Writing professional business emails is a must-have skill for any employee today. Email is one of the most important communication channels and is the official option for any business-related contact. Let’s see why it plays a significant role in business communication:
- Email is a cost-effective method of business communication
- Email can be used as a marketing tool to spread information about products or services
- Email is the fastest way to share information with a large audience
- Email can be used to keep records
- Email is one of the most rapid communication channels as it takes seconds to reach a recipient
- Businesses use emails for professional communication
People write business emails for different purposes. Whether you need to make a business proposal or send your CV to a potential employee, you need to compose a professional email which will follow business etiquette rules and will clearly express the purpose of writing. In this blog post we will talk about mistakes in business emails writing and will provide lots of useful tips for composing professional business emails.
What are the most common mistakes in business emails writing?
Email allows reaching a large number of people in a split second. However, a simple mistake can make everything go awry and cost a job or lead to implications. Here is the list of common mistakes you should avoid when sending a business email:
- Be careful with "Reply All" option. If an email was sent to several recipients, make sure you choose the right one to respond to
- Check carefully for grammar and spelling mistakes
- Avoid sending too short or too long emails
- Vague or one-word subject line puts the message at risk of being seen as SPAM
- Avoid using abbreviations or emojis
- Don't forget about a salutation
- Bad text formatting will spoil the email
A good rule of thumb is to make the email concise, clear, short and without typos. You can use a text editor to write an email and take advantage of a built-in spellchecker. However, when copying the text, make sure you do not copy it together with the text formatting. Use Ctrl+Shift+V (for PC) or Options+Shift+Command+V (for Mac) to paste the copied text without styles into your template. However, if you want to make your email visually attractive, you can use email template builder software for this purpose.
Tips for writing professional business emails
No matter whether you work in an office or remotely, the number of emails which are written daily only increases. It is one of the most cost-effective methods to communicate both internally and with customers. At the same time, it allows sending thousands of messages which will quickly reach their recipients with a click. Although this is the most common communication channel, it is important to follow email etiquette rules rather than writing without following any guidelines. Here are 10 useful tips which will help you write a successful business email.
Think twice about your subject line
Email messages with empty or vague subject line can be considered as SPAM and will be either removed or sent to a junk folder. Subject lines make the first impression on recipients. Thus, it is important to craft a compelling subject line which will not only draw attention but also get people to click through. So, what makes a really good subject line great?
- Adding personal touch. E.g. John, here are our latest updates!
- Unveiling an intrigue. E.g. Top 10 reasons to open this email
- Making a great offer. E.g. Get 45% discount with promo code EMAILOFFER
- Keeping it short and precise. E.g. It's a giveaway time!
- Making it relevant. E.g. Thank you for joining our community
To make your email subject catchy you can add a call to action or use numbers and different offers, e.g. Only 10 subscriptions with 50% off today. However, be careful and do not make it look too salesy as it may be considered as SPAM.
Use appropriate greeting
The simplest greeting is the best one. However, before writing a greeting you need to be sure about the status of the person you are writing to. Using salutation Miss while referring to a married woman is a bad mistake. Here are some examples of the greetings which can be used in business emails:
- Hi [Name],
- Hello [Name],
- Dear [Name],
- Greetings,
- Hi there,
While Hi [Name] may seem too informal and Dear [Name] on the other side formal, we recommend using neutral Hello [Name] or Greetings if you address several people.
Start email with the main point
Your email should have one specific purpose and it is important to start with it from the very beginning without giving unrelated information. If you want your email to make the expected effect, you should write right to the point.
Hello John,
Thank you for referring our service.
I am attaching the list of your referrals with applicable affiliate commission. Please let us know if you would like to have the commission added to your account balance or sent to your PayPal.
Have a great day
Use text editor to compose emails
Spelling and grammar mistakes are the deadliest and may spoil all impression from your business email. We strongly recommend writing important emails in a text editor. However, you should be careful with formatting when transferring the content from the editor to your email.
Pay attention to your email formatting
When using a text editor to compose an email, make sure, you copy the content without formatting. You should be also careful when sending HTML letters. In some email apps they may look broken. In addition, some email apps display only plain text. If you send HTML formatted newsletters, we recommend testing it in most common email apps. Of course, you can test it yourself manually in Outlook and other email apps or use one of email testing tools.
Use appropriate greeting
Sticking to email etiquette is very important with one-to-one correspondence. By following strict rules, you will never get into embarrassing situation. However, adding personal touch to your business correspondence will make it less official and more friendly. Here are a couple of recommendations from our team:
- Include recipient's name into email body
- Express your empathy, understanding or desire to cooperate, depending on the email content
- Use a season greeting if applicable
- Maintain neutral position and stay polite
- Avoid anything offensive, jokes or sarcasm
Be clear about the purpose of writing
From the first lines of your business email you should be clear about the purpose of writing. All business emails are short and up to the point. Time is valuable and if you respect your email recipient you should be clear about the purpose of writing from the very beginning.
Say "Thank you"
It does not matter what is the purpose of your email, you should never forget about saying "Thank you". You can do this either at the beginning or anywhere else in the text, you just need to remember to show your appreciation. Here are some helpful business thank-you phrases:
- Many thanks for giving me this opportunity
- I appreciate your assistance and look forward to our cooperation
- Thank you for referring our company / service
- Thanks very much for the assistance you provide
- Thank you for your consideration
- Thank you for your assistance and guidance
Insert all necessary contact information to your signature
As a sign-off which is added before your signature, you can use Best regards or Thank you. Your email signature should contain the following information:
- Full name
- Job title
- Company name
- Email address
- Website URL
Additionally, you can add a link to your company's live chat to the signature. However, make sure that email recipients do not get confused after using the live chat link.
Keeping the email structure and format right is not an easy task. However, in the era when business emails have become an integral part of any workflow, employees should be familiar with basic email writing rules. Here is a basic business email layout which will help you craft your business emails.
