Have you sent an email to someone you know, and they didn’t respond? As the saying goes, you hit Send, and crickets.
You checked the email address to be sure it’s correct. You looked in the Sent Folder to be sure it took flight. Days passed, and still no response. Just the sound of crickets.
Until recently I let those occurrences bother me. I would feel a mix of disappointment in the other person and wondering if it was me and we just didn’t have the personal or business bond I thought we had.
Then it happened. I was the cricket culprit. Now I am more emphatic.
I received an email from a friend requesting that I write a recommendation for him. It came in on a hectic day. When I did see it late that night, I made a mental note to reply in the morning. Then I forgot. Excuses, excuses.
After a few days, he sent me a note on Facebook Messenger asking if I had received the message.
Oops. I was mortified. I took care business, and I think all is well now.
The lesson I learned is to carefully look through my emails for messages from friends and associates and at least send back a message saying “Got it. I’ll get back to you tomorrow.” That thirty seconds of effort will put that email in my Sent folder, which is much less filled than the received folder. Then the next day I can look at the Sent messages for a reminder about responses I must make.
Back in the Blackberry days, I had a friend tell me that I answered emails before he sent them. I had a sonar tone on the Blackberry alert me when each email came in, and I would answer them immediately. Of course, that was nuts, and I don’t do it anymore. But I do expect myself to answer emails within twenty-four hours.
How about you?
If you want to test me, send me a message with Crickets as the subject.
