Near the end of each school semester, I receive an email from my favorite college professor asking me to speak at one of her career classes. Because she was my favorite professor, and because those students will soon be a part of our local work force, I always say yes.
One of my favorite questions I’ve been asked during these sessions is, “What did you learn in ‘the real world’ that you wish you’d learned in school?” My answer to that is: emailing for business.
Emailing for business is an oft-overlooked skill that, when done correctly, can really enhance your business’ and your personal brand. If the subject is one of which you haven’t given much thought, don’t worry! It’s never too late to give it a little consideration. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
1. Avoid Life Stories
These days, people can receive hundreds of emails each day. If you want them to read – rather than dread – yours, make an effort to get to the point quickly.
2. Answer all the questions (that includes the middle ones)
We’ve all been there – In an email, you ask a client three important questions, and they only respond to the first one and completely ignore the rest. Unfortunately, you can’t move forward with what you’re doing for them until they do. It’s now on you to call or email (again) to get the rest of the info or risk delaying the project. Your time is wasted and so is theirs. It’s a no-win situation. Chances are, people ignore some questions because they need more info before they can answer them; then they forget. If this happens to you, acknowledge the unanswered questions and let your recipient know you’ll get back to them once you know more. (Then make a note to actually do so.)
3. Spel Chek
Most professional email programs have a setting that requires the program to spell check before an email is sent. Checkmark that setting. While it won’t catch everything (accidentally using one real word when you meant another, for example), it will catch errant typos in their wake.
4. 🙂 ... 😐 ... 😯
Keep the exclamation points, smiley faces and ellipses to a minimum. Business emails are not the place for stream-of-conscious thinking or unnecessary repetition (!!!!!, ….).
5. Fluffy rabbits
Write relevant, specific subject lines. Recently, I received an email response from a woman who, instead of replying to my email, started an entirely new email with the subject line, “reply.” While I read every single email I receive, many people don’t. They skim the subject lines to decide which ones to open. My guess is that a large portion of her emails are never read. The rest, if filed, are likely lost in the shuffle thanks to such unassuming subject lines.
6. Respond Quickly
Essentially, be the recipient you would like to have.
7. Include Paragraphs (apart from the first one)
Hit “enter” every now and again. Preferably with each change of thought. Reading large blocks of text is just rough.
I have more, but people want to read long blogs about as much as they want to read long emails. What are some of your best business emailing tips? Let us know in the comments.
