I was at a dinner party several weeks ago when the topic turned to email delivery. One of the dinner guests complained how he couldn’t send email to the hostess using her work email address. Another chimed with a complaint about file attachments. These weren’t spammers or people with huge mailing lists. In each case, there were steps people could’ve taken to increase email deliverability. Much of it has to do with knowing some email ground rules. We compiled a list of questions you should know the answers to about your company’s email system.

Spam Filters, Lists and Folders

There are basics everyone should know about their company email system. The problem is few companies convey to employees the basics about their systems. One big issue I see is not informing employees if lists are used. White listing is a practice of pre-approving an email address or domain so inbound email gets through. As example, your employer may automatically whitelist everyone that is in your address book.

The flipside is blacklisting which blocks inbound email based on specific rules or parameters. To fight spam, some companies implemented more aggressive rules. I had a friend who learned at a trade show that he lost a substantial sale. The prospect sent several emails to the company with follow up questions on the product line. The prospect assumed the company didn’t want their business because they never answered his emails. I suggested my friend talk to his email administrator. He learned the email administrated blocked all inbound email from Brazil because he thought that traffic was from spammers. This was an issue for my friend since South America was his territory.

Even with the proper use of lists, good email can be flagged as spam. Depending on the email configuration, your company may have one spam folder or assign one to every employee. In the case of a corporate spam folder, an email administrator may have the job of reading that email. And yes, some of the email may be addressed to you.

Questions to answer:

• Who is your company’s email administrator?
• Does your company use whitelists or blacklists?
• How are email addresses added to a whitelist?
• Does your company allow email from people not on a whitelist?
• Where do the blacklisted entries go?
• Could your company’s spam rules or lists be influencing your prospects or customers?
• Does your company have a central spam folder or does each employee have their own?
• Do you know how to access your spam folder?

File Size Matters

This is a pet peeve of mine as I frequently run into file size error messages. I’ll send a company an attached file and get either a generic error message about size or a size that’s inaccurate. The next step is for me to try to find out the size the system accepts. The worst case is when the error message says it allows up to 2MB message, but it’s really 1.6MB.

I don’t mind companies imposing a size limit, as they need to draw the line somewhere. Just don’t give me an error message that reads, “File may exceed size limit” without giving me specifics or informing the employee of that limitation. Your customers or vendors are not going to take the time to figure out that threshold, unless it’s the last day to submit their RFP to you via email.

Questions to answer:

• Does you company allow multiple attachments on an email?
• Is there a file size restriction?
• Is the file size restriction just for the attachment or the entire email message?
• What error message does the sender see if they exceed that file restriction?
• Does your company put a limit on the size of your mailbox?
• What happens if your mailbox is full?

Careful of File Extensions

Many companies have restrictions on the types of attachments they will accept. You also see this with individual email programs as people try to prevent viruses and exploits. As example, many companies don’t allow receipt of .exe or .zip files. Another problem is sending files with duplicate extensions. This can happen when people put extra periods in file names instead of underscores such as “private journey.ltr.doc”. Instead, you should change the file name to private_journey_ltr.doc”.

Questions to answer:

• Which file extensions does your company allow?
• What error message would a sender see if they sent an unacceptable file attachment?

Thanks for Nothing

This is a rule that I share with companies. If you don’t provide a subject: on the email, it goes to the bottom of my inbox. It doesn’t go to my spam folder, but your company may have a rule that shunts it there. This is something to consider if you’re in a company and you have correspondence with people that forget this step. Someone other than you may have to read these emails first to find out if the content is spam.

I can’t stress enough the importance of the email subject: line. It should provide to the audience the gist of the email and if action is required. Never reuse the subject: line from a previous email if the subject matter is substantially different.

Questions to answer:

• Does your company have a spam rule for blank subject: lines?

The More the Merrier

Sorry, but your email may be stopped simply because it listed too many recipients. Regardless of whether your firm has a rule about the number of people in the To: or cc: lines, it’s good to use restraint. Some systems will figure that if there are too many email addresses listed, it is unsolicited bulk email.

Questions to answer:

• Does your company have a spam rule based on the number of recipients?

While these questions may seem burdensome, knowing the answers can prevent frustrations for you and your clients. Email isn’t going away so it’s best to learn the basics of your system as it can improve the deliverability of your email. The information you gain may not solve all your delivery issues, but it can help to troubleshoot problems. You may also find that some of the answers you get will lead to more questions and a deeper appreciation of your email administrator.

Related Email Tips

• Separate Work Email form Personal Email
• Are You Guilty of these Email Annoyances?