Part 2 of Writing and Sending Better Business Emails

Being Brief is the key to Getting a Response

We all know how depressing it can be to check your email just before 5 and receiving an email that is seemingly endless as you scroll down 2 then 3 pages.  Think of how apt you are to reading through the entire thing and writing a response.

So, remembering your personal email experiences helps to prove this point.  Creating a better visual of the length of your email, i.e. only one page, will give your business emails a much more enthusiastic response rate.  Compare this reasoning to that of advertisers who pay the big bucks to get their ads placed at the top of a page opposed to the bottom.  They are essentially assured that viewers will see their ads placed at the top, rather than banking on the idea that people will scroll all the way to the bottom. 

Writing a rough draft of an email you plan to send is always a wise idea.  Then, reread what you have written, and narrow that down to your key points.  Then reread it even another time and try to cut that down even further making it as simple and clear as you can.  Think to yourself whether or not you’d prefer to receive an email like the one you’re looking at, and only then, if you would initiate a quick response yourself, send the email.  If you find you still have more you need to say, it’s okay to send it in another email, with a more precise Subject line. 

Determine You’re Expected Response of the Business Email

If the email you need to send includes any type of request, whether it be to set up a meeting, an update on progress, or anything of the sort, be sure to place that request near the top of the email, stating when you expect a response. Be sure to never assume that any recipient will take their valuable time and spend it searching through an overly extensive email looking for the purpose of your email. 

Eliminate all of the guesswork from your emails by looking at them as friendly work requests.  You can’t be afraid to ask for what you want, or what you need done, particularly when you expect a recipient to respond to you, or actually having them do what you need/would like to be done.

More Ideas for Improving your Business Emails

• Make the email easy to quote - Veteran email users will often respond to emails in specific sections by first quoting the question from the original email. You can easily facilitate this method of response by writing short paragraphs and making them easy to break apart for quoting and easier response.  

• Don’t just talk to hear yourself – Responding to emails from minutes at a meeting or others ideas sent to more than just you should contain a careful response.  If you have something important to offer, by all means, do so.  But if you’re responding just to respond, you may want to think twice and hang back to hear what others have to say.  Make your emails show how you can be most useful, and don’t just make unnecessary noise.  

• Giving reminders never hurt - If you find yourself following-up or responding to an email more than a few days old, it’s often a good idea to include text right in the beginning of an email indicating your intent of the response.  For example you might say, "Regarding your request in March to be notified every time there is new information regarding the Joe Smith stock…”

• Be careful when mixing business with personal - Unless it’s a common trend among your business team to do so, write a separate email announcing the marriage of Joy and Bob, and another explaining the monthly income reports. 

• No thanks – In many cases, it be not be necessary and can be perceived as overly unsure of oneself to send a Thank you message every time someone does something that you have asked them to do.  At the same time, if a due thank you is in order for someone’s time and hard work, be sure to give them the proper thanks in order to ensure future completion of projects requested by you

• Asking for help - If you find yourself needing to ask for help, and you’ve had no luck with all the usual methods, be sure to cover all the methods you have already taken to resolve the matter yourself, and make the solution you are seeking clear to the recipient. 

• Skip the overture in your emails – When writing to someone you know is very busy and you have an actual question, skip the fan mail and get to the point. Trust me, they’ll appreciate it.