Let Microsoft Outlook help you manage your e-mail efficiently!

Answering your business email promptly should be a priority for every business. Not only is e-mail an important communication line with your customers, it is often used by them to gauge that your trustworthy.

If a customer sends you an e-mail with a simple question, and you take forever to answer it, what does that say about the rest of your operation? It's one of the tell-tale signs customers use to separate men from boys. And we all want to play with the big guys, don't we?

Business email should be answered within 24 hours max. No exceptions. At that rate, you’re doing a lot better than a lot of other businesses. If you really want your customer service to shine, you should consider answering your business email twice a day with a 12 hour interval. Or more often, as your business warrants.

Let me show you how you can handle your e-mail efficiently with Microsoft Outlook™ 2003.
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You can read each chapter of Efficient E-mail with Outlook 2003 in its entirety from any of the above links.

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Microsoft Outlook Help - Chapters

CHAPTER 1 Let Microsoft Outlook help you manage your e-mail efficiently! (THIS PAGE)
I wrote this guide to show you how to make full use of Microsoft Outlook 2003. The tool has so much functions to let you and your business shine, it's a shame they're not used more often.

CHAPTER 2 Automatic Reply on Receipt
Whatever interval you choose, it's just common courtesy to let your customer know these two things, as soon as you receive the mail...

» SECTION 2.1 Setting up an Automatic Reply rule
In this practical guide I assume that you have set up a specific mailbox for support requests, called something like support, and that Outlook™ is able to receive e-mails sent to that mailbox.

CHAPTER 3 Keep Track of your Customers
Keeping track of customers is important, if you don't want to look silly.

» SECTION 3.1 Creating a contact
Few people know this, but creating a contact can be done extremely easy with the e-mail message.

» SECTION 3.2 Overview of Contact Activities
This is a very powerful function!

CHAPTER 4 Planning your Follow-up
OK. Your customer has sent you a support request. The automatic reply rule has done its job, the customer is up to speed. She knows that the mail is in your inbox, and she expects an answer. Within 12 hours.

» SECTION 4.1 Create tasks for Messages
Similarly as with Contacts, it is very easy to add a task for an e-mail.

CHAPTER 5 Keep Track of your Work with Journal Items
You can create Journal items to keep track of when you have done activities, and link it to certain activities.

CHAPTER 6 Keep out of the Customers Junk Mailbox
I have one more important issue for you. Let me ask a couple of questions...