Best Practices for Using BCC in Business Emails

Clear communication is critical for the success of a business, and email is one of the most important tools available. Many of us exchange emails every day with supervisors, colleagues, business partners, clients, and more. Not surprisingly, a Radicati study cited by AIIM International reports that 3.9 billion people worldwide actively sent and received emails in 2019¹. While you may think of email as one-on-one business or personal communication, that is not always the case. You can easily send messages to hundreds or thousands of recipients simultaneously. However, you may not want your whole mailing list to see every single address².

Enter BCC, or blind courtesy copy³. Though originally known as blind carbon copy when typewriters were standard office equipment, the basic premise has not changed³. With BCC, you can send copies of your emails to interested third parties without the original recipients’ knowledge³. While BCC and CC perform the same basic functions, there are differences between the two². First, when you enter users’ addresses as BCC, they are invisible to all other recipients and do not receive any future replies to your conversation². Second, BCC is ideal when emailing large numbers of recipients, because it reduces the clutter you would have with a CC list². In this article, we will cover best practices for when and when not to use BCC in your company’s email communications.

(Image courtesy of https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/difference-between-cc-and-bcc)

One appropriate circumstance for using BCC is customer correspondance². For example, if you send a monthly email newsletter or wish to promote an update to your mobile app, use BCC to keep from broadcasting every recipient’s email address to the entire mailing list². In this instance, BCC helps you maintain your customers’ respect and loyalty². After all, you would not want your customers abandoning you en masse in favor of a competitor.

While BCC is helpful when emailing thousands of customers at once, it is also practical to use when automating your business processes³. For instance, if you use Salesforce, you can BCC a specially coded email address when interfacing with a client³. When used, this feature sends a copy of the email to your Salesforce account and logs that correspondence to the client’s profile³. Now, everyone in your organization can clearly see what you said to your client³. This helps streamline your processes, saving time and avoiding miscommunication.

While BCC is helpful for customer communications and business automation, it also works as a security safeguard. According to the University of Pittsburgh’s human resources department, many viruses and spam programs can easily peruse address books and mail files in search of prospective targets⁴. Therefore, BCC can offer you valuable protection against spam⁴. When you use BCC, it lessens the likelihood that recipients will receive spam messages or viruses from other recipients’ infected computers⁴. This demonstrates the benefits of using BCC in professional email communications.

Keep in mind that although BCC is helpful in some contexts, you should not use it on every single email. For example, do not use BCC if you think any of the recipients will reply². If you send an email and one BCC recipient accidentally clicks “reply all,” there will probably be some confusion and concern among your To and CC recipients². Since these original recipients “might want to know why you concealed the BCC recipient,” always make sure you have a clear purpose for utilizing BCC².

BCC is also unacceptable for internal work emails². Even though it may sound harmless to BCC your supervisor or a colleague on a particular email message, this can quickly backfire if the original recipient discovers any negative intent³. For example, whistleblowers might send emails to one party but BCC them to third-party supervisors, in turn creating more problems than they solve³. In short, do not use BCC for internal business communications.

You must not use BCC for personal emails, either². Since personal email conversations should be respectful and transparent, using BCC in this context suggests that you are deliberately hiding the third party from your recipients². Therefore, you should rely on CC instead of BCC in order to preserve relationships with your professional networks².

BCC is a useful tool for business communications when used appropriately but can spark misunderstandings and conflict if used carelessly. Remember that a little email etiquette goes a long way.

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Sources:
¹AIIM International. “What Are the Best Practices for Email Management?” by Kevin Craine. Retrieved from https://info.aiim.org/aiim-blog/what-are-the-best-practices-for-email-management.
²Indeed. “FAQs About When to Use CC and BCC.” Retrieved from https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/email-cc-vs-bcc.
³Right Inbox. “How to Use Bcc Appropriately in Email (Ultimate Guide – 2022 Update)” by David Campbell. Retrieved from https://www.rightinbox.com/blog/how-to-use-bcc-in-email.
⁴University of Pittsburgh. “Using the Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) Feature in Email.” Retrieved from https://technology.pitt.edu/help-desk/how-to-documents/using-blind-carbon-copy-bcc-feature-protect-privacy-email-addresses.

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navitend has been a life-saver many times for me! They are diligent in troubleshooting problems - until they resolve it. I've worked many times with Corey and he is fantastic - I can count on him to fix all my Outlook and computer problems. Overall, I highly recommend navitend.

Bob

George

Kristin

Rick dedicated 2+ days of helping my facility with the install of new printers. This team is fantastic!

Lori

We've dedicated our lives to growing our retail and ecommerce business and it's a relief to have found a company like navitend who treats our business likes it's their own. navitend's personal approach to project management and problem solving are top-notch.

Stamatis, Co-owner Twisted Lily, Fragrance Boutique and Apothecary

Their support staff is beyond good. They sorted out our company email server migration problem yesterday in record time. It's great to work with a team that has expertise in depth. There are so many one-man-bands out there. It was a good decision to go with the pros.

Steve

navitend has been great with me and my colleagues as we go through a difficult transition to new technology! They are incredibly patient and helpful. I highly recommend them.

Molly

Andrea always goes above and beyond with meeting expectations and customer satisfaction! navitend provides great IT services.

George

This company is the best! I feel for the guys that have to help us who are not so tech savvy! Never have I been disappointed at the great service navitend provides! Corey was especially helpful and I highly recommend Navitend for all your IT needs! You will be extremely satisfied!

Kathleen

I have been working with navitend for 10+ years. Great group of talented professionals!

Anne

Corey is the best there is at his job! He fixes everything with no problem. It's amazing to have someone to trust. GO COREY 😊

Grace

Corey helped me with what I thought would be a minor problem that snowballed in to some complex computer world wizardly stuff and he was so smooth and calming and had it fixed in 15 minutes!! YES!!!! Tuesday crisis averted!!

Kari

I wanted to personally thank Corey for always helping me with any concerns I have about my software inquiry issues. He is quick with his responses and I am always up to date with all my connectivity. Always a great experience! Thank you!

Blerina

Maria

Claire

The team over at Navitend always takes care of my IT needs. They are quick to respond and patient, no matter how simple my question or need.

Jeremy

Kathy

Best costumer service!! They are the nicest and most patient people. I highly highly recommend!!!!

Stephanie

I look forward to working with you again in the future. Once again, thanks to your organization for your prompt response.

Luke

navitend is a professional company providing Quality service, great customer service and prompt response to service needs.

Tammie

Thanks so much again for taking care of everything in such an expedient manner. It's a pleasure to work with navitend and its staff as always!

Lawrence

Our company uses Navitend for all its IT needs and every time I've had to ask them for help, they've fixed the issue within hours. Thank you so much!

Chase

navitend has gone above and beyond my highest expectations. Anthony was great! He was able to coordinate with an Adobe Rep and resolve issues that I had just put too much time into. Thank you again - It was a real pleasure working with you!

Forrest

navitend is always providing prompt response, strong technical skills and excellent customer service. Corey, Jeffrey and the other technical support team members are very helpful and user-friendly. Thank you all very much for your fabulous work!

Chenghan

Anthony was very helpful and solved all my issues promptly. I appreciate all his hard work. Thank you navitend and Anthony.

Kyle

I highly recommend navitend for their professionalism, integrity, down-to-earth advice and thoughtful recommendations. Every solution that they offer is unique and the most appropriate to their customers' needs.

Paula

Jacqueline

navitend’s expertise helped our firm over the past year to effectively elevate our I.T. game, powering our website into a highly interactive tool. Well done to Frank and his team!

Chuck Steege, CFP®, CEP, President, SFG Wealth Planning Services, Inc.

Cheryl

De'Ana gave great insight on billing issues. I recommend navitend for all IT services.

Christian

I am truly impressed by the focus the team places on the requests from our company. Truly an excellent team!!

Josefina

navitend has consistently offered timely, professional, and courteous solutions to our business needs ranging from troubleshooting, purchase and setup of new computers and other advice. They are my 'go-to team' and continue to be a trusted support in our time of need.

Laurie

The staff at Navitend is very professional and strives to meet the needs of their clients. As a Small Business owner trust and professionalism are keys to conducting business. navitend sets a high standard of ensuring their clients trust their decisions are for the interest of their business.

Christopher

Corey is ... an IT genius!!!! This man deserves a major raise and weekly bonuses!!! navitend is my go to for everything IT related, morning noon night and weekends!!! Love this crew!!

Heather

Bryan

navitend was great and my experience was beyond excellent. Very professional, courteous, and responded in a timely manner. They go above and beyond for their clients. They are a pleasure to work with. Kudos to the navitend Team - keep up the great job!

Ann

Navitend has been our IT provider for many years and we are so grateful for their hard work. Nate and Vin especially deliver exceptional service and great communication. We highly recommend Navitend for your IT needs.

Behavioral Health Client

We wholeheartedly recommend navitend for their exceptional IT solutions and services; they have undoubtedly earned our trust and loyalty for future endeavors.

Benjamin

Corey and the group at navitend are always so helpful and do everything they can to help. Thanks for your professionalism and continued help.

Robin

navitend’s approach to customer service is greatly appreciated here. Ensuring that we are well protected from a technology standpoint provides us with peace of mind to continue our day to day operations and that they are looking out for our company's best interest.

Debbie

Thanks so much! You are a class act!
You and your team have really done an excellent job on this!