Chapter 20 Customer Support, Communication, and Professionalism 867
Emoticons are cartoon face characters made from keyboard symbols to
express emotions in e-mails, letters, and text messaging. The following table lists
some common emoticons.
Emoticon Emotion
: ) Smile or happy.
: o Shock.
: ( Frown.
; ) Wink.
If you have trouble communicating with customers using e-mail, practice
regularly in a business format. Try sending a few e-mails every day to friends
and relatives. Writing e-mail messages daily will sharpen your skills. Use the
principles previously mentioned. The following is a list of key points you should
always remember when communicating through e-mail with customers and clients:
✔ Check your e-mail regularly.
✔ Keep the e-mail brief.
✔ Do not use e-mail emoticons.
✔ Limit the size of file attachments. This is especially true if the customer is
using a 56 k telephone modem.
✔ Never use all capital letters in an e-mail to emphasize a word or phrase. If you
must emphasize a word or phrase, use italics or an asterisk, for example, *this
is very important.* Do not use bold or underline. This can be misinterpreted
as a link.
✔ Never ever send sensitive or inappropriate information in e-mail.
✔ Do not send personal greetings, jokes, or other materials that are not suitable
for the work environment.
emoticons
cartoon face
characters made
from keyboard
symbols to express
emotions in e-mails,
letters, and text
messaging.
Figure 20-10.
Microsoft Outlook
has a tool called
the Out of Office
Assistant, which is
used to send an auto
reply to senders.