Just a few short years ago, email was a "kewl" toy for quick communication. Not everyone took it seriously and it certainly wasn't a recognized form of business communication. As a result, email wasn't always checked for spelling, grammar and proper English. Liberties were taken using a new form of Internet shorthand and buzzwords like "kewl" and phrases like "ttul" for "talk to you later" became common in this relaxed form of correspondence.
Today's environment is different. We use email to communicate with peers, vendors, customers, and even regulators. Official communications that represent you and your bank are conducted many, many times everyday with the click of a few keys and a Send button.
But everyday I see messages that demonstrate that this communication is not taken seriously. The thought process that went into an official letter or memo, the formatting and wordsmithing, is all but forsaken for the convenience of "whipping out" a quick email. How often have you read a letter to the bank that had so many typographical and grammatical errors that you lost sight of the message itself and the author of that message lost credibility because it was so poorly written?
Now that email is accepted by nearly everyone, people should focus on their e-writing skills and follow some simple rules to effectively and appropriately communicate via this medium.
Security implications. Email is not secure. Do not send confidential information on a postcard-like message. It can be read or intercepted many times between the sender and receiver. And if those Internet servers are archiving or backing up data passing through them, it is like allowing each person handling your postcard to make a photocopy of it. This is not the place for nonpublic personal information. I have received consumers' names, addresses and Social Security Account Numbers in messages. And I have received health insurance usage statistics for a bank in emails. Yes, plural. Both of these were as a result of the sender using the wrong address. Inattention to detail is a very poor practice. Ensure you have the correct address and that your message is going to, and only to, the intended recipients. Consider adding a disclaimer to your messages to protect the content. This has been discussed in a recent BankersOnline.com article. While it won't stop a misdirected message from being read, it may stop it from being further disseminated and it could possibly help mitigate damages in the event you are sued for negligence if the information falls into the wrong hands.
If a customer emails you and wants information deemed confidential sent back to them, remember that you cannot verify the sender's identification in these instances. Refer them to a suitable medium. And you should not respond to someone who sends you information that is confidential by including his or her message in your response. Delete it from any reply you send and encourage them not to do this again. Email can be read along the way, and in some cases it always is. Many employers scan messages both in and out, for content.
Email through your Internet banking product may be secured and the user is authenticated when they signed in with a username and password. Now you have authenticity and security. Correspondence that includes confidential information would be acceptable here.
Viruses and Worms. Thousands of productive hours have been lost because someone received a virus as an email attachment and was foolish enough to open it. At one time the rule of thumb was to not open attachments from someone you didn't know. Now that viruses have the ability to spoof a sender's address (i.e., to make it look as if they came from someone other than the true sender), the rule is to not open any attachment you are not expecting and that you have not scanned with an up-to-date virus protection program.
Do not fall victim to viruses and worms. Not only do you not want to spend hours ridding your computer of the virus, but you also don't want to have to explain to people in your Contacts list, peers, vendors, customers or regulators, that you unknowingly sent them a virus after you opened it.
Subject lines are important. Use succinct subject lines in your email. Using poor wording or, worse yet, leaving the subject line blank, may cause the recipient to trash your message thinking it is spam.
If you are working on a very important project and need to finish it before you go to Las Vegas for your vacation, sending an email to someone you need information from with a subject line of "The Casino Can't Wait" is not going to get you the assistance you need. "Urgent", "Important" or "Confidential" will not help you either. Because of such words in your subject line, email spam filters may delete your message before it is ever seen.
Avoid mixing messages. Do not mix messages in your email. If you receive a question from a branch manager on CIP signage and in your response ask them a follow-up question about a Reg. CC issue, each of you may have difficulty in finding that message later if you need to refer back to it. One message, one topic.
I prefer to respond to a message by including the original message in my reply. This way, saving one message explains the problem and the solution in an efficient manner. It provides an accurate record of what transpired.
Make your emails look professional. Use a spell checker and a grammar checker if available. Email should be considered professional correspondence and authored with no less attention than a business letter to your best customer.
Formatting a message can be difficult and most users stay with plain text or an HTML template. Do not use stationary in your email that makes it difficult to read the message itself. And before you send that HTML message, know that your reader can receive it. Some recipients may be using a type of email program that only allows them to read text.
Email etiquette is important for several reasons. It demonstrates your professionalism, it promotes efficiency, and it reduces liability. Your reputation and that of your bank are shown each time you correspond through email. Be sure you are setting the best image you can so that customers understand how important they and their personal information are to you.
The original version appeared in the July/August 2003 edition of the Oklahoma Bankers Association Compliance Informer.
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