Email Autoresponder
An email autoresponder is when people who send you an email are automatically sent a response. This can be beneficial if you are going on vacation or plan not to be able to access your email for a period of time. You can tailor a message to say that you have received the email and are out of the office/out of contact until a certain date. At least then the sender will know not to expect an immediate reply.
You can also use email autoresponders to send an immediate reply to people who order from you. This saves people wondering if their order was received. You may also provide additional information in the email like a contact number if people wish to call you after ordering. This is a good customer service step and one that can make all the difference in obtaining repeat customers. People like to receive something in their email after spending money online and setting up an email autoresponder through your web host easily provides this functionality to you.
How to set up an email autoresponder
It is possible to quickly set up an email autoresponder through your web hosting control panel. Most web hosts will provide this functionality. If you are using cPanel, this is how you set up an email autoresponder:
- Log into you cPanel account
- Click the Auto Responders link
- Enter the email address that you wish to use the autoresponder with
- Type your from name and email subject
- Enter your email message that the person will receive in reply to the email they send you whilst the email autoresponder is active.
- Click Create/Modify
Your autoresponder is now set up!
You will not have to do anything else as the autoresponder works on its own. You should however remember to delete it or disable it once you return from vacation (if that is your purpose for using the autoresponder).
Email autoresponders are an excellent way to inform people of your absence or simply to keep up good customer service standards with your clients so make sure your prospective web host provides a free email autoresponder with your hosting account.