Coping with Email
Posted by Ron Harris on Sun, Nov 09, 2008
From time-to-time I find a utility that I think has some merit for saving time and increasing effectiveness. I found a new web-based productivity tool called AwayFind. Harris Technology does not sell this product, but I have started to use it personally and find it very useful to enable me to stay focused and not be continually interrupted by email.
When I am out of the office or in meetings with clients, I am not able to monitor emails for those that are urgent or time sensitive. Even when I am able to monitor incoming email I don't want messages interrupting my focus. When my message alert pops up, there goes my attention. Like you, I get a large number of messages throughout the day that are not critical, but every so often, I get one that needs my immediate attention. That's where AwayFind comes to my aid.
I have setup my Outlook options to automatically send someone an out-of-office message when they send me a message. When a new message arrives, Outlook sends the out-of-office message saying that I am out of town, in client meetings, or working on a project, whatever is most accurate. I update my out-of-office message to reflect what I am doing each day. This is standard out-of-office functionality and a good practice to help set expectations about how quickly I will get back to someone. In addition to the standard out-of-office message I add the following paragraph which is the secret sauce that makes this system work.
"I check email a few times a day depending on whether I am in the office or traveling. If your message is urgent or time sensitive, please click here to send me a priority message. Complete the form and it will send an SMS message to my cell phone. I will respond to your message as soon as possible"
When someone sends me a message they see the out-of-office message and the option to send me an urgent or time sensitive message. They now have the option to escalate the message and ask me to reply as soon as possible. It's up to me to decide whether to respond now or later, but the key is that I have an indication of urgency from the sender.
I will definitely respond right away if someone is needing pricing from me for a meeting they are having this afternoon. But, if that message is buried in my email while I am out of the office or working with a client then I could miss an opportunity to make a sale.
When the person sending the message clicks on the link they are asked to fill out a form with their name, company, phone number and email address. They are asked to put in a short message that will be sent to my cell phone via SMS (Short Message Service) or text message. I have the option to also receive this urgent message via email, too. The AwayFind system sends the message to my cell phone so I can react in a timely manner to the request.
I have an iPhone and can read the message sent to me via email, but imagine how nice it would be to know that someone is trying to get you so you can respond right away. The service allows you to add a field to the form asking the person to indicate whether they would prefer a response by email or by phone. This is how I have my form setup. I appreciate the fact that someone can raise there hand and indicate that something is important to them.
There are two plans available from AwayFind, one is free and the other has a cost associated to it. Choose the free plan and you get everything I have talked about so far. Choose the paid plan and you also get a few other nice-to-have features such as delegate by category.
Delegate by category adds the ability for the person sending the message to indicate what the message is about. They are asked to assign a category to the message. Based on the category, you will still get the SMS message, but you can also have the message automatically routed to someone else in your organization who might be able to help the sender. This is POWERFUL.
I should point out that the email originally sent to you, the one that triggered the out-of-office reply, is not routed to someone else in your organization, only the urgent message entered in the AwayFind system is sent.
Maybe you have a category "Shipping Problem" which routes the SMS and email directly to your manager responsible for shipping. Or, a category "Accounting Problem" that sends the urgent message to your accounting department. If you are in sales, you want to get these things handled quickly. You can get the ball rolling without lifting a finger. You see the urgent message and can make the necessary calls to resolve everything.
Another use of AwayFind is when someone sends you a message cancelling an appointment at the last minute. They get your out-of-office reply and click the link to send you an urgent message saving you time and petrol. If you have the paid plan, you can add a category for "Change or Cancel an Appointment" which routes the message to your assistant who can then call the person to reschedule. You got the message, too, and turned around to come back to the office or went to visit a client right around the corner. By the time you get to the office, if your assistant is good, you have a new appointment scheduled and are ready for your next adventure. Are you starting to see some value here?
Depending on your particular business, there are lots of ways to use AwayFind to make you more productive. What a relief that you no longer watch every message that enters your inbox to sort out those that are important and those that are not. You still have to deal with your messages, but on your own schedule when you can focus on handling messages.
The pricing for the paid plan while still in Beta is just $35 per year. The founder of AwayFind has told me that the price will go up to about $115 when the product launches later this week. If you sign up now, before the system goes public it locks in the $35 price for as long as you use the service.
You can't sign up by just going to the AwayFind website, the public form there simply puts you on a list to be notified when the system launches. That won't get you the special pricing and you can't sign up for an account from there.
I have a way to get you signed up now so you try this out and still get the $35 per year pricing for the paid version.
Create a free account first by going to this special URL that the founder of AwayFind gave me: http://snipr.com/afharris. Fill out the form and create the account. This is the free account.
Set it up and give it a try. There is a setup wizard to follow. If you need help, send me an email and I will see what I can do to help you. The site offers videos and an extensive help file to get it setup.
If you want the features in the paid account, then upgrade your system from your account settings page. I am sorry for the short notice, but you need to sign up by the end of this week to get the special pricing. You have 30 days from the time you setup the account to cancel if you don't want the account and your credit card will not be processed until the 30 day free trial ends.
Try out my page and send me a message. Please let me know what you think about this system and whether you think it will help you be more productive.
SMS or text messages to your cell phone are not free. I suggest you subscribe to your cell phone carrier's unlimited text message plan. Unlimited plans charge a flat fee for any number of messages. Otherwise, you will pay for additional messages as they are used. Each additional message costs a few pennies.
It is my opinion that the email inbox is going to get entirely out of hand over the next few years and all of us are going to find ourselves overwhelmed with lots of messages. This tool gives us the ability today to give the people who are important to us the ability to raise their hand in order to be considered for priority service.
Please let me know if you have any questions and I will try and answer them for you. AwayFind is designed to help you focus and get more things done without being interrupted by emails. I hope you give it a try and find some value in using it.