Lyn -

Common courtesy, as we know, is just not that common these days.  

Sincerely,

A Male

     Other than spam, every email deserves a reply, even it's only an acknowledgment.  

OHHH it's an equal female offense in my experience at work. I deal with that all the time from male/female agents in escrows and staff at BBR. My own sister does it to me often. I usually put: "please confirm receipt, even if you can't answer my question right away."

But, I also call if after a full work day, no response.

Lyn,

Not a "male" thing at all.  We have waiting for a reply from a "female" who is in a corporate position.  After a face to face meeting that was a delight and full of promises,"She" requested that we write her a proposal on how to improve their brand and perception in the market place.  We did as requested the next day.  This was at the end of May.  We have called, left messages, and still no reply.  This is a common issue among both men and women in real estate and in life...Like common sense, common courtesy is very uncommon these days, like Michael Jacobs stated.

I can assure you that both Ron and I do reply to our emails, even when we are out of the US. And  my friend Michael Jacobs does too....There is hope Lyn!

I once sent a 10 page email to Gary Keller at KW outlining a slew of problems. I never received a direct response from him, except an auto email stating he was out of the office until xyz date... that date was two weeks prior to my sending an email. However, because I copied numerous other people and sent my email via certified letter he did finally have his senior staff contact me... all of whom promised to provide a solution to the problem and then never followed up. Do I need to say I ultimately left KW and went back to RE/MAX?

Inside my own brokerage, I so rarely send anything to the broker that when I do, people start jumping and responding to me.

It seems to me that the higher up a person is, the less they respond to an email. I always respond, even just to say thank you. It's just common courtesy

One of the reasons I opted for a boutique type of brokerage is that my go to is the broker.  There aren't layers of people to get through to get what I need. 

I think it's important to acknowledge the email from the get go, thank the sender for the email, and let them know what you are doing.

whenever someone emails me with an issue or to get an opinion, I'm jumping all over it....immediately.... and that's what a manager should be doing... I drop what I'm doing and address their situation....

if they drop into my office and I'm in the middle of something, everything stops... and I'll return to it later....

It's just common courtesy, in my book, and it is also one of my pet peeves.  If someone asks me for something, in particular, and I send it to them, please have the courtesy to confirm receipt.  I send most things with a read receipt, anyway, BUT I also follow up with a "did you get the xxxx I sent?" and force them to respond.  It's just not that hard to say "got it" in response to an email but so many people seem to think it's necessary.  Arrgghh...

I resemble that remark!  Yes they should acknowledge it.  At the very least that could help them legally if it was a bad issue.

I would send a follow up email to confirm they received the first one and nicely ask for a status on your request. We are all adults.

You sexist cave woman you! A male thing! Well, I never...well perhaps a few times.

It's not exclusive to males. Maybe they just don't want to deal with the issue and hope it goes away. Good strategy might be to copy several people, so someone might feel a response is necessary, or feel some peer pressure. In a corporate world, you always need to "rattle the cage" i.e. follow up, or nothing happens.

Michael Jacobs nailed this one!

Lyn Sims - I am with you. It's a courtesy thing.

LOL Michael Jacobs - and it's so true!  People in general are just not very courteous these days.  I'm with you - a response doesn't leave them hanging, as you are!

I admit as the "higher up" in my company that I don't aways reply with a "got it" or "working on it" it depends upon the level of importance and how busy I am at the time.

But with me I've addressed it within 24 hours. Period. 

Oh and if you get God's email... let me know.  He's the only higher authority in my business.

I love being a very small company....not much for politics

it's rude but I wouldn't give it a whole lot of thought - 

I have a client that routinely doesn't acknowledge or reply to my emails. I have learned to cope and know that my messages are getting through due to the actions he takes.

I find myself sitting on emails like this for a bit while I think about a solution.

Thanks for calling to attention the other side of the issue and how frustrating it must be waiting and not knowing what is going on.

A lot of people don't reply to email because their boxes are bulging with listing and other real estate spam.  I always follow up any important email that I send with a phone call and/or text.

Lyn I think it's common courtesty whether male or a female.  But that is lacking these days on so many levels, isn't it.

Acknowledgement of the email is professional courtesy.

I totally agree with Michael Jacobs.   

Courtesy is important to at least know someone look at it.

I agree with you Lyn. I always respond.  It seems that many just don't respond. Then I have to follow up ... chasing information ... such a waste of time and it is just rude and unprofessional. 

I agree with you Lyn 100%. How do you know if they missed it or are ignoring or worse dismissing you. In my book everyone deserves a reply.

A reply to any message is warranted!

I agree they  should reply even if they do not have an answer.

I never get any replies from my higher up. Only a snarky verbal comment as my wife's office is next to our bedroom and she just yells that it's time to get out of bed and get something done. Nothing sexist bout that! LOL!!

I would have resent the email just to make sure they got it. If they don't respond the second time then yeah I think that's unprofessional and be glad you're better than that. If you know they're working on the problem behind the scenes, that's what matters.

Depends.

Proper communication etiquette  is to acknowledge the message. So, email companies made auto responders available. There's your reply. Real estate agents rely  of these ' etiquette' features a lot.

Another consideration is the nature of the compliant. Acknowledgment or any form of 'confession' could prove inconvenient should this go the litigious route.

A forth consideration is the sender has proven to be one to avoid. Women, in particular, have tendency to go down the exhaustive 'communicaiton' route while men choose a problem/solution and be done with it objective.

A fifth consdieration is an acknowledgement was sent but someplace is the linkage, you was prevented from receiving it. Could be the address from which it was sent went to spam, appeared anonymous, your ISP ibntercepted it,  thought they hit 'send' but didn't quite get on the button, or my favorite..."They lost the fax."

To be blunt, give me a group of men to work with to solve a problem any day.

Lyn Sims I agree, it is common courtesy to at least acknowledge the email when received.

Well, what is important to you, when given notice to a higher up, has to be important to them, too.  Every issue (to me) should be addressed, because if you are concerned or need advice or have a situation, they eventually may become part of it.  So, why not jump in at the beginning Lyn Sims.  I'm a huge person on Follow-Up, and would be sending that 2nd and 3rd message, referencing the 1st message.  It will eventually get their attention.  I would not send messages daily, as I would give them time to respond, though depending on the 'time factor' in your situation, that 'time' may only be 24-hours.  Good Luck! 

I appreciate so much when an agent acknowledges receipt, returns a phone call, text etc.  There are those I send a request for disclosures or information, a week or ten days goes by and you finally receive the information by then its to late.   Asking for a showing from an agent  and you don't hear for several days is frustrating.  Buyer keeps asking and the listing agent keeps not responding.   Most agents are proactive but there are the few that make this job very stressful.  

I will send it by tradtional mail even in the same building If no response send it certified they will jump at it to get back to you.

eMail is the most abused system with 100s of spam coming too busy to remove just flush all rec'd.....

It is a same that common courtesy is not practiced near enough in our worlds. If you email me..I will respond and quickly! It's just the right thing to do.

I am the "higher up" in my brokerage. I always respond asap!  

My company is small and my broker is excellent in getting  back to me with all my questions or concerns. 

I try to acknowledge all emails as soon as possible, especially if it is a high priority item. In your example, if the problem is time sensitive or high priority with no response in xxx hours (depending on how high up the chain and amount of company bureaucracy) some follow up is in order.

I usually forward the original email with "Second request" in the subject line and a one line note "resending in case you did not receive or this went to spam" and cc or bcc anyone who might help expedite. That usually gets a response.

If I cannot respond with an answer immediately, I send notice I am working on it

Bad communication is bad communication. If the "higher ups" continue to be out of communication with their employees the company is going to shrink.

 That would tend to irritate me and I would confront that person about their communication skills ....

They should reply that they have received your email and are working on the problem.

It depends what the problem is. I come from the corporate world where you give someone a heads up and ask them what they suggest you do. It could be something embarrassing, or legal, or put some other person in a bad spot. Certain things should not go out over email, but snail mail or inter office memo with a "personal" on there. Now if it's a problem about a current transaction and time is of essence, and you don't care who they will forward that email to to come to a resolution, then email is the fastest route.

Common Courtesy ... no longer "common" --- sad but it definitely separates the successful ones from the non-successful.  And I don't believe it is a male/female thing.  You either have it or you don't.  

A response is definitely a "common courtesy thing" and in my opinion simply a good practice for those in corporate that  are looking for active feedback &  employees to engage.  Funny you should mention gender...  Of course it's not all (present male AR company def excluded) but when someone IS a poor communicator, more often than not it's a male (sorry guys!  Just an observation). 

The only thing that we can do is make sure they got the email if no response