I saw an article this morning about how to write a good out-of-office email and reminded myself that I’ve never used one. I don’t want to tell anyone that I am in or out of the office. I don’t want a leash.
Why do your clients need to know where you are? And why does it matter if you’re out? Do you need to be “in the office” to receive or reply to an email?
No, you don’t.
“What about when I’m out of town and cannot be “reached” (i.e., on vacation?) I won’t even look at their email for two weeks. Don’t I need to tell them that?”
No. Nobody needs to know where you are, or for how long, or when you might read or reply to their email.
Yes, you do need to be accessible. Clients need to know that when they need help, they can count on you. But that doesn’t mean they should expect a personal reply to every email or phone call. You have staff to do that for you.
In fact, why are you even giving your clients your email? Do you have your doctor’s email? If he provides one at all, it’s for his office, and if you write to him, someone in the office will reply. You don’t know whether your doctor is in the office, at the hospital, or on the golf course. If it’s an emergency, someone will be able to reach him.
And that’s how it should work for you.
If you are a lone wolf, have one email for your office, another for you in your capacity as a lawyer, and another for personal matters. Don’t give everyone your lawyer email. Give them the official office email, and make sure they know that someone else will be reading it.
Don’t give everyone your cell number, either. Get an answering service who can call you if it’s an emergency, and take messages if it is not.
When I started practicing, in the days before email and cell phones, I had a secretary, an answering service, and a pager. A client could reach my “office†at midnight if they wanted to, but unless it was a true emergency, nobody called them back until the morning.
I was accessible, but on my terms. I served my clients, but I wasn’t at their beck and call.
