Technically speaking, the above isn’t really a SLA (Service Level Agreement) since a SLA is a contract. But, I think the term can be appropriately used here.
I found this site Babbaco.com (don’t ask why I was there) and on their “Contact Us” page they promised a 3 day response time via email. I never thought about putting an explicit response time on my contact page but I thought it was pretty cool and it speaks a lot about their business.
I think response time can tell someone a lot about how much they care about their clients (and site visitors). A timely response can make it or break it in some respects, especially in a world which demands immediacy.
I think 3 days is pretty long but perhaps it’s about right. What do you think? Do you have an Email SLA? Do you try to respond in a certain amount of time every time?
Brian Ayers says
what would be interesting to know is if they actually take three days to respond or if they are just trying to manage expectations so that when they respond in two days people are excited that its early rather than upset that it wasn't same day.
human3rror says
that's what i was thinking.
Eric Frisch says
The bands that I play with use something like this (i.e. – "we can usually respond to booking requests withing 24 hours") I think it shows our potential employers that we're dedicated to what we're doing and committed to them. Probably doesn't make sense for everyone, but it makes sense to us.
human3rror says
very cool. that does make a lot of sense for that business.
Jay says
Well, it does say "within" 3 days so the response could come in 2 days.
I think 'days' is a little too generic. Does that include weekends and holidays? I think if one is going to use 'days' they need to specify if it is business days or better yet, use hours as the indicator but be willing to stick to it. I read somewhere that people see the word "days" and "hours" differently. '2 days' often appears longer than '48 hours' even though it's the same and the '48' is a higher number. It breaks down because people think of a day in terms of work hours so if you tell somebody at 9:00am on Monday that you'll have whatever it is done "in a day" they will think Tuesday late in the afternoon or evening whereas if you say "24 hours" they're happier because they believe it will be done by 9:00am the following morning. It's up to the individual to offer their commitment in terms of days or hours.
Kyle Reed says
I use to be that guy that responded right away to every email and would get frustrated when it took others a day or two to respond. Now I am realizing why it takes people so long to respond. Can be pretty overwhelming. I try and get to them in a day or two. But it can be a pretty big task when you are getting emails from people you do not know and they are sharing their life journey with you. I love getting them, but it takes me a little while to process and then form a response.
human3rror says
yeah. i understand. I try to respond to every single one in a timely manner. but… it's pretty tough sometimes!
Jay says
I've got 4 emails out to you that you've never responded to.
Slacker.
human3rror says
lame.
Aaron says
I'm not certain you can claim an SLA (in this case) is a contract simply because there is no recourse if they don't meet their supplied SLA.
In other words, if they don't respond to your email within 3 days. . . then what? (Besides the obvious – you don't get a reply.)
human3rror says
yeah, that's my point. is it misused? eh.
Aaron says
Well, they didn't specifically state "Service Level Agreement". That would be you. ๐
human3rror says
๐
human3rror says
dang it.
Tom says
At work, I try to respond usually within 30 minutes.
Elsewhere it kinda depends but I usually try to have a 24 hour turn around time during the week. On the weekends, I may just allot one block of time for responding.
Tom says
Excuse me. I wasn't clear. I meant "within 30 minutes of the person sending me the initial email."
You see, I have this predictive algorithm that anticipates when an email will be received and what it will contain so I can go ahead and respond.
So there..
human3rror says
i try to do it in 30 seconds, so there……:)
Graham Brenna says
I actually do have an email SLA! I have a contact form embedded in http://gbrenna.com/contact and once you email me you'll get an email right back that says; "Thank you for your message! I get a lot of email so kindly allow 2-3 days for a reply, although I'm usually quicker than that."
Matthew says
I don't know how this compares to you guys, but between corporate email (120/day) and private and church email (30-40/day), I have a hard time staying on top of it. I sometimes turn on my out of office to say that the volume of email I'm getting may require me to take a few days to respond. When I'm at my normal pace, I try to stick to an 8 hr turnaround on my emails. If you mail me at noon today, I'm going to try to have a reply to you by 8PM tonight. Something like that anyway…
I've used Xobni before and it showed my stats for emails – I typically reply w/in 30 mins for my customers and 4 hrs internally.
human3rror says
that's pretty good.
bondChristian says
Under promise – over deliver. I agree with the first comment. I like the idea of sticking this up there though. Even if it says we'll respond within three weeks, it sets a commitment to something, which I think is important.
Okay, okay, three weeks is ridiculous… I wouldn't bother with that email either. :>) I hope you see what I'm getting at… and what I think you pointed out.
-Marshall Jones Jr.
Robert says
We have an unwritten rule in our office that we will respond to emails, phone calls, etc. within twenty-four (24) hours. It may simply be a note that says thanks for your email. I will get back to you in the next couple of days. But we make to acknowledge we received the communication and will provide an answer in a specific time frame.
Damond Nollan says
I never really thought about it. Sounds like a good idea, I guess.
human3rror says
๐
John