Politely telling clients I've moved to a different department within the company

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I am in the process of moving within my company from a customer support role/department to a new business area.



My email address and telephone number remains the same



The problem I have is that I am the main support contact for several clients. Despite agreed processes in place, I often get calls and emails from clients directly asking for assistance and advising issues to be resolved. The account manager has not advised the clients that I am moving and I know I will be getting emails/calls after I have moved. He seems reluctant to do so for reasons known only to himself (client confidence, fallout, explaining handover processes etc)



Should I just forward all emails directly to the account manager/my old line manager and say "over to you" or should I respond to the client advising them I am no longer working in the support role? The second option feels better to me but is this a little disloyal to my old manager? (Note: I will still have interaction with him in my new role, so there is no concept of bridge burning or not caring, I just want to do the right thing for them AND the client)



If advising the client, should I word my email almost in a generic out of office style? "I am no longer in a role dealing with support queries. Please redirect all enquiries to myoldmanager@mycompany.com"?







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  • Notify your clients ahead of time, something like "as of ..., please contact ... for support queries." You can let them know you'll still be around, but won't be handling those queries.
    – Brandin
    Mar 8 '16 at 11:01
















up vote
3
down vote

favorite












I am in the process of moving within my company from a customer support role/department to a new business area.



My email address and telephone number remains the same



The problem I have is that I am the main support contact for several clients. Despite agreed processes in place, I often get calls and emails from clients directly asking for assistance and advising issues to be resolved. The account manager has not advised the clients that I am moving and I know I will be getting emails/calls after I have moved. He seems reluctant to do so for reasons known only to himself (client confidence, fallout, explaining handover processes etc)



Should I just forward all emails directly to the account manager/my old line manager and say "over to you" or should I respond to the client advising them I am no longer working in the support role? The second option feels better to me but is this a little disloyal to my old manager? (Note: I will still have interaction with him in my new role, so there is no concept of bridge burning or not caring, I just want to do the right thing for them AND the client)



If advising the client, should I word my email almost in a generic out of office style? "I am no longer in a role dealing with support queries. Please redirect all enquiries to myoldmanager@mycompany.com"?







share|improve this question




















  • Notify your clients ahead of time, something like "as of ..., please contact ... for support queries." You can let them know you'll still be around, but won't be handling those queries.
    – Brandin
    Mar 8 '16 at 11:01












up vote
3
down vote

favorite









up vote
3
down vote

favorite











I am in the process of moving within my company from a customer support role/department to a new business area.



My email address and telephone number remains the same



The problem I have is that I am the main support contact for several clients. Despite agreed processes in place, I often get calls and emails from clients directly asking for assistance and advising issues to be resolved. The account manager has not advised the clients that I am moving and I know I will be getting emails/calls after I have moved. He seems reluctant to do so for reasons known only to himself (client confidence, fallout, explaining handover processes etc)



Should I just forward all emails directly to the account manager/my old line manager and say "over to you" or should I respond to the client advising them I am no longer working in the support role? The second option feels better to me but is this a little disloyal to my old manager? (Note: I will still have interaction with him in my new role, so there is no concept of bridge burning or not caring, I just want to do the right thing for them AND the client)



If advising the client, should I word my email almost in a generic out of office style? "I am no longer in a role dealing with support queries. Please redirect all enquiries to myoldmanager@mycompany.com"?







share|improve this question












I am in the process of moving within my company from a customer support role/department to a new business area.



My email address and telephone number remains the same



The problem I have is that I am the main support contact for several clients. Despite agreed processes in place, I often get calls and emails from clients directly asking for assistance and advising issues to be resolved. The account manager has not advised the clients that I am moving and I know I will be getting emails/calls after I have moved. He seems reluctant to do so for reasons known only to himself (client confidence, fallout, explaining handover processes etc)



Should I just forward all emails directly to the account manager/my old line manager and say "over to you" or should I respond to the client advising them I am no longer working in the support role? The second option feels better to me but is this a little disloyal to my old manager? (Note: I will still have interaction with him in my new role, so there is no concept of bridge burning or not caring, I just want to do the right thing for them AND the client)



If advising the client, should I word my email almost in a generic out of office style? "I am no longer in a role dealing with support queries. Please redirect all enquiries to myoldmanager@mycompany.com"?









share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked Mar 8 '16 at 10:50









Mike

3,83121625




3,83121625











  • Notify your clients ahead of time, something like "as of ..., please contact ... for support queries." You can let them know you'll still be around, but won't be handling those queries.
    – Brandin
    Mar 8 '16 at 11:01
















  • Notify your clients ahead of time, something like "as of ..., please contact ... for support queries." You can let them know you'll still be around, but won't be handling those queries.
    – Brandin
    Mar 8 '16 at 11:01















Notify your clients ahead of time, something like "as of ..., please contact ... for support queries." You can let them know you'll still be around, but won't be handling those queries.
– Brandin
Mar 8 '16 at 11:01




Notify your clients ahead of time, something like "as of ..., please contact ... for support queries." You can let them know you'll still be around, but won't be handling those queries.
– Brandin
Mar 8 '16 at 11:01










3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes

















up vote
5
down vote













You should ask your old manager about this. These clients are not your clients, so you will not do any work for them, but they are still his clients, so he should decide what you do with emails directed at you. Then do what your old manager says.



If he refuses to answer you, ask your new manager. He or she will either tell you what to do or tell you to do what you think is right; in the latter case, I'd forward to the old manager, and send a reply to the client that you are not in the team anymore and that you forwarded it to the old manager, together with his email address.






share|improve this answer




















  • You may have missed something or Mike may have edited his OP. It seems like his old manager "seems reluctant to do so for reasons known only to himself."
    – Lan
    Mar 8 '16 at 13:27


















up vote
5
down vote













I had a similar situation when I moved into my current role - I was point of contact for several internal departments and some external vendors. My strategy was to agree a cutoff point with my old boss and advise him that I'd be calling all these contacts to advise them of the change over. It gave a definite 'cut off point' where I wouldn't be doing anything more with them and also advised them who to contact in future.



This seemed to do the trick, there were a few emails where people forgot but they were handled by forwarding the email on to the new owner and including them in the message with a comment to the effect of "I've moved to a new role now but X will be able to handle your query for you". Otherwise you'll never get out of the loop of dealing with these queries and you'll find yourself doing two jobs.



Best of luck!






share|improve this answer



























    up vote
    1
    down vote













    Realistically you should have a new email, so I'm guessing yours uses your name rather than job title like hradmin@whatever.com. So you'll have to use another method.



    It's actually your old managers responsibility to do this, but if they haven't then you need to do it both for the sake of the client and your own.



    What works for me is just to forward emails to whoever has taken over cc'ing the client with a short oneliner to say that they will be dealing with someone new as you are in a new role.



    If the client doesn't know you have moved on, then obviously they won't change, so you need to tell them. Same thing with phone calls, explain politely to the client that they need to ring XXXX since you no longer have that role. Eventually everyone will get the picture.






    share|improve this answer




















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      3 Answers
      3






      active

      oldest

      votes








      3 Answers
      3






      active

      oldest

      votes









      active

      oldest

      votes






      active

      oldest

      votes








      up vote
      5
      down vote













      You should ask your old manager about this. These clients are not your clients, so you will not do any work for them, but they are still his clients, so he should decide what you do with emails directed at you. Then do what your old manager says.



      If he refuses to answer you, ask your new manager. He or she will either tell you what to do or tell you to do what you think is right; in the latter case, I'd forward to the old manager, and send a reply to the client that you are not in the team anymore and that you forwarded it to the old manager, together with his email address.






      share|improve this answer




















      • You may have missed something or Mike may have edited his OP. It seems like his old manager "seems reluctant to do so for reasons known only to himself."
        – Lan
        Mar 8 '16 at 13:27















      up vote
      5
      down vote













      You should ask your old manager about this. These clients are not your clients, so you will not do any work for them, but they are still his clients, so he should decide what you do with emails directed at you. Then do what your old manager says.



      If he refuses to answer you, ask your new manager. He or she will either tell you what to do or tell you to do what you think is right; in the latter case, I'd forward to the old manager, and send a reply to the client that you are not in the team anymore and that you forwarded it to the old manager, together with his email address.






      share|improve this answer




















      • You may have missed something or Mike may have edited his OP. It seems like his old manager "seems reluctant to do so for reasons known only to himself."
        – Lan
        Mar 8 '16 at 13:27













      up vote
      5
      down vote










      up vote
      5
      down vote









      You should ask your old manager about this. These clients are not your clients, so you will not do any work for them, but they are still his clients, so he should decide what you do with emails directed at you. Then do what your old manager says.



      If he refuses to answer you, ask your new manager. He or she will either tell you what to do or tell you to do what you think is right; in the latter case, I'd forward to the old manager, and send a reply to the client that you are not in the team anymore and that you forwarded it to the old manager, together with his email address.






      share|improve this answer












      You should ask your old manager about this. These clients are not your clients, so you will not do any work for them, but they are still his clients, so he should decide what you do with emails directed at you. Then do what your old manager says.



      If he refuses to answer you, ask your new manager. He or she will either tell you what to do or tell you to do what you think is right; in the latter case, I'd forward to the old manager, and send a reply to the client that you are not in the team anymore and that you forwarded it to the old manager, together with his email address.







      share|improve this answer












      share|improve this answer



      share|improve this answer










      answered Mar 8 '16 at 11:01









      gnasher729

      70.8k31131222




      70.8k31131222











      • You may have missed something or Mike may have edited his OP. It seems like his old manager "seems reluctant to do so for reasons known only to himself."
        – Lan
        Mar 8 '16 at 13:27

















      • You may have missed something or Mike may have edited his OP. It seems like his old manager "seems reluctant to do so for reasons known only to himself."
        – Lan
        Mar 8 '16 at 13:27
















      You may have missed something or Mike may have edited his OP. It seems like his old manager "seems reluctant to do so for reasons known only to himself."
      – Lan
      Mar 8 '16 at 13:27





      You may have missed something or Mike may have edited his OP. It seems like his old manager "seems reluctant to do so for reasons known only to himself."
      – Lan
      Mar 8 '16 at 13:27













      up vote
      5
      down vote













      I had a similar situation when I moved into my current role - I was point of contact for several internal departments and some external vendors. My strategy was to agree a cutoff point with my old boss and advise him that I'd be calling all these contacts to advise them of the change over. It gave a definite 'cut off point' where I wouldn't be doing anything more with them and also advised them who to contact in future.



      This seemed to do the trick, there were a few emails where people forgot but they were handled by forwarding the email on to the new owner and including them in the message with a comment to the effect of "I've moved to a new role now but X will be able to handle your query for you". Otherwise you'll never get out of the loop of dealing with these queries and you'll find yourself doing two jobs.



      Best of luck!






      share|improve this answer
























        up vote
        5
        down vote













        I had a similar situation when I moved into my current role - I was point of contact for several internal departments and some external vendors. My strategy was to agree a cutoff point with my old boss and advise him that I'd be calling all these contacts to advise them of the change over. It gave a definite 'cut off point' where I wouldn't be doing anything more with them and also advised them who to contact in future.



        This seemed to do the trick, there were a few emails where people forgot but they were handled by forwarding the email on to the new owner and including them in the message with a comment to the effect of "I've moved to a new role now but X will be able to handle your query for you". Otherwise you'll never get out of the loop of dealing with these queries and you'll find yourself doing two jobs.



        Best of luck!






        share|improve this answer






















          up vote
          5
          down vote










          up vote
          5
          down vote









          I had a similar situation when I moved into my current role - I was point of contact for several internal departments and some external vendors. My strategy was to agree a cutoff point with my old boss and advise him that I'd be calling all these contacts to advise them of the change over. It gave a definite 'cut off point' where I wouldn't be doing anything more with them and also advised them who to contact in future.



          This seemed to do the trick, there were a few emails where people forgot but they were handled by forwarding the email on to the new owner and including them in the message with a comment to the effect of "I've moved to a new role now but X will be able to handle your query for you". Otherwise you'll never get out of the loop of dealing with these queries and you'll find yourself doing two jobs.



          Best of luck!






          share|improve this answer












          I had a similar situation when I moved into my current role - I was point of contact for several internal departments and some external vendors. My strategy was to agree a cutoff point with my old boss and advise him that I'd be calling all these contacts to advise them of the change over. It gave a definite 'cut off point' where I wouldn't be doing anything more with them and also advised them who to contact in future.



          This seemed to do the trick, there were a few emails where people forgot but they were handled by forwarding the email on to the new owner and including them in the message with a comment to the effect of "I've moved to a new role now but X will be able to handle your query for you". Otherwise you'll never get out of the loop of dealing with these queries and you'll find yourself doing two jobs.



          Best of luck!







          share|improve this answer












          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer










          answered Mar 8 '16 at 15:30









          Maladictus

          40829




          40829




















              up vote
              1
              down vote













              Realistically you should have a new email, so I'm guessing yours uses your name rather than job title like hradmin@whatever.com. So you'll have to use another method.



              It's actually your old managers responsibility to do this, but if they haven't then you need to do it both for the sake of the client and your own.



              What works for me is just to forward emails to whoever has taken over cc'ing the client with a short oneliner to say that they will be dealing with someone new as you are in a new role.



              If the client doesn't know you have moved on, then obviously they won't change, so you need to tell them. Same thing with phone calls, explain politely to the client that they need to ring XXXX since you no longer have that role. Eventually everyone will get the picture.






              share|improve this answer
























                up vote
                1
                down vote













                Realistically you should have a new email, so I'm guessing yours uses your name rather than job title like hradmin@whatever.com. So you'll have to use another method.



                It's actually your old managers responsibility to do this, but if they haven't then you need to do it both for the sake of the client and your own.



                What works for me is just to forward emails to whoever has taken over cc'ing the client with a short oneliner to say that they will be dealing with someone new as you are in a new role.



                If the client doesn't know you have moved on, then obviously they won't change, so you need to tell them. Same thing with phone calls, explain politely to the client that they need to ring XXXX since you no longer have that role. Eventually everyone will get the picture.






                share|improve this answer






















                  up vote
                  1
                  down vote










                  up vote
                  1
                  down vote









                  Realistically you should have a new email, so I'm guessing yours uses your name rather than job title like hradmin@whatever.com. So you'll have to use another method.



                  It's actually your old managers responsibility to do this, but if they haven't then you need to do it both for the sake of the client and your own.



                  What works for me is just to forward emails to whoever has taken over cc'ing the client with a short oneliner to say that they will be dealing with someone new as you are in a new role.



                  If the client doesn't know you have moved on, then obviously they won't change, so you need to tell them. Same thing with phone calls, explain politely to the client that they need to ring XXXX since you no longer have that role. Eventually everyone will get the picture.






                  share|improve this answer












                  Realistically you should have a new email, so I'm guessing yours uses your name rather than job title like hradmin@whatever.com. So you'll have to use another method.



                  It's actually your old managers responsibility to do this, but if they haven't then you need to do it both for the sake of the client and your own.



                  What works for me is just to forward emails to whoever has taken over cc'ing the client with a short oneliner to say that they will be dealing with someone new as you are in a new role.



                  If the client doesn't know you have moved on, then obviously they won't change, so you need to tell them. Same thing with phone calls, explain politely to the client that they need to ring XXXX since you no longer have that role. Eventually everyone will get the picture.







                  share|improve this answer












                  share|improve this answer



                  share|improve this answer










                  answered Mar 9 '16 at 6:09









                  Kilisi

                  94.6k50216376




                  94.6k50216376






















                       

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