Dealing with reader email
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The full benefit of feedback for your publication is only realized when you respond to it. So always respond as quickly as you can to every incoming reader communication. Do this irrespective of whether the feedback is brief, comprehensive, positive or negative.
There is a paradox in people's attitudes to email correspondence on the Internet. On the one hand, expectations are very high - people want as immediate a response as possible. On the other hand, their experience has told them (unfortunately) that most organizations and publishers are simply appalling at responding to email.
Responding quickly to reader mail gives you the opportunity to excel in comparison with your peers. This means you need to have a solid system in place for monitoring feedback email addresses.
There are those who argue that there is no need to respond to brief feedback of the "Great issue. Thanks" kind. I disagree.
Every email from a reader is an opportunity to remove the anonymity from the reader-publisher relationship. Replying tells the reader that there is a human reading and respecting their comments.
Additionally, once the reader knows you're there and you care, you may find them willing to engage in much closer and comprehensive communication, with all the opportunities that offers for learning from that reader and turning that reader into an enthusiast for your publication.
Nothing beats a personal response, but if you don't have the resources for dealing with reader mail, consider an autoresponder or form reply, where you:
- thank the reader for their comments.
- explain that you might not be able to get to the mail immediately (if at all).
- assure them that you'll give due attention to what they say.
Make sure your automatic response matches the way you request feedback. Don't, for example, stress how reader feedback is your number one priority and then offer a form response saying you're unable to actually reply to it.
However you respond to feedback, make sure you match the tone and personality of your newsletter. Don't slip into machine- or marketing-speak.
The advice on using the human approach given later applies just as much to your reader correspondence as it does to your email newsletters.
The dark side of feedback
Not all feedback is positive of course. Some of it will be criticism. Some of it may be downright rude and nasty. One of the biggest tests of your professionalism lies in how you handle such feedback.
First, realize that negative feedback is equally valuable feedback. While we'd all like to be perfect, none of us are. Negative feedback provides as many insights into your readers' needs and your publication's ability to match those needs as does positive feedback. So welcome it.
Second, rude, nasty or aggressive email isn't always what it seems. No other medium has quite the same capacity to generate misunderstandings than email. Don't jump to conclusions.
Don't let yourself be fazed by aggressive tones in feedback. Yes, the anonymity of the Internet has led people to exceed the bounds of conventional politeness. Yes, it's distasteful. But in many cases, the rude and aggressive tone isn't really addressed at you.
Many people are used to getting pretty poor customer service on the Web. Emails are ignored, or the response is some generic blah blah or just plain useless. Some people feel the need to shout louder just to get through. Others never dreamt the mail would actually be read by a human being.
The aggressive tone is just some personal venting. Others are simply frustrated at their inability to master this technology. Frustration leads to anger.
So don't get defensive, aggressive or condescending, even though the temptation may be great (believe me, I've been there a hundred times).
While fighting aggression with aggression might give a fleeting sense or triumph, regret often follows, especially when you find yourself in a drawn out conversation, having just insulted your largest shareholder, or appearing on a "yourcompanysucks.com" website.
Simply try and solve a problem, or respond to an opinion. The idea is just to satisfy the reader to the extent possible. And they'll thank you for it. Indeed, you'll often find that a polite, considered response evokes a very positive reaction.
In fact, you might turn a few readers into evangelists for your newsletter, simply because you took the trouble to read and respond to their mails.
The same principles apply to those emails you may feel are "intellectually challenged". First, your assumption may be false. Readers may have difficulty expressing themselves because they're writing in a foreign language, for example. Second, what is obvious to you often isn't obvious to others. So respect your readers.
Having said all that, there are occasions when you don't want to respond to a reader's mail. Some mail will clearly not require a response (the ones that threaten to sue you if you ever send them another email come to mind).
It's also wise not to let yourself get drawn into overly long email conversations, which can become a drain on resources. Leave those emails containing particularly foul and abusive language alone.
Using feedback
Finally, take care when analyzing and using feedback. Always bear in mind who has sent it and how many people share their opinion. The classic market research trap is to take one person's opinions and extrapolate it to the entire market. So when considering ideas and suggestions, for example, ask yourself some questions:
- is this reader part of my target market?
- are other readers saying something similar?
- do these suggestions make intrinsic sense?
- do they fit the criteria outlined in this report for choosing content, layouts, personality etc.?
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