. Set up an email likeyourname@yourcompany.com or .ca.
You miss out on a great branding tool by not using your business name for email; in fact, you are actually promoting someone else's brand instead of your own! Why advertise for Google or Hotmail when you can advertise your own company?
3) Do set up multiple email accounts to organize your business, and where desirable, appear larger than you are. For example,info@yourcompany.com, sales@yourcompany.com,president@yourcompany.com, finance@yourcompany.com andsupport@yourcompany.com. All of these emails can be forwarded to the same person (or multiple people) but this gives the impression of sophisticated operation.
4. Do set up multiple email accounts to help determine your HR needs and business bottlenecks. Small businesses usually don't have the resources to implement sophisticated tracking systems to monitor what types of enquiries they get. The sole proprietor or business owner typically answers all the emails and by the end of the month, has no idea what kept them so busy. By setting up a separate email address for each division of your company, it is a great way to track types of questions you get from customers.
At the end of the month, just tally up the number of enquiries to each email account and you will know what area of your company kept you most busy. Over time, you can determine where your next hire should be or where you should make improvements in your operations.