An easy and popular way to notify customers of your business closing period during Christmas is to add a message to your email footer when sending out client corresponding emails.
This approach is made easy for businesses using Google Apps. It can be set up automatically by applying the message, in a similar way to attaching a signature, to all staff auto reply emails during the Christmas break.
This “message footer” can be attached to all types of email correspondence whether it is sent or responded to in Microsoft Outlook, Apple mail, Gmail or even through the mobile phone.
It is simple, easy and efficient! Pretty cool huh!
The process is very quick to setup if you only want a text message. If you wish to insert an image then it will take a few more minutes as it is a little trickier.
To set this up in Google Apps, you will need to have access to an account that can login to the Google Admin console.
- Sign in to the Google Admin console. https://admin.google.com
- Do one of the following:
- In the classic Admin console, click Settings > Gmail.
- In the new Admin console, click Google Apps > Gmail > Advanced settings.
- Scroll down to the Append footer section:
- If the setting’s status is Not configured yet, click the Configure button near the right edge of the window (the Add setting dialog box opens).
- If the setting’s status is Locally applied, click Edit to edit an existing setting (the Edit setting dialog box appears), or click Add another to add a new setting (the Add setting dialog box appears).
- If the setting’s status is Inherited, click View to view the inherited setting, or click Add another to add a new setting (the Add setting dialog box opens).
- Type the content for the footer, and optionally use the formatting tools provided.
- You can insert an image, but the image needs to be sitting on your website as it needs to be a link to the URL.
- Optionally you can select append the footer to internal messages being sent within your organization. (probably not necessary for Christmas message)
- When you are finished, click Add Setting or Save to close the dialog box.
- Click Save changes at the bottom of the Email settings page.
- Test the footer by sending a message to an address outside of your domain. Note that there may be some delay in saving the changes and having them take effect on new mail.
Important. After you return to work from your break, don’t forget to remove or change the email footer. I recommend you setup a reminder in your calendar to pop up first thing when you return.
As a Google Apps partner we do this for many businesses. If you need help setting this up please feel free to contact us for help.
For more tips and tricks to using Google Apps, take a look at our website http://www.onsitehelper.com/index.php/resources/google-apps
Have a safe and happy holiday. See you in the new year!
