Billions of emails are sent and received every day, making this the most common form of business communication. How and what you write is a reflection of your personality and professionalism, so read our top tips before you press send.
EMAIL DOS
Be concise
Keep your emails short and to the point – without being rude. People are busy and don’t have time to read anything long and complicated. The general rule is to have one subject per email, so if you have multiple points to get across, send more than one email.
Respond promptly
As technology improves, people are more connected than ever, and they expect responses instantly. You should treat emails like you do phone calls, and reply within a reasonable time, or acknowledge the email and indicate when you’ll be able to reply in full.
Clear subject line
The subject line is the very first thing that a person will see, before deciding whether or not to open your email. This is why it’s vital to be simple, descriptive and to the point. It’s also important that your subject line relates to the content inside your email.
Know your audience
Write an email for the person who will be receiving it. Consider how formally they speak and act, and what their position is, and match your writing to their level of formality. It shows respect and consideration.
EMAIL DON’TS
Urgent subject line
Avoid sending a subject line that contains “urgent” or “ASAP”, as it sets a negative tone and simply annoys the recipient. Get the urgency across by composing a strong subject line, and if it really is that important – pick up the phone and rather call them.
Bad language
Business emails are no place for text-message style writing or short hand – even if you send an email from your cell phone. It might save you a few seconds of time, but it makes you seem highly unprofessional. Use your spellchecker to avoid embarrassing mistakes.
Reply all
People don’t want to receive emails that don’t apply to them, so before you “reply all”, look at the list of names on the group email and only select those who need to be included in the correspondence. This function can be a huge annoyance, so use it with discretion.
Watch what you say
Work emails get saved, which means they can be duplicated, forwarded or printed, so make sure that you don’t discuss anything controversial, even if it’s a joke. If you receive anything that’s libellous, sexist, or discriminating, don’t comment or send it on, just delete it.
Many of the email mistakes that people make are easy to avoid, if you follow email etiquette. Make sure your message does not get lost – speak to Indwe about insurance for all your mobile devices. Call us today on 0860 13 13 14.