According to Microsoft’s roadmap (ID 60371), Outlook signatures will be stored in Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365). This new feature is slated to begin rollout this June.
What does this mean for your business?
It means that finally–let me repeat that–finally…users will have a consistent signature across multiple Windows computers.
With the planned change, once you create your signature the first time, it will follow you from computer to computer. This will allow emails to have a consistent signature regardless of which computer they use.
Why does that matter?
Since the beginning of Microsoft Outlook, the problem has been that when a user creates a signature in the Outlook desktop client, that signature only exists on that computer and for that user’s specific profile. If the profile needs to be recreated for any reason (operating system is reinstalled, profile becomes corrupt, user is moved to a new computer, and so on), then the signature needs to be created again. If the user jumps from computer to computer, my experience is that most likely the signatures are not consistent. Maybe one signature has up-to-date contact information, while another might be an outdated phone number. Perhaps one has contact information and the other has none. Or maybe the user was moved to a new computer 3 years ago and hasn’t had a signature since.
Will I have the same signature on all devices?
Microsoft seems to have released very little information so far on this planned change, but what I am seeing indicates that it will be only available to the Outlook Windows desktop client. My hunch is that it will allow the signature to be the same for the Outlook web app and the Outlook Windows desktop client, and that later on the feature will be rolled out to MacOS clients and to the Outlook mobile clients. Keep in mind that this is only for users of Microsoft 365 and that there are limitations on what the planned changes will do.
Can I manage my employee’s signatures?
Unfortunately, no. Each Outlook client user will need to continue to manage their own signature. While you can specify your company’s policy for how signatures should look, there is no way to enforce it. This is why Golden Consulting has partnered with LetSignIt to manage an organization’s signatures. With LetSignIt, we can create standardized templates for all of your organization’s mailboxes, while still personalizing each signature with each user’s contact information and profile photo.
Why should I care about our signatures?
If you’re trying to project a professional image for your company, you don’t want an email to turn the customer off. Email signatures should provide easy-to-find contact information. If the customer or potential customer has to go looking for something simple like a phone number or your social media page, do you think they’ll even bother? Yes, your signatures–poorly thought out signatures or lack of signatures—could be hurting your business.
With the help of Golden Consulting, you can be assured that every employee’s signature is consistent across all devices and platforms and consistent with the professional image your company portrays. No more haphazard “created on my iPhone, please excuse my typos” signatures.
Still not convinced you need to put more thought into your signatures?
How many emails does your organization send outside of your organization to customers, prospects, and leads in any given day? In the course of a week? In the course of a year? Probably thousands, right?
How much would it cost you to mail postcards or brochures to those same recipients? With every email, you have a chance to sell to your customer base and promote your business for only pennies per day.
With our signature platform, we can add campaigns to every outbound email. Perhaps it is an event you’re hosting and want to make sure word gets out. Maybe it a new promotion you are offering. Maybe you’re an accounting firm and want to remind your customers to get their tax information in by a certain date. Whatever the occasion, you can use the power of the tool that is most at your disposal—email!
Contact Golden Consulting today at 443-817-2869 to let us show you how you can take your email to a whole new level!
