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COVER STORY 34 Email Etiquette and Disclaimers
a checkbox for registrants to indicate that they would like to receive special off ers, newslet ers, and so on from your company. Otherwise, your email may well be considered junk mail (spam) to them and their computer may even automatically classify your message as such, resulting in the recipient never even opening it.
Once a prospect
leaves your email and heads to a different website, it can be a real struggle to get them back.
Even if you are sure that the recipient has asked to be
included, it is not a bad idea to note his or her request in your email, at least the fi rst time. “You indicated that you would like to receive our latest news…” can be an eff ective opening line, or can be part of the disclaimer at the bot om of the message (see below). T is aspect should also serve as a means of reminding someone who may not yet be a regular customer of who your company is and why you are contacting them; aſt er all, some potential customers may be registering at dozens of websites a week. Whatever your email message, try to keep it tight
and to the point. Bulking up an email with handfuls of customer testimonies, product ratings, or other informa- tion that is not specifi cally related to the off er at hand is extraneous and time-consuming both to write and, more
importantly, to read. For the same reason, links should be used extremely sparingly, especially to third-party sites where there is an article or product review that is germane to your subject. Once a prospect leaves your email and heads to a diff erent website, it can be a real struggle to get them back.
Disclaimers and Disclosures Disclaimers are also an important component to your email marketing because they not only make clear your responsibilities to the customer, but also serve as a means of legal protection. If you are on an email list from almost any kind of retailer, you are probably aware of the disclaimers that usually appear at the bot om of message.
“In-stock guarantee is not valid at Waldenbooks or Borders Express stores,” notes a recent blast email from Borders. “Free shipping applies to standard shipping and handling expenses on Borders Search and Borders. com purchases shipped to a single address within the continental U.S., Alaska, or Hawaii only. Excludes priority shipping, express shipping, and orders shipped to international addresses. Free shipping does not apply to purchases of gift cards and used items offered via Borders Marketplace. Borders reserves the right to change or discontinue the in-stock guarantee at any time without notice.”
T at is certainly a mouthful, and it is doubtful that
many Borders customers bother to read such a paragraph in its entirety, at least not more than once. However, this careful wording has almost certainly helped in any number of disputes with customers who may have balked at not receiving the advertised free shipping when they sent a giſt to Aunt Mim in Budapest. T at the disclaimer notes the “free shipping” off er does
not apply to international off ers not once but twice, helps Borders when it comes to such debates, though it may not mollify Aunt Mim or her patron. T e proviso noting that the store can discontinue or otherwise alter its “in-stock guarantee” whenever the whim strikes will not win the bookstore many fans either, but it should prevent Borders from any number of outraged legal actions.
Continued On 38 36 November November 2010
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