E-mail Etiquette: DO's and DON'T's of the Perfectly Written E-mail

E-mail messaging now exceeds telephone traffic and is the dominant form of business communication.

Don’t you wish that every person who received a new e-mail account had to agree to follow certain rules to use it? There are certain standards expected for e-mail use and below are just a few to keep in mind when communicating with fellow business contacts.

DO’s:

Make sure your e-mail includes a courteous greeting and closing.

Address your contact with the appropriate level of formality.

Just because someone doesn’t ask for a response doesn’t mean you ignore them.

Always acknowledge emails from those you know in a timely manner.

Responding promptly doesn’t necessarily mean that they need to have answers right away.

Always extend the offering to “hop on a call” or “feel free to pass along any additional questions.”

Clients are busy. Prioritize the most important points to the top of e-mails.

Buried points are more likely to be missed.

Keep messages brief and to the point.

Just because your writing is grammatically correct, does not mean that it has to be long.

Rare use of “my” or “I.” Make sure your client understands there is a team supporting their business not just an individual.

“Here are our recommendations” vs. “Here are my recommendations”

“Attached please find the projections that we put together” vs “I put together”

Spell check!!!

DON’T’s:

Don’t engage in rounds of e-mails when a quick phone call could resolve the question.

Don’t introduce a new topic in the middle of an e-mail thread. If you’re changing the subject, create a new message with a different subject line.

If your e-mail is emotionally charged (which it SHOULD NOT be), walk away from the computer and wait to reply.

Refrain from using multiple font colors in one e-mail.

Don’t inject your opinion. Phrases like “I think…” or “In my opinion…” should be avoided.

Be confident in your recommendation – @ Bruce Campbell.

Words to omit:

Hey, Like, “as mentioned” or “as we discussed.”

Refrain from using “as I mentioned or as I said before…” – this is straight-up condescending.

Monitor …. The …. use …. Of …. Ellipses …., because let’s face it – they are annoying …..