It is summer, which means that the vacation season has officially started. Being out of town also means that it is time to prepare and set up your out-of-office email. While most out-of-office emails are universal and thereby, lead to a dead end, yours does not have to be. Usually, these automatic emails politely inform those who wish to reach you that you are unavailable. However, if you take some time before you go on vacation to creatively enable your out-of-office email, it can be informative and continue to make an impact – even when you are not around. Remember, that you are your own best advocate. So do yourself a favor and take advantage of an easy and efficient opportunity to keep people updated on your activities. Below, we provide you with 4 ways to leverage your out-of-office email and still show your colleagues and business partners that you value their communications.
Provide a link to useful information
An effective and useful way, to keep people engaged when you are out of the office, is by including a link to a recent article that you either wrote yourself or find relevant and interesting to your work or business. People want to be informed and appreciate it when you continue to be a helpful source of interesting and useful information, even when you are not around or simply out of reach. However, if you like the idea of including a link to an article in your out-of-office message, be sure to share a different link the next time you are out of office so you do not link to the same article twice.
Tell others about recent achievements
When you are temporarily disconnected during your vacation, consider sharing a recent achievement in your out-of-office email reply. Let others know about a successful project you or your team have accomplished. If you are proud of it and the public is allowed to be informed, it can be a good idea to share it. By sharing successful business stories and accomplishments, it helps others understand what you are capable of and thereby where you can add value in a potential business relationship. Ultimately, this can translate into people coming to you for your expertise and opinions on various issues and business matters.
Give a sneak peek
Another way of making your out-of-office message more exciting and create more value, is to let people know about upcoming projects or collaborations that you are working on at the moment or what is exciting in your company’s pipeline. This not only creates interest but also keeps your business contacts informed of your company’s commitments. Needless to say, this make the people who are trying to get in touch with you curious and gives them a good reason to contact you when you return from your vacation. They will want to hear more about the exciting business projects you are working on and how such projects could be related to their business.
Use it also when you are working
You do not actually have to be away to set up your out-of-office email. If you are participating in a conference or engaging in an off-site team-building event, consider including this in your message. You could say something like: “I am attending this year’s XYZ Conference because I wish to learn more about what’s new in AI from respected KOLs within the field.” By providing this information in your out-of-office email, you highlight an activity of your own and a connection with industry leaders and other knowledgeable people, which is always inspiring. In return, your professionalism and creditability is heightened by associating yourself with people who are considered experts in their field.
The out-of-office email is not necessarily the time to temporarily check out of your job. Grab the opportunity to keep people and business partners posted on exciting things you are accomplishing. Take advantage of this to stand out, encourage new business opportunities and promote yourself. You might see new business opportunities arise while you are relaxing and enjoying your vacation.
