Proper email etiquette can be key to your reputation in your professional field. The last thing you want is to be noticed for your emails by your bosses in a bad way.
A lot of emails may not get much thought considering that over 347 billion emails are sent every day.
Emailing back and forth can add to this. Most of the time, it may not even be necessary.
Read on to find out what email tips you can use to cut back on unnecessary emails.
Table of Contents
Have a Good Subject Line
One of the most important things to have in a professional email is an efficient subject line. This lets the recipient immediately know what your email is about and you both can get right to the point.
An example can be if an associate has to ask a question to their supervisor about a client’s order. Or, they could try to be addressing a concern with this order but they need the supervisor’s access to get this resolved.
What the associate can do in this situation is make it very clear what the order is. Usually, there is an order number, confirmation number, or even just a last name that somebody can use to help keep track of orders. If you put one of these in the subject line, it can make it much easier for the supervisor to go back and fix the issue later.
The bottom line is that you should have a good subject line to create more efficiency between you and your recipient. If you do this right, that should cut down on the need for back and forth emails.
Provide Other Contact Information
Another thing that you can do to reduce the need for additional emails is to provide other contact information in your original email. You can do this by putting it in your signature at the end of your email.
A proper email signature usually has a name, job title, email address, and phone number. If you put a phone number in that email, there is a chance that someone can call or text you if you have a minor question instead.
That can save you both a lot of time and also increase the response time by offering a more direct line of communication. Offer some alternatives to avoid wasting time with emails.
Keep Your Email Simple
Make sure you are only writing the information that is necessary for your recipient. This ensures that they do not have to cut through the fluff to get to the point of your email. Also, it can make your emails easier for people to read and as a result, they could be more likely to understand everything the first time.
Let’s say that you are discussing an event that is coming up for your co-workers. All you have to do is mention the name and address of the place, your contact information, plus the date and time that people need to show up. If it is a company event, you may have to mention any rules if you are a manager sending this out to employees.
Regardless, just try to keep emails down to the information that people need to know. Communicate this information and try to keep this information organized.
The Right Responses
Part of professional email communication is responding to a co-worker, boss, or customer appropriately. Normally, this means keeping a polite tone while addressing the issue that the email was about.
These professional email response examples dive into this very issue. Start by saying hello, discuss how the problem in the previous email is being addressed, and end it with something polite such as “Have a great day!”
Doing this allows you to keep your email simple, and keep yourself looking as good as possible in this exchange, and it can even help diffuse a tense situation.
Sometimes, people just need a calming presence to mirror the energy that the other person has. An example can be if a customer sends an angry email about a product that they ordered being damaged when it was delivered to them.
If you are a customer service rep, you have to skillfully diffuse this situation and try to get the customer to calm down. You can keep a friendly tone in your greeting and even apologize to the customer for this event occurring.
This can show a customer that you have empathy for their situation and that you are going to make an effort to resolve their issue. Doing this can earn you bonus points in the customer’s eyes and help them feel like they are not alone in this situation.
The same can be said if you are responding to an email from your boss. Your boss may be angry about someone messing up a big order. Here, you need to keep a positive tone and confirm that actions are being taken to address this issue.
Limit Emailing Back and Forth
These are some tips that you can use if you want to limit emailing back and forth.
Offer an alternative source of contact information if you want to have a more direct line available for follow-up questions. Write a good subject line that allows the recipient to immediately know what the email is about and to easily look back at it later.
Then, take the time to come up with an appropriate response that will avoid warranting further responses.
Do you want to know more? Check out some articles in our Business section.
My name is Tom William a expert content creator and SEO expert having Proven record of excellent writing demonstrated in a professional portfolio Impeccable grasp of the English language, including press releases and current trends in slang and details.
