Personal emails are perfectly acceptable if you want to stay in touch with your friends and relatives. But never use them for business purposes. Always create a professional company email address to communicate to your clients. We give you compelling reasons in this article to keep personal and business emails separate.
Potential theft and fraud
The FBI alerted that the business email compromise losses increased by 65% globally at the end of the year 2021, also called email account compromise. The unprecedented increase was attributed to the pandemic. Mobility restrictions caused more individuals and workspaces to conduct business virtually.
Hackers love free email accounts. Free email accounts are billions in numbers, and hackers spend an enormous amount of their time accessing this huge database. They hack your business email account and use it to send spam to your list of contacts. This can include your vendors, business partners, and clients.
Keep your login information and account safe by using a 2 step authentication. This means that when you log in, you will be required to enter a passcode sent to you via text. That way, the hackers cannot get past the authentication step even if they have your password. The best way is to try and avoid using a free email service for your business.
If you need to use a free email account for your business, make sure you don’t send the login credentials in plain text, as it can be easily intercepted. Furthermore, because it is free, the service provider cannot protect you from threats. Neither will it respond to your hacking concern nor offer you the best service.
No free technical support
Free typically means no technical support. When you or your employees use a free service, and when you are facing technical issues, there will be nobody to call. A free email service provider does not have technical support. Therefore, there will not be a phone number to call, and they will not answer your email concerns.
On the other hand, a web hosting company would give you technical support. Depending on your subscription plan, that online support is accessible and available to you 24 hours every single day of the year. So, if you find that you have an issue with your email or it has stopped working, you can contact them immediately.
The technical support can take the form of web chat, phone calls, email messages, or a help desk where you register a ticket for your complaint. The speed with which they resolve your issue would depend on the quality of the service they offer. Nevertheless, they are manned all day long, and you will most likely get help and support.
Looks unprofessional and shoddy
The basic form of a professional online identity is the email address of the business. People make some aspects of their judgments based on their email addresses. A personal email address without the domain name of the company is a terrible idea. Therefore, when you are replying to a client, it is essential to use a professional email address.
A professional email address used on a digital business card creates a good impact, improving brand awareness. Using a free email account will do more harm in the long run and can be dismissed by potential business clients. Reaching out to customers using a professional email can certainly build a brand image.
A business domain name appended to your email address instills confidence that you are seriously in business. The domain name used with your email address belongs to your business. However, in some cases, especially for large organizations, it could be different. Most service providers offer you a domain when you sign up.
For businesses that are not interested in setting up an email address with the names of the employees, we recommend setting up a general word such as hello or info or sales or accounts followed by the domain name. They are business practices that work well and will look professional too.
Sends a wrong message
Businesses that use a free email service relay the wrong message to the email recipients. These days, it is very easy and cheap to get a domain, so it is in your best interest to set up a business mail address. Otherwise, it could mean any number of the following things:
- You are not professional or organized enough to obtain a professional domain name for your business
- The email message you sent is not from your business account
- You are out of touch with the standard business practices and are not bothered about privacy
- Your business cannot afford a professional website and an email with the domain name
- Your email message is spam and should be blacklisted or marked as spam and sent to the junk mail
- You are not an established company but a fly-by-night business and cannot be relied on to provide you the service
- You are not concerned about security and that can motivate the hackers to access your database
- You do not have a proper or professional IT setup in your organization because you are a small business
- The company does not enforce strict adherence guidelines for their employees on the usage of personal email
Harder integration into systems
Businesses and companies are now using messaging systems and various communication methods. As the systems evolve, they become increasingly sophisticated for privacy and security reasons. For that reason, you cannot integrate a free email account with corporate systems.
Instant messages, video conferencing, voice messages, and other tools all work separately. This means that the participants of these messaging and conferencing tools must have a business domain account to be able to use them. In other words, in some cases, a free email account will prohibit their access to a meeting.
If you are meeting people in a videoconferencing or need to hold a seminar with a group of people, a free email account will not provide you with the necessary tools. Therefore, you must use a business email address to access these messaging and meeting platforms.
You put up a professional corporate façade when you are taking advantage of the advancement in technology. Your colleagues and clients will see that you make the most use of the technology for your corporate needs. A personal email account fails to give that impression.
Conclusion
Keep your email separate from your business email. If you do not already have a company email, it is essential to create a professional email. It is an integral part of doing business these days. Moreover, do not fall prey to the hackers and mischief makers of the world.
