Commenting on what he calls the biggest inside joke that almost everyone has caught on to, advisor Alex Murguia officially pronounced the death of automatic “out-of-office” email responses. Here’s what people really think when they get your out-of-office response:
• There’s 10 seconds of my life I’ll never get back and another email clogging up my in-box
• With the Internet reaching nearly every corner of the world, I don’t believe you’re really out of touch
• You are outdated and lazy
• I’m 100% sure you read my email
• I expect a response – and soon
Why continue using out-of-office auto-responses? For life balance, some argue, or because they’re at an industry conference. Murguia makes two convincing counter-arguments:
• being a financial advisor is not the best career choice for those who want life balance;
• 90% of the people at conferences have their heads down responding to emails on their tablets or smartphones – and occasionally paying attention just to be polite.
Being out of the office is not the same as being out of touch. The one time to use your out-of-office option is when you are really out of touch, with no access whatsoever. But abuse it and people won’t believe you are out of touch — ever.
