One of the most important facets of business is projecting an image of professionalism. Unfortunately, it seems that many business professionals have no idea how much their email etiquette (or lack thereof) impacts how they and their company are perceived by the recipient.
This article will discuss some simple steps you can take to improve your email etiquette.
Carefully consider your audience
Make sure that the tone and content of your email project an appropriate level of formality. For example, if you would not tell a potentially offensive joke to a client in person, why on earth would you do so by email? Remember that it is your audience, not you, that ultimately must be satisfied with the communication.
Think before you click Send
One of the biggest misconceptions about email is that it is intangible, and therefore rudeness or thoughtlessness has less chance of coming back to haunt you. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. Emails can be forwarded, printed, and archived. A single angry email today could hurt your chances for a promotion next year or even get you fired if it somehow ends up in the wrong person’s inbox. Emails are even admissible evidence in court. Rule of thumb: If you are too angry to speak in person, you are too angry to communicate by email. Cool off a while or have a non-interested party proofread your email before you send it.
BCC vs. CC
Always use the Blind Carbon-Copy (BBC) field instead of the To or Carbon-Copy (CC) fields when you are sending emails to groups of recipients outside of your organization. Using CC displays every recipient’s email address to every other recipient of the email, which in some situations may cause serious repercussions for you and your business, particularly if the contents of the email are highly sensitive. Imagine you are a subscriber to a monthly newsletter from a medical supply company that specializes in incontinence products, and the newsletter is sent to your workplace using CC. How quick will you be to patronize that company afterwards?
Spellcheck everything
Even if you are just sending a two sentence reply to a three sentence email, you should strive to sound professional. There are few things that say “I’m rushed and can’t be bothered to communicate properly with you” more clearly than a poorly spelled email. Every major email program has a spellchecker. Use it.
Proofread, proofread, proofread
One of the hard facts of business life is that there are few things that make you look more illiterate, or just plain careless, than sending out emails riddled with grammar errors. Unfortunately, most spellcheckers won’t catch certain types of grammar or logic errors in your writing. When you type “Fourth quarter revenues are up, and all projectiles look good for next year”, your spellchecker won’t catch the error, because “projectiles” is a noun and is spelled correctly. Only a human being can catch this type of mistake, preferably before you hit Send.
Use normal capitalization
Typing an email in ALL CAPS is the visual equivalent of yelling at your recipient. However, it’s not just rude. Some people with certain visual impairments find it almost impossible to read text written in all caps.
Keep the netspeak and emoticons to a minimum
Mr. Jones wants the project completed asap, but imo it’s going to be a bust, since afaik the project manager is a complete n00b. Even if you can read the previous sentence, you should be aware that it is practically a foreign language to most people. Netspeak to English translation: “Mr. Jones wants the project completed as soon as possible, but in my opinion it’s not going to work, since as far as I know, the project manager has never functioned in that capacity before.” Remember, if your audience can’t understand you, you have just wasted both your time and theirs.
Make sure your subject line is pertinent to the content of the email
“Read this!!!!” doesn’t really tell anyone anything except that you are a pushy sort that can’t be bothered with the usual courtesies, so why should they bother reading your email? Your subject doesn’t need to offer a complete summary of your email, just give your reader some idea of what you are going to discuss. A little effort goes a long way.
Avoid clichés, culturalisms, and acronyms when possible
In today’s global business environment, you cannot assume that the person you are contacting is a native English speaker (or whatever your native tongue may be). Because of this you should be careful to use simple, clear, and concise language. Common clichés and culturalisms such as “once in a blue moon”, “when push comes to shove”, or even common acronyms such as ASAP, may have no meaning or an opposite meaning to a speaker of English as a second language. Furthermore, if you simply must use a common saying, make sure you get it right. For example, many people say, “Nip it in the butt” meaning “we need to prevent this from happening,” when the expression is actually a horticultural reference: “Nip it in the bud.” There are few things that make you look more ignorant than flubbing a common saying.
Ask before sending unsolicited email
You have a great new product, and your research tells you that your most promising potential customer is Business X. However, you don’t know anyone at Business X. Don’t just fire off an introductory email. The chances of it being read are not good, and your run the risk of being perceived as a spammer. It takes just a few minutes to call and ask for the buyer at Business X in order to introduce yourself, then ask for permission to send them an email about your great new product. They most likely will not refuse, and you gain points for politeness and professionalism.
Don’t email unexpected attachments without calling the recipient first
In this day of hackers, computer viruses, and digital trojan horses, the first rule of network security in the workplace is “Don’t Open Unexpected Email Attachments.” If you wouldn’t want to do it, don’t expect someone else to jump to open your attachment. Simply call before you send. It’s just polite.
In conclusion, taking the time to be professional in your email communications will improve the way your boss, co-workers, and customers perceive you and your work. It only takes a little more effort, and the rewards can be great.
