Should You Use the BCC Field in Client Emails? – CLS027

It’s questions and ACTIONS Friday!

Today’s question comes from Pam, who writes:

A corporate client told me she is going to “bcc” me on some mails. She said it would be useful information, but I wasn’t sure how to respond. I don’t really use BCC myself and not sure I feel right a client bcc’ing me on internal mail.
Am I making too big a deal of this? Should I even say anything or just get the emails and go from there?

Pam, this is an excellent question and something that comes up a LOT in company and government environments. Many people either don’t understand when to use CC, BCC, or neither. Or, the risks of CC and BCC.

(And I’ve literally seen two careers damaged by improper use of BCC…)

Many newer email programs actually hide the BCC field (there’s usually a button or option to enable it), presumably so we don’t go bcc’ing folks on stuff and think more about what we’re sending, why we’re sending it, and to whom we’re sending.

I run into this a lot in our business consulting practice and have some definite opinions about cc, bcc, and email in general.

In today’s episode, I’ll explain the differences, then give specific situations when, and when NOT to use BCC.

What You Will Learn

• The real differences between “CC” (carbon copy) and “BCC” (blind carbon copy) email fields
• When you should, and should NOT use “BCC” (hint, there are two—and only two—“good” uses for it in business settings)
• What to do instead of BCC
• Direct advice for Pam’s client in this situation (and any client facing a similar situation)

Listen UP!

Your Weekend Homework

Two actions for you:

1. First, if your mail program has the option to “hide” the BCC field, why not do it? Give it a try and see how this works for you. You can always re-enable later.
2. Check out my email productivity article, listed in the Resources section. it is chock full of useful strategies to manage large volumes of mail, and take back up to several hours per week!

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Until next time, have a great weekend, be sure to do your homework from today’s episode, and I’ll catch you on the next episode.

Resources

• Everything you need to know about email productivity
• Coaching Profits Intensive – The FULL Edition
• Break Free From the Cubicle Telesummit – Catch me speaking there!
• The Corbin Links Show on iTunes
• The Corbin Links Show on Spreaker Radio
• The Corbin Links Show on Stitcher Radio