Paging Dr. Spam-Free!
Answering Your Embarrassing Questions About Spam
Question # 1.13: How do I keep my sales people from spamming?
The Doc Explains: “Soft Bounce”
Q: Dr. Spam Free, how do I keep my sales people from spamming? I want to encourage my employees to build up our company email list, where do I draw the line?
The Doctor Replies:
Given the chance, your salesmen will email everyone above the equator. Keep them in line or your domain will be blocked, and your reputation will be tarnished.
1. Keep your Do-Not-Mail list on a central server. Make sure every employee has access to it. Urge – nay – force your employees to compare lists, each and every time they deploy a campaign, or send a message to a new prospect. Also, make it easy for them to add people to the list.
2. Educate everyone. Make sure eager salespeople know that your company has a zero-tolerance policy. Also remind them that spamming is a felony, as is pulling emails off a web site, scanning trade show lists, and other forms of email harvesting.
3. Turn off the ability to mass-mail from the desktop. Every corporate email server has the ability to limit how many recipients can be “CCed,” on a mailing. There is no reason your salesman should be mailing more than 10-15 people at a time.
4. Show them a better way. Use an email service provider that offers customized templates for each salesperson. Give them access to a great tool, clean lists, and effective templates. You will turn compliance, into an advantage instead of a threat.
The Doc Explains: “Soft Bounce”
A soft bounce is an e-mail that returns to the sender as temporarily undeliverable, such as when a mailbox is full.