Writing emails has become one of the preferred and most effective ways to communicate in our busy world – and it is also one of the best ways to keep track of your conversations and refer to them as needed for valuable information. Email etiquette should be used in all correspondence – whether it’s with your team, vendors, prospects or clients/customers. Making sure that your staff follows these rules is important as well! Today we are going over 7 rules to email etiquette that you should always keep in mind when writing or responding to emails!
Do Not Write In Caps/Uppercase
When it comes to written messages (text and email) writing in uppercase is perceived as “yelling”. Always make sure your caps lock is OFF when drafting an email or response!
Use Spell Check Before Sending
Always check your drafts for any typos and to make sure it makes sense! You can download chrome extensions like Grammarly, which will automatically check your spelling for free. If you upgrade to the paid version, it will check your sentence structures and more! This can be used to proofread just about anything you need (not just email)!
Reply To “All”
One of the biggest problems when working with a team is communication. Why? Because we forget to keep everyone in the loop. Make it a habit to always click on “reply all” when responding to emails. If for any reason you need to have a private discussion in the matter (ie: you need to speak amongst your team about how to handle a customer dispute, without the customer reading all of the discussion) then you can start a new email thread with everyone minus the client.
Check that everyone relevant is included in the correspondence and “Carbon Copy” (CC) those who don’t need to take action.
Keep It Short And Easy To Read
Keep all correspondence easy to read, short and clear. When possible use list items. Don’t skimp on important details, but find ways to keep it short so that the reader keeps focused and does not start to skim the text instead – possibly missing pertinent information. If you have items you are referencing, you can save everyone lot’s of time by linking to the resources instead of leaving everyone to find them individually.
Descriptive & Searchable Subject
The subject of an email describes its content and attachments in a short sentence. Make sure to write a clear description so that the receiver of the email is clear as to what they are about to read and focus on. This also makes it easy for the reader to refer back to it if needed. Think about the possibility of having to find this email after a month. Making the description and subject line searchable help narrow it down in a sea of emails! When writing your subject line, think about which keywords you would search and include them.
Keep It Organized
Create tags and folders for your emails! Reply to all emails that require a response and then make sure to properly file it. This will help you stay on top of what is complete and what still needs your attention. Accidentally missing emails and not responding to clients can cause huge problems. If you have a new topic to discuss, you should start a new email thread with a new subject line/description.
Be Courteous
One of the most important rules – always speak respectfully and be courteous. Remember – written correspondence lacks “tone” and it is really hard for people to distinguish how you are speaking to them. Never be rude (it’s highly unprofessional). Do not speak in a condescending manner either. If you feel that your email may be portrayed as such – it would probably be best to pick up the phone, have a friendly discussion and follow it up with an email confirmation as to what was discussed (so this can be filed and any other parties are still in the loop).
Following email etiquette can be a huge time saver for your business – it creates effective and positive communication from the start and streamlines the process. Do you have an important email tip that you feel we may have missed? Let us know in the comments below.!