HOW to write a PROFESSIONAL E-MAIL?
Email is one of the most important communication tools that we use. It's instant, effortless and ideal for reaching people scattered across the globe.
Whether you're looking for a job or communicating with co-workers, customers or clients, you need to be able to send proper, professional emails.
From proofreading to crafting the perfect signature, every step you take when composing and sending a professional email is important. Make a major email mistake, and it could cost you your job or a great business opportunity. Taking the time to send thoughtful, well-written emails, on the other hand, will impress everyone you work with.
The problem is that we often don't use email as effectively as we could. We expect instant replies; we write long, rambling messages that confuse the reader; or we send a flurry of mail that recipients are never likely to read.
In this article, i'll discuss some strategies that will help you to use email more effectively.
In this article,
*how to write an email { subject, intro, body, closing, signature}
*tips on writing email professionally
*how to track emails
*how to send emails on a certain time
The Importance of Using Email Effectively
Although email is extremely useful, it can eat up a lot of your time and energy if you don't use it effectively.
Email structure:
SUBJECT LINE
- Provide clear, specific subject lines that help the sender identify what he or she must do. limiting text to five words when possible.
- Modify the subject line when appropriate; do not continue using the original subject in your reply (or replies) if the subject has changed.
- e.g. " Meeting date changed " - "Sponsorship prospectus offered from 4P"
GREETING/SALUTATION
- Use "Dear," title, and his name. For example, use "Dear Dr. Emad,"
- If someone signs an e-mail with his or her last name, you have permission to address that person by last name in subsequent e-mails.
- If you don't know his position you can use { Mr or Mrs }.
- If you don't know his name you can use "Dear Dr" or "Dear Mcdonald's Marketing team" {try to know the recipient name it's important}.
- If you send it to many person or many corporate use email merge.
- Start with " Hope this mail finds you well, "
BODY OF E-MAIL
- Be clear about whether you need something from the recipient. Is this e-mail just to give someone information, or do you need a reply?
- Limit the message to one subject. If you need to raise multiple issues, clearly state this in the first line or in the Subject line. Example (in the body of the e-mail): "Please see below for two questions about our proposal." You may also wish to number a series of questions or issues to make it easier for the recipient to read and respond.
- Keep it short. People may be reading e-mails on mobile devices and may not scroll past the first screen.
CLOSING
- Include a friendly closing. "Sincerely" may be too formal for a regular business communication, so consider other closings, such as the following: Regards, Best regards, Best wishes, Thanks, and Have a great weekend (if the weekend is coming!).
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Examples of good closing lines include:
- "Thank you for all your help with this."
- "Does that sound good?"
- "I'm looking forward to hearing what you think."
- "Let me know if you have any questions."
SIGNATURE
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One of the most overlooked places to market your company is via youremail signature.
I did not have anything special in my email signature :
MY signature was :
- It wasn’t until a few weeks or so ago when I received an email message from INJAZ and noticed that. The email signature was one of the first things that jumped out at me.
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It included all of the basics – yet it had one key ingredient that my email signature did not – a very clear “Call-to-Action”.
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After seeing its call to action in email signature, I immediately started drafted up a new one using Wisestamp a very effective email signature branding tool that allowed me to add my picture, a call to action beneath all of my contact information — and links back to my social accounts.
Example:
Subject: Sponsorship prospectus offered from 4P Egypt
Dear Mrs. Shereen,
Hope this email finds you well.
4P Egypt, one of the most leading NGOs in Egypt which working on developing youth and community, would be honored to offer Nestle a sponsorship opportunity.
As a sponsor, you will have numerous opportunities to showcase your products and services in front of a large number of talented youth including your target audience.
You will kindly find attached files contain 4P profile with a brief description of our workshops and projects through the year.
We would be honored to schedule a meeting to discuss the areas of cooperation.
For any further details, comment or support please feel free to contact us with a guarantee of answering at the earliest convenient time.
Waiting for your soonest reply.
Best regards,
---
your signature
MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS
Read and edit your e-mails before sending them. Spell-check is not always enough. Sometimes, reading them aloud can help you see what you may have forgotten or what is hard to understand.
- Use a professional email address.
- Send messages TO the individuals you want to take action; CC those who just need to know what is going on.
- Use "BCC" when you are writing to a large group and don't need all the recipients to see everyone else who received the message.
- Use "reply all" carefully and remove those from the list who don't need to see the reply.
- When naming attachments, be sure the name is professional and meaningful. Re-save a file with a different name, if necessary, for the purposes of e-mailing it.
- Avoid religious comments in both signatures and in the body of the e-mail.
- For urgent matters, respond within 24 hours or apologize for the delay. If you are out of the office or inaccessible, create an "out of office" message.
- Reserve "urgent" (urgent e-mails are marked by an "!"in Microsoft Outlook) for truly urgent or time-sensitive matters. De-select "!" when replying to an urgent request if the situation is no longer urgent.
- Put your main point in the opening sentence. Most readers won't stick around for a surprise ending.
- Don't use ALL CAPITALS (no shouting!), or all lower-case letters either
- As a general rule, please avoid textspeak (abbreviations and acronyms)"ASAP - ROFL "
- Be brief and polite.
- Remember to say "please" and "thank you." And mean it.
- Finally, reply promptly to serious messages. If you need more than 24 hours to collect information or make a decision, send a brief response explaining the delay.
hit "send" with these tips:
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Remember that anyone can read it once it's sent
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Are you proud of sending an email like this ?
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Make the most of your signature
Title, company name, all contact information, social media and websites, so that people have access to you easily.
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Match up your mobile signature
You have to set up the same signature that you have set up in the desktop version of your email
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Use bullet points
People will be able to quickly scan the email by putting quality information with bullet-points and easily get to the purpose of it.
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Be clear and thorough
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Take it one point at a time
asking multiple questions in an email, will lead to a delayed response. Instead, I prefer to only ask one question or have one point per email. This does two things: It helps make the message easier to digest and makes it more manageable for the recipient to process.
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Timing is everything
You should respond to your boss, client or prospect the same day they email you. If you don't have an appropriate answer or the correct materials, simply let them know that you received their message, and give them [the date] by when they can expect to have the information they need.
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Use the right email address
"Don't email their personal address. Unless someone has reached out to you on their personal account or this email is listed on their business card, use their company address. This is the equivalent to calling someone at home to discuss business, and a lot of people don't want to overlap their work-life accounts."
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Put the recipient's email in last
"In any email, business or not, I like to put the recipient's email address in at the last minute, just before sending. That way, I can be sure to read and re-read what I've written and make any changes necessary without worrying about an accidental send. In addition to i can make sure that i have uploaded the attachments.
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Watch your tone
Practice Empathy:
Empathy is the ability to see the world through the eyes of other people. When you do this, you understand their thoughts and feelings.
When you write emails, think about your words from the reader's point of view. With everything you write, ask yourself:
- How would I interpret this sentence, as someone reading it?
- How would this make me feel if I received it?
This is a simple tweak to the way you write. Yet thinking of other people will transform the way they respond to you.
Here's an empathetic way of looking at the world to help you get started. Most people:
- Are busy. They don't have time to guess what you want, and they'd like to be able to read and respond to your email quickly.
- Appreciate a compliment. If you can say something positive about them or their work, do so. Your words won't be wasted.
- Like to be thanked. If the recipient has helped you in any way, remember to say thank you. You should do this even when it's their job to help you.
In a moment, we'll look at how you can embed compliments and a thanks into the structure of every email you send.
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Use your subject line wisely
"People prioritize what emails they read first by who the sender is — you're going to read emails from your boss right away — and second by what the subject line says. Give some consideration to how the recipient will react to your subject line. What is in it for them to open your email over others that may be equally pressing?"
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Know Your Purpose
Clear emails always have a clear purpose.
Whenever you sit down to write an email, take a few seconds to ask yourself: "Why am I sending this? What do I need from the recipient?"
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Limit Yourself to Five Sentences
In every email you write, you should use enough sentences to say what you need and no more. A helpful practice here is limiting yourself to five sentences.
Less than five sentences is often abrupt and rude, more than five sentences wastes time.
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Remember, You're Not Fifteen Anymore
If you want to show your personality in your email, let this shine subtly through your writing style. Don't use emoticons, chat abbreviations (such as LOL), or colorful fonts and backgrounds. While these might have been integral to your emails during your teenage years, they are rarely appropriate in a professional context.
The only time it is appropriate to use emoticons or chat abbreviations is when you're mirroring the email language of the person you're writing to.
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Write Like You Speak
Email is a less formal way of communicating than writing a letter or even making a phone call. Writing as you speak makes you come across as personable and friendly. It also helps you to keep your emails short. After all, few of us speak in extended paragraphs.
Additionally, make sure your emails reflect who you are in the real world. If you wouldn't say something to a person's face, don't say it in an email. And remember to mind your manners. "Please" and "Thank you" go a long way.
The most common mistakes in E-Mails
Mistake 1: Using the Wrong Tone
Mistake 2: Hitting "Reply All"
Mistake 3: Writing Too Much
Mistake 4: Forgetting Something?
Mistake 5: Emailing the Wrong Person
Mistake 6: Being Too Emotional
Mistake 7: Not Using "Delay Send"
It can be satisfying to send an email as soon as you finish writing it, so that it's "off your desk." However, many email clients now provide a "delay" or "scheduled send" function, which can be particularly useful.
Mistake 8: Using Vague Subject Lines
Mistake 9: Not Reviewing
Mistake 10: Sending Unnecessary Emails
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By using get sidekick you can also track your emails to know when and how the recipient open your email? Also you can send all the emails with a future time on a certain minute.
photos may help.
ALSO there is an online course with certificate from HP to learn how to write your business email.
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9yBest One ever... Despite I am doing most of those steps ... glad to explain what I am doing :)
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9yEkhlass Joudeh
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