I talked the other day about iStockphoto’s reminders to use previously purchased credits. While their timely reminders were helpful, I had one grievance with their email content. Near the end of the message they state (emphasis is mine):
If you have any questions please feel free to contact us at 1-866-478-6251 or [email protected]
Thank you,
iStockphoto—
Please do not respond directly to this e-mail. The originating e-mail account is not monitored.
So while they could give me the [email protected] email in the body of the email message, they couldn’t set the “from” email field with that same address.
Setting the “from” address on an email is a trivial programming exercise. Many companies already do this, so why not iStockphoto?
People hit reply
Most users of email applications will hit the reply button when they wish to respond to an email. Don’t force them to use other, more inconvenient methods to respond to your email.
Be approachable
Messages that tell the customer to not respond to an email reinforce the thought that they are just a number and aren’t getting personal attention.
Your automated emails should be sent from an address that is monitored and processed by someone in your company.