A 2016 study by Fluent found 82% of people use their smartphones for email, making it the single most popular activity on a smartphone. And with more and more business emails being sent from phones, people wonder how to keep email professional while keeping with the simple convenience of cell phones.
Email Signature
All smartphones come with branded signatures. Some have heavy branding, such as “Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone”, while others shorten it to “Sent from my iPhone”. Regardless of your phone or network, there is no reason for every business email you send to be an advertisement for your phone or carrier.
So what should you say? Since cell phone email tend to be short and often flawed, it is worth adding a signature that says “Sent from my cell phone”. If you want, you can also include basic information, inclouding your name, company, and cell phone number. But leave it at that. Short messages are best matched by short signatures.
To summarize, here are a few signatures I would use:
- Joe Grossbauer, GGNet Technologies
Sent from my cell phone - Sent from my cell phone
123-456-7890 - Sent from my cell phone
If you’re wondering what I actually use, it’s the last one. A short signature is all you really need!
Your Name
When you look at your inbox, you see emails listed first by the person’s name and next by the subject line. When you send mobile email, that name comes from your account settings on your phone, and many people have it set wrong. Just go into your account settings and look for a field called “Your name”, and make sure it is set to your name. While you can include extra information, such as “Joe Grossbauer, GGNet Technologies”, I usually recommend against it, since extra information gets cut off in most viewers. See Configuring Your Email Account at the bottom for exactly how to do this on your phone.
Reply Promptly
Today, both computer and cell phone emails have an important role in business. Computers are good for both fast and detailed emails while you are at your desk. Cell phones are good for quick replies when you aren’t at your desk. Cell phone’s only role then if for a prompt reply. I generally recommend within 2 hours during business hours and within 1 day off-hours. Otherwise, you may choose to wait until you are on your computer.
Of course, these suggestions will vary by business, so you can use common sense. A roofing contractor may take two days to reply via cell phone. For me, being in IT, I reply on my cell phone within 1 hour (on the off chance I’m not already at a computer!)
