Hi Ash
I love the 4 hour rule that Sarah has in place and I encourage businesses to implement this as a minimum standard wherever possible.
We live in a world where we expect to be able to have our questions answered pretty much immediately so I feel the 24 hour time frame may not necessarily sit well with many of our clients these days. I know I can be pretty impatient myself when waiting for a response.
Sometimes, a simple acknowledgement of the email is often all that is required, with a time frame around when the issue will be resolved or question answered. Or, perhaps suggesting a time to speak over the phone if it is a complicated matter will help speed up the process - stop the back and forth.
If a team is really under pressure and receiving a huge amount of emails, 4 hours might be a little tough to start off with, but it is a great goal to work towards.
Blocking out time in your calendar to respond to emails at set times during the day can really help with keeping the turnaround time down and my biggest tip - turn off the notifications so you don’t get distracted while completing other tasks.
How does everyone else handle their email turnaround?