Writing Effective Business Emails

In this post of Writing Effective Business Emails, we will be covering following:

• Addressing
• Subject Line
• Opening Lines
• Closing Lines
• Message Text
• Attachments
• Signature Line
• Confidentiality and Security
• Using Outlook
• 10 common e-mail habits that waste time and cause problems
• Points to Remember

Addressing:

• Limit to who really needs to know.
• Make it clear in text who has action and who is info addressee.
• Use BCC to protect Email addresses unless everyone knows each other.
• Watch Reply All.
• Use address book & validate often.
  • Avoid typing addresses free hand; many addresses are similar; watch auto fill.
  • Send same message to multiple recipients by editing message as new or cutting and pasting.
• Make sure forward does not embarrass sender.
  • Get permission if in doubt.
  • Never “disrespect” sender in forward or reply.
• Fill in addresses last to avoid sending an incomplete Email by mistake.

Subject Line:

• Headline (think newspaper).
• Grab Attention.
• Summarize message.
• Make it easy for recipients to triage your Email and find it later.
• Don’t “Reply All” to a message to grab addressees without changing subject.

Opening Lines:

• With reference to your letter of 8 June, I …
• I am writing to enquire about …
• After having seen your advertisement in … , I would like …
• After having received your address from … ,I …
• Could you please help me with the following…..
• This is to inform you that…..

Closing Lines:

• If you require any further information, feel free to contact me.
• Please let me know in case any other information is required.
• I look forward to your reply.
• I look forward to hearing from you.
• I look forward to seeing you.
• Please advise as necessary.

Message Text:

• Keep the message focused and readable.
• Keep it short.
• Break into paragraphs; skip lines between.
• Use short sentences.
• Use plain text editor, not MS Word.
• Avoid HTML.
• Avoid fancy typefaces.
• Write in standard professional English with Capitalization and correct spelling.
  • Don’t try to impress.
  • Avoid chat speak, e.g., gr8 & emoticons, J.
• Don’t type in All Caps
• Avoid !!!
  • Avoid using URGENT and IMPORTANT.
• Use * * to highlight text if you need.
• Proofread & Spell check.
• Quote back selectively when replying to long messages.
  • “Yes, I agree.” is useless without context.
  • Top quote vs. bottom quote – no consensus.
  • Avoid “Fisking,” replying line by line in an argumentative manner.
• For URL links, use Outlook inbuilt function to shorten long URLs or enclose in < >.
• Identify yourself clearly to new contacts.
  • Hello, I am… The reason I am writing…
  • Hello, so-in-so suggested I contact you…
• Respond Promptly.
  • Apologize if you aren’t able to reply promptly.
  • Interim reply when too busy.

Attachments:

• Cut and paste relevant parts of attachment into text of Email.
• Upload attachments to shared location / sharepoint and use URL links.
• Recipients who do not know you, may be reluctant to open attachments or click URLs.
• Ensure you insert attachment to avoid sending emails like “Oops, here’s the attachment.”
• Post large attachments in a blog (if any) and then send an Email announcement.

Signature Line:

• Include (For receivers information)
  • Your name
  • Title
  • Organization
  • Email address
  • Website / Blog
  • Phones
• Can be shortened for frequent correspondents.

Confidentiality and Security:

• Have a separate Email account for newsletters, announcements etc.
• Delete browser history, cache, cookies, userids and passwords after using a public Internet connection.
• Logout and close all Apps after using a public Internet connection. (Restart if possible.)
• Don’t open company emails on non-secure personal computer.
• Back up your Email.
• Beware of spam.
• Beware of Phishing attacks.
• Never include personal or financial info in an Email.
• Don’t unsubscribe from anything, you did not subscribe to.
• Beware of friend’s Emails.

Using Outlook:

• Organize Email into folders.
• Keep a copy of all sent Emails.
• Review and clean out folders periodically.
• Don’t print Emails unless its important.
• Use “out of office” status when away.

10 common Email habits that waste time and cause problems:

• Vague or nonexistent subject line.
• Changed the topic without changing the subject.
• Including multiple subjects in one note.
• Sending before thinking.
• Inadvertent replying to all.
• Omitting the context of a reply.
• Misaddressed recipients.
• Displaying addresses of recipients who are strangers to each other.
• Replying vs. forwarding.

Points to Remember:

• Write a meaningful subject line.
• Keep the message focused.
• Avoid attachments.
• Identify yourself clearly.
• Be kind — don’t flame.
• Don’t assume privacy.
• Distinguish between formal and informal situations.
• Respond Promptly.
• Show Respect and Restraint.

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