I got the most astounding and rude email this week. I sent out a follow up email to a number of people who had filled out the application form to join my Virtual Assistant team but never took it any further. Basically I was just making sure they had realised there were more steps – I wasn’t sure if they’d seen the autoresponder messages (only 2 of them from a new service) after they’d filled out the form.
One response came back very quickly with two very loud and bolded words telling me where to go. Not signed off but when I scrolled through past emails for that particular address I was soon able to determine who had sent it, where they lived and other information based on the form they had originally filled out only a month ago.
Why are people so rude online? Or is this person like that all the time? I simply responded reminding them they had filled out the form (and sent them a copy of what I’d received) and hoped they had a better day from now on.
What they forget is that email can be forwarded on or saved and if this person contacted me again further down the track I’d be very wary of their ability to manage a business as a VA, be a representative of my team and treat clients in the way they should be treated – politely and with suitable language.
I encourage you to think carefully before hitting send. There are days when you can get annoyed or angry about something but don’t take it out through the email you’re sending – it could end up being the reason why you miss out on a job, lose a client or something else.
Kathie is the owner of VA Directory and is former past President of the Australian VA Association. She founded the Virtual Assistant industry in Australia in the mid 90s, having already been operating a home-based secretarial service. Today the VA industry covers a multitude of office-based services for clients worldwide.
