I can see how this could make some people think “Susan” was in high demand.

Personally it would put me off … but I have seen how it can work.

A university lecturer of mine used to forward phone calls to his answerphone to give the impression he was in high demand. While some people would be turned off by this, some people offered him 4-5 times his going rate for speaking at schools/colleges but this also meant that he wasn’t over loaded with work so it kept his university work and freelance work in balance.

If however, the situation was slightly different and he didn’t have his university work I think it would have been a bit of a struggle to keep a steady stream of clients by doing that.

I agree that quick and professional reply is the best way to go.

In the comment just above this one, Karen Anderson shares the story of a consultant who apparently makes very good use of an auto-responder, but I think it’s a very, very busy consultant.

The *real* distraction, delay, and/or mental effort that is associated with dealing with every inbound contact is the thought process and dialog that you must undertake in order to understand the prospect’s unique problems and to just discuss their needs with them. The initial contact is usually quite lightweight. A further contact is where mental engagement takes place.

Yet one’s response to that first email from a prospect is all-important because it’s a first impression of you and your business. So, again, I consider an autoresponder to be a last resort type solution. You’re putting off a vital first impression which manually costs you almost no time anyway.

If you can reply promptly to the initial email with a simple message that you would like to schedule a consultation and that you will be back with them in a certain time period, almost all reasonable prospects will be OK with that.

Karen, thanks for sharing this.

I can see how in some instances a well-written and very informative auto-response could be helpful, especially for someone who truly is busy.

Yes, it’s so important to keep the pipeline flowing, at least by not doing anything to hinder it, like not replying promptly to e-mails from potential clients.

I am still waiting for my methods to make me rich. 🙂 Ah, maybe one day.

Yes, I can think of some big names whom I have pinged by email who respond within the next day personally – no autoresponders there. If Steve Slaunwhite or Peter Bowerman can get back to an inquiry in one business day, with the inbound message volume that they each probably have, then surely someone less well known can do so, as well.

I can’t even put myself in the frame of mind of wanting to isolate oneself from potential customers. Everyone in our kind of business needs a pipeline of new work. That’s exactly the kind of traffic that builds the pipeline.

Great way to handle it Lori.

One possible solution for when we’re really busy: a quick 1-2 sentence personalized reply that states that I’m under deadline right now and I’ll give this my full attention first thing tomorrow morning (or this afternoon).

Great response Don. I really appreciate your no-nonsense approach to writing and marketing.

The reality is that very few writers, even the best ones, are getting approached by potential clients several times a day, and you’re absolutely correct that a potential client that needs a writer now will keep looking if they get that canned auto-response I the post.