Dimitrios BUHALIS - Information Technology for strategic tourism management

21.Nis.2023 Travel e22 1

• Emails can be looked up and found available in the main hosting servers 7 years after deletion.source: secret!

Dimitrios BUHALIS - Information Technology for strategic tourism management

• Aprrox. 100 billion emails sent worldwide during the year 1995.

• 5.5 trillion emails sent 2002

• 7 trillion sent in 2003• 11 trillion sent in 2004

Critical Mail Techniques in a Global Market Place

• This does not include spam or email notifications!

Statistics for January 2008 Statistics for January 2008

Spam StatisticsSpam Statistics• Rate of Spam: 63.28%Rate of Spam: 63.28%• Main Sources of Spam:Main Sources of Spam:

1. United States - 43.18%1. United States - 43.18%

2. Germany - 39.77%2. Germany - 39.77%

3. Poland - 5.07%3. Poland - 5.07%

4. France - 4.05%4. France - 4.05%

5. Singapore - 2.19% 5. Singapore - 2.19%

Virus StatisticsVirus Statistics• Rate of Virus Infection: Rate of Virus Infection:

4.17%4.17%


Metacommunications

• Metacommunications are even more prevalent in email than regular snail mail! WHY?

• Fast response rate• Poorly written sentences• Poor use of grammer• Emails should not reflect emotions• We just DON’T THINK when we write

emails!• In its basic form, a metacommunication is an act

of communication between two agents that also communicates something about the communication itself, or about the relationship between the two agents, or both.• Metacommunication - something that means different (often contradictory) things at different levels.e.g.: The speech act "Trust Me" often conveys the exact opposite of its literal meaning.


• Business failure to communicate is awesome!2/3 of all customer dissatisfaction is directly affected by failure to communicate

• Primary source of quality failure is miscommunication and misunderstanding between the client and the professional

• In Singapore, EMAIL CONTRACTS are as good as the written contracts by law.

• Atlanta Journal Newspaper has lost $ 119 million just because of a wrongly written email..

• 81% say that emails with grammatical errors create negative feelings when reading..

Metacommunications

Facts


• England 11%• Spain 4%• Germany 1%

• Reading from screen vs. reading the paper• Reading from screen diminishes your reading

quality and attention by 43 % !

Facts• They rejected that they received emails although

they did:

• In English, 90% of words ending with “ly” are unnecessary and offensive in emails.

• 67 % never read the end line!..

• I have only 3 pages, may I use the copy machine...40%

• Be honest! It works!

• May I use the copy machine, I’m in a rush..............80%• May I use the copy machine, I gotto make copies ..93%


Other research indicates that email messages areOther research indicates that email messages areperceived as being 10perceived as being 10 times more “rude” than any times more “rude” than any

other other form of communication.form of communication.

FactsAccording to aAccording to a 2007 survey, 2007 survey, 94.6% of respondents94.6% of respondentssaid they changed their opinion about someone based said they changed their opinion about someone based on his/her email messageon his/her email message, or the way, or the way it was written.it was written.


• Never leave empty• Do not put company’s name in the subject line• Must point out what to expect in the content of the

email

How to write better Mailsthat our business count on

1. Better subject lines.

2. Stop selling your features: If everyone else offers the same features, consider beginning your proposal with;• Our competition will do a great job for you. We’ll do

an awesome one!..

3. Compel them with the absolute most important benefit

to them.• What is the absolute most compelling information they need?

• Instead of data dumping everything, start with the one most fabulous benefit you offer

• Get them seeing it, feeling it, tasting it


• Do not send a routine email written in CAPS, but an occasional word in a sales proposal that is made bold, or capitalized, or emphasized with color or italics, gets attention..

4. Be unpredictable


• Nothing sells faster and better than social proof.• Testimonials are powerful because they speak to the

reader in a manner that we can’t.

5. Use testimonials

6. Respond to the issue, not the emotion• You can honor the person waiting for your response

with a quick response, as long as the response is purposeful and respectful.


7. Always give reasons when you make a request.• Researchers at Harvard, McGill and other prestigious

universities around the world have determined that response rate is almost doubled when the reason for the request is provided, along with the request. Even if you think the recipient of your email knows why you're asking, you'll get a better response if you tell him/her again


8. Don't email jokes. Ever..• Eliminate anything that is Crude & Rude. How do you

know if it's C or R? If you think it is, it probably is• Writers use 10 times more rude remarks in email!

9. Email is a business communication • Email isn't as formal as a traditional mail document

and it isn't as informal as conversation. Email is a business communication and should be written with that in mind



10. Spell check and then read it before sending. Spell check is NOT ENOUGH!

• Eliminate anything that is Crude & Rude. How do you know if it's C or R? If you think it is, it probably is

11. Be concise & precise. • Express much in few words. Use short words• Say things clearly, must value their time• Ideally, we’d be able to simply respond “Yes” to

another’srequest, and be done with it. Realistically, this can be both confusing and rude to the

recipient. Evenwhen “yes” is all you may feel you need to say, take a breath

and anextra second to explain yourself. “Yes, I like the idea”, “Yes, that makes sense”, “Yes, let’s roll

with it”,“Yes. Great idea!”


14. Be careful with pictures

15. Sweat the details


• Spell check• Reread Reread Reread!

Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht ordr the ltteers in a word are, the olny iprmaatnt tihng is taht the frist and the last ltteer be in the rghit pclae.

12. Resist the urge to tell everyone, everything .

13. Do not put your logo everywhere, try not put any



16. Avoid “ooops” emails• Don’t forget the attachments. Make the attachment

first!17. Consider separate emails for separate subjects

• Never give good news and bad news in the same email

18. Don’t use CAPS, it is considered OFFENSIVE

19. Avoid “Reply All”s

20. NEVER EVER send jokes in your work emails...

21. NEVER EVER use Smiley faces in your work email



22. Make it short, clear and real:• Enclosed please find = I’ve attached• Please feel free to give me a call = please call me• Please feel free to give me a call = please call me• A.S.A.P*** = This is urgent

23. Answer questions within the body of their email. • When you’re presented with a list of questions, you’ll

save time by responding directly after each question.

24. Write for the “hot zone”. Readers pay most attention to the beginning of an

email.Make your message important to them within the

first 3 lines (not sentences). Don’t waste precious times

withplatitudes like: “It was a pleasure talking to you

today.”


How to write better Mails

Any question that your reader may think is appropriate for

you to ask, or any question that requires an essayworth of information to fully answer is an UQ. “How

areyou?” is a perfect example of an unanswerable question.Do you really want to know how they are? If so, be realAnd call them to find out. “What do you think about…” is

anotherexample. Do you expect them to take the time to actually tell

youwhat they think? Pick up the phone!

25. Don’t ask “unanswerable questions”

26. Avoid annoying others. The top 5 email gripes are:

Overusing capital lettersUsing too many abbreviationsLeaving the subject line blankBeing copied for no reasonWriters being “overfriendly”


Accept the limitations of Mail

Here is short list of situations when using email is ineffective or worse

• When you're trying to reach consensus (takes significantly longer to do this with email)

• Please feel free to give me a call = please call me

• When the message is very long (call first and then use

email to confirm the main points) • When the news is really bad ("routine" bad is fine;

really bad is not) • When the reader has a different agenda than you do

(and part of that is making you look bad)


• When the information is sensitive (disclaimers do not protect you!)


• When the information is confidential (so easy to file

and forward) • When you're communicating with someone who

prefers the phone to email (duh!)

• When the person is in the next cubicle and you easily could stick your head to the left of your computer and just ask! (The CEO of a large Convention and Visitors Bureau actually had the server shut down when he realized that people were emailing each other when they could have glanced over at that person and given them the information!)


• Am I trying to resolve a conflict? Pick up the phone or

schedule a meeting.


• What conversation am I avoiding? Is there more that I need to talk about with this person and am choosing to ignore it/not go there and take the easy way out by

emailing?


• http://www.cnn.com/2004/BUSINESS/06/29/go.email/index.html

Our reliance on Mail could quickly become slavery..

• http://www.cnn.com/2004/BUSINESS/09/15/email.sins/index.html

• http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2004/08/15/researchers_seek_to_untangle_the_e_mail_thread/

• http://www.cnn.com/2004/BUSINESS/09/15/email.sins/index.html

Dimitrios BUHALIS - Information Technology for strategic tourism management

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