Our #1 top tip to annoy your customers – and 5 reasons why you should stop!
Tzara Spurrier - 18 March 2015
A happy customer leads to a successful business and so of course you want to keep your customers feeling loved and appreciated. In the online world, consumers are getting increasingly demanding and you are often only a click or an email away from losing their custom to one of the many competitors out there. This means that it’s vital not to annoy them – but some small companies can be putting off their customers without even realising it!
You might be surprised to find out that one of the things that customers find most annoying about dealing with online businesses is when communications come via a no-reply email address. This can be extremely damaging for the customer relationship so here are 5 reasons why you need to stop.
1. A no-reply email means bad customer service
As a business you spend your time telling your customers how important they are to you. But then when you reach out to contact them you won’t let them contact you back! For example you might send out a marketing email about a great new product that you have just launched. The customer sees it and starts to hit reply to order it – but you have put a no-reply email address on so they can’t.
This makes life more difficult for the customer. They have to work out how they can contact you and, by the time they realised that they will have to leave their emails and search your website for the product, you may have lost the sale. A no-reply email address also sends the message to customer that they are not important and makes your business seem faceless and unfriendly.
2. A no-reply email can send your communications straight to spam
We all know how annoying it is to keep getting emails clogging up your inbox. When your customers get an email from you and want to unsubscribe, they will not always spend time looking for the unsubscribe button. Instead they will hit reply and when they realise that they can’t reply they will simply mark your email as spam.
As well as meaning that none of your future communications will get through, you also lose a vital chance to talk to your customer. If you let them email you directly you could ask them why they don’t want emails anymore and remind them that they might miss out on special offers or new products.
3. A no-reply email means that you miss out on ‘out of office’ replies
One of the reasons people choose a no-reply email address is precisely because they don’t want their inbox full of ‘out of office’ emails. However these can actually be a goldmine of information that can help you to keep your contacts database up to date and relevant. They are a great way to find out if people have left the company or even to get phone numbers and alternative email addresses. This means that when you send your marketing emails out, you know that you are reaching the right people.
4. A no-reply email means that customers can’t add you to their address books
If you don’t have an email address, customers can’t add you to their address books. This means that your communications are more likely to go into the spam folder and not be seen. It also means that it’s harder for customers to contact you when they need to as your address won’t be there for them to use.
5. A no-reply email can be illegal in some countries!
Did you know that in some countries it can be illegal not to have an email address to reply to? So, if you are emailing customers abroad it is worth checking what their rules are on this issue.
These 5 points can help you see just how important it is to have a proper email address for your customers to reply to. It makes you accessible, friendly and can help to open up dialogue with your customers. It also ensures that your communications are far more effective and will reach the customers you want to talk to.
