Regardless of the job you do, chances are, you’re going to have to send emails. In the age of the Internet, you are probably so used to hitting reply, writing something quickly and then sending it straight away. However, the way you send and write emails can seriously affect your professional reputation and that’s why it is vital that you have completely nailed your email etiquette. Perfecting email etiquette is something we teach our new recruits in our Training Academy, and this is why Prestige Recruitment Group have created Ten Top Tips for Perfecting Your Email Etiquette!
1) Proofread
Although this might sound like common sense, it is immensely important. We get it, everyone is busy and that’s why you might pen an email and hit send quickly, without much thought. However, you really should take time to ensure that there are no problems or issues with your email before you send it. Check for spelling errors, grammatical problems and that the email flows efficiently and effectively. The little errors can seriously affect your professional reputation, especially if you’re sending an important email to a really important person. So, take a few minutes to check everything before you hit send.
2) Avoid Misdirected Emails
Although you have proofread your email, and you’re sure that there’s no mistakes or issues in the body of the message - you should also check whom you’re actually sending the email to. If there are people within your company with the same name, it might be easy to brush over the recipient, thinking you’ve sent it to the correct person. Imagine sending a really confidential email to the wrong person! Therefore, make sure you double-check that you’re actually sending the email to the right person before you send it.
3) Avoid ‘Reply All’
It is not uncommon that within the workplace, management will send emails to every workplace member. It is also not uncommon that some people will hit ‘Reply All’ and so your email will be flooded with emails that aren’t relevant or important to you. Avoid being that person. Linking back to avoiding misdirected emails, simply reply to the person who has sent the email unless it’s absolutely necessary that everyone within the email thread receives your response.
4) Create the Perfect Subject Line
So, you’ve drafted your body of the email, and you’re completely sure it’s going to the right person. Now it’s time to pen the subject line. Avoid writing something colloquial or informal like ‘Hi’ (this happens more often than you’d think!) and write something relevant to the email, which will make it easy for the recipient to find the email again if they need it in the future.
5) Don’t Mark it as Urgent
Don’t get into the habit of marking every email you send as ‘Urgent’ especially if it’s not! If you continuously do this, people won’t think your emails are actually ever important. This can seriously affect situations when you actually do send an important email! Therefore, avoid sending ‘Urgent’ emails until you actually need an urgent response.
6) Avoid Short Emails
If someone is sending you some information over, you don’t always need to email them to say thanks. (Especially if this person works in your office!) If you do work within a close proximity of the person who has emailed you, just say thank you when you see them. Unnecessary emails will just flood your inbox. In order to avoid emails with just one-line responses, don’t be afraid to write ‘No Need for Response’ within your email!
7) Avoid Long Emails
When you send an email, people will tend to read only the first few lines properly, and then they’ll skim over the rest of the information. Therefore, there is actually no need for you to be sending long emails with tonnes of unnecessary information. If you can, summarise the information within the first few lines of the email. If you become known for sending long, unnecessary emails – no one is going to care about the important information you’re sending.
8) Avoid Late Night Emails
Although tempting, you should avoid responding to emails late at night before you go to bed. When you’re tired, any email you send is probably going to have a mistake in it. If it’s a really important email you need to send - it’s extra important that you don’t make any mistakes. The best thing you can do is draft an email and wait until the following morning to send it. That way you can read it over, check the information and ensure it is going to the right person while you’re fresh-faced, and ready for the day ahead.
9) Avoid Emotional Emailing
If you get an email that comes across as rude, or you receive information that you don’t want to hear, don’t send an email back straight away. Write a draft, and then come back to it when you’ve calmed down. When you’re emotional, you may want to send an email back immediately – but this will only lead to further upset down the road. Therefore, take some time and calm down in order to collect your thoughts.
10) Don’t be Overfamiliar
Unless you personally know the person you are emailing, remain professional at all times. Avoid using nicknames, emojis or sending kisses to people. Relationships need to be built and developed before any level of personal interaction can happen. Therefore, remember to stay professional!
There you go! Now you know how to write perfect emails and can build up your professional reputation. Be sure to check out our other blogs here.