Summary

The article suggests that to prompt a response to an unanswered email, one should include the 'effect of delay' in the subject line to convey urgency and implications of not replying.

Abstract

The author, with nearly two decades of corporate experience, shares a tactic for ensuring email replies from even the busiest and most unresponsive counterparts. Instead of following up with a phone call, the technique involves adding a suffix to the email subject that clearly states the negative consequences of delayed response. This approach is effective because it communicates the urgency and potential worsening of the issue directly in the subject line, which can be seen even in a smartphone inbox without opening the email. The article provides examples of effective subject lines and emphasizes that this method can be used with senior executives who might otherwise overlook emails from junior colleagues. The author also recounts a personal experience where this tactic successfully prompted action from a Vice President who had not responded to a request affecting month-end billing.

Opinions

Emails are an efficient communication tool but can be easily ignored due to high volume.
Including the 'effect of delay' in the subject line makes the urgency apparent and prompts a quicker response.
The tactic is particularly useful when dealing with senior executives who may not prioritize communications from junior staff.
Traditional follow-up methods like phone calls may not always be effective or feasible.
This approach can save time and increase efficiency by avoiding the need for direct intervention from superiors.
The technique can also serve to inform the sender's boss of the urgency, potentially leading to their involvement if necessary.

When Someone Does Not Reply to Your Email? Just Do 1 Thing

Convey the ‘Effect of Delay’ in the subject line

A frustrated executive by master1305 at bigstockphoto

Emails are efficient.

No wonder they come in hundreds - and so also get easily ignored.

Working in the corporate sector for nearly 2 decades, I stumbled on a neat trick. It helped me to get replies to my emails — from the most reticent of counterparts — without having to call.

Here is what I did when someone didn’t reply on time.

I conveyed the ‘effect of delay’ — as a suffix — in the Subject line.

Some examples of such email subjects, the variance of which I recall using at work (in a bank):

Customer List — Await info — Reply to SEC on hold! Mark Ltd .— Usd. 50K Loan Approval — Check return deadline 20 min! Joseph Smith — misplaced Nomination — wants to meet CEO

The subject — especially the suffix at the end — makes it clear what will happen if the counterpart doesn’t revert soon. This made them reply promptly.

(If the subject is becoming long, you can move the third part — the effect of delay — to the first part of the subject.)

Over time, I realized why this approach is effective.

As long as the criticality or urgency is in the content of the email, the counterpart has a valid reason — busy, overlooked, etc.

But a subject like this removes all barriers. The counterpart does not have to even open the email, and yet the subject — even in a smartphone inbox — unmistakably conveys, that the issue will worsen if they don’t reply soon.

It makes them reply promptly.

The standard advice in the corporate sector is, “Just pick up the phone.”

But sometimes the counterpart is not reachable, not picking up the phone, etc., etc. At other times, you will have tens of issues, and may not have the time to call for replies in every case.

This approach is then efficient.

You can use this even when dealing with a Senior counterpart.

Now, seniors (Vice Presidents, etc.) are busy and have to ignore minuscule items, including follow-through emails from juniors.

No offence, but your issue is just not on their priority list.

Words like — Urgent, 2nd Reminder! — etc. no longer moves them. We all have become immune to such tactics.

Rather than approaching your boss every time for help and intervention in such cases, you need to deal with the situation yourself.

This approach will help in those instances too.

One specific example that I recall whenever I think of this tactic:

I, as a junior executive (in a Bank), received a letter from a corporate client seeking a reduction in fees on some bank services.

I spoke to the Head of Sales (a Vice President) and sent the request (client letter) to him.

I then waited. But the revert did not come.

I called. The head of Sales assured me he would get back to me.

I waited a couple of days. Again no revert.

The corporate client had good billing. The revision it sought was significant. To add to the issue, its group companies also had accounts with us. This was possibly the reason why the Head of Sales was taking time.

But for me, a junior executive, it was just another transaction. And – nearing month-end – any further delay was going to affect my work.

Exasperated, I sent a reminder with a revised subject, something like under–

Oscorp Ltd. — Await Fee — Month-end Billing of All Clients on Hold!

This subject had the desired effect.

The Head of Sales got back irritated: “Yes, I know. Will revert by evening.”

In the evening, the decision came through as promised.

As an added benefit, subjects like these — when cc’d to the boss — will prompt your boss to get involved and take over the baton from you.

You won’t have to specifically go and seek your boss’s intervention.

Conclusion

When you need an urgent reply, you will have something inherent in the issue, screaming urgency. You just need to bring it to the fore – in the subject line.

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