In past blog entries I’ve discussed sales enablement, sales productivity, the need for sales reps to get closer to customers, etc.  Let me get a bit more tactical here . . . in fact, much more tactical.  The Email Signature.

I can’t tell you how many emails that I’ve received that lack even the most basic information in the signature part of the email.  I recently had a need to contact a vendor to get a quote from them for a project I was working on.  The sales person at this vendor had recently reached out to me after I met her at an event.  As I opened up her email to phone her, I was dismayed to find that there was no phone # or other information in her email.  Yes, I did have her email address, however, in my rush to get a quote for this project, I wanted to simply pick up the phone and call her.  I suppose that I’m a bit old fashioned in that sense.  I did eventually email this vendor and get their full contact information, however the lack of an email signature did inhibit my ability to reach out to this salesperson. 

The point here is not that you’ll lose every deal if you don’t put your full contact information in the signature part of your emails.  However, in this digital age you want to make it as easy as possible for your partners, prospects and customers to connect with you; either by email, phone, Linked-In, your web site, your blog or other means.  That said, we also need to be careful about including too much information in our email signature, leaving your readers thinking “that’s more than I wanted to know about you”.  (here’s a relevant blog with additional information: http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/09/18/creating-an-effective-email-signature/)

Here is what I think are the bare essentials to include in your email signature:

Name, Title (helps your contacts understand your role in the organization as well as your business needs/interests)
Company
Phone #
Web site
Legally Required Information

And for you crackberry addicts out there, have you updated your email signatures on your mobile device recently?

Any good or bad examples to show?  Please share below.

Best Regards,
Michael

Michael Gerard
VP, IDC Sales Advisory Practice
Phone: 508-988-6758
Linked-In:  http://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelgerard
Twitter:  http://twitter.com/michaelgerard
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