Email Etiquette: 10 Tips for Better Email Communication

 Good Email Manners - here are some simple yet effective tips for using email more efficiently:

1. If you are sending an email to multiple people, put their email addresses in the BCC field and your own email address in the To: field. No one likes to share their private email address with strangers.

2. The email subject should be detailed enough to give the recipient an idea about the email content without having to open it. Single words like "Hi" or "Hello" or "Help" are a strict no-no. Think of meaningful but short titles.

3. Do not attach large attachments in your email since not everyone is on a broadband connection. If you have to send a large file over email, upload it to services like Yousendit and then pass on the link in the email.

4. If you have to email more than two documents as attachments, zip them in one file. Doing so would ensure that your friend won't miss downloading any file.

5. Do not write an email while you are drunk or in a really bad mood. It would reflect on the style of your writing.

6. Do not request a Read Notification Receipt.

7. Always reply to emails especially the ones specifically addressed to you. The sender is still waiting to hear from you.

8. Keep you email message short and to the point. Sentences like "I hope this email finds you alive and well" look good only in letter correspondence.

9. Do not hit the Send button without doing a spell check. An email with spelling mistakes or grammatical errors indicate that you have written the message in a non-serious mood and may convey a bad impression. Always read the message before broadcasting it to the world.

10. You may want to remove your personal mobile number and the home number from the email signature if you are participating in a big mailing list. You never know the kind of people who have subscribed to that list.

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Business E-mail Replies: Take Time to Cool Off

Misunderstandings abound in e-mail. Many times simply due to one side not taking the time to ensure that their message and intent is clear, while the other side reads into the e-mail things that may not be there.
In my experience, when it comes to business, there will be those who assume they can whip off an e-mail in the midst of their frustration or aggravation thereby coming off as way more terse or demanding than the situation calls for. This does in fact have a negative impact relationship building potential.
That is why it is always so important (for both sides) if you get an e-mail that has a tone that gets your feathers ruffled to follow these two simple steps:

1. First, take the words at face value and don’t assume anything. If you are not sure of intent or the tone relayed, pick up the phone and or e-mail for clarification before you spend the energy being upset and snapping back with an emotional response.
2. Second, take a deep breath. If you are unsure as to whether the other side is purposefully trying to be upsetting or rude, wait until the next day to reply. And when you do, read your response out loud to double-check that the tone of your response apropos.

In business, we do not have the luxury of ignoring rude e-mailers as we do in our personal lives. However, that doesn’t mean that you have cater to rude e-mailers either. Just leave those who can only communicate by being nasty wallowing while they wait for a response from you that may be in a cool but professional tone. Always, always take the high ground.
A great majority of misunderstandings are because one side (contacts, associates, coworkers) didn’t realize how the words they chose and how they chose to use them (formatting, bolding, red text, caps, etc.) may be taken. Even customers assuming they can type as they please simply because they are the customer.
Regardless of which side of the screen you are on, professionalism and courtesy combined with clarity will rule the day!

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Business Email Etiquette Basics

“There are four ways, and only four ways, in which we have contact
with the world. We are evaluated and classified by these four contacts: what we do, how we look, what we say, and how we say it.”
- Dale Carnegie (1888-1955) American Educator

The Business E-mail Etiquette Basics You Need to Know

When it comes to your business e-mail communications, you need to make an impression that can lend to the determination that you are a credible professional enterprise and someone that will be easy and a pleasure to do business with. You only have one chance to make that first impression which will be invaluable to building trust and confidence.
Below are the key Business Email Etiquette issues that need to be considered with every commercial e-mail sent. These are the issues business owners, their employees and Netrepreneurs need to be aware of in their day-to-day online communications to ensure the best possible results.

• Professional Behavior on the Job: Know that how you use your e-mail, company e-mail address and employer’s technology is a serious issue! Sending non-business related e-mails, jokes, forwards or chain letters on company time to friends or coworkers reflects on your lack of professionalism. Visiting Web sites that are questionable or not necessary to your job responsibilities will reflect poorly on your ability to be trusted. Never assume that these activities are not being monitored. While on company time do not assume you have any privacy when using company resources and equipment.
• SUBJECT: Field: The SUBJECT: field is the window into your e-mail and can many times determine even if your e-mail will be opened. If this is an initial contact with a customer based on their request through your site or otherwise, be sure to have a short SUBJECT: that indicates clearly what the topic of the email is. Typos, all caps or all small case can lend to the impression you may be spammer.
• Level of Formality: Try to avoid the prevailing assumption that e-mail by it’s very nature allows you to be informal in your business e-mail. Only time and relationship building efforts can guide when you can formalize your business relationships and therefore your e-mail’s tone. One should communicate as if your e-mail is on your company letterhead at all times. This is your business’s image you are branding!
• Addressing: How do you address your new contacts? I would suggest initially that you assume the highest level of courtesy: Hello, Mr. Anderson, Dear Ms. Jones, Dr. Osborne, etc. Until your new contact states, “call me Andy” or “you can call me Diane”. You will also be able pick up clues on when you can address have a more relaxed tone by how contacts approach you as well as how they sign off. Most business people do not mind being called by their first name, however, in a global economy that can be perceived as taking premature liberties in the relationship if used too soon.
• TO:, From:, BCc, Cc fields can make or break you:…In the TO: field make sure you have your contact’s name formally typed. John B. Doe – not john b doe or JOHN B DOE…In the FROM: field make sure you have your full name formally typed. Example: Jane A. Jones. Not: jane a jones or JANE A JONES. The later two give the perception of lack of education or limited experience with technology. By only including your first name or e-mail address you are giving the perception you may have something to hide or do not know the basics of configuring your e-mail program.
  …BCc: use this field when e-mailing a group of contacts who do not personally know each other. By listing an arm’s length list of e-mail addresses in the Cc or TO fields of contacts who do not know each other or who have never met is conducive to publishing their e-mail address to strangers. This is a privacy issue! With those you are forging partnerships with, visibly listing their e-mail address in with a group of strangers will make one wonder what other privacy issues you may not respect or understand.
  
  …Cc: Use this field when there are a handful of associates involved in a discussion that requires all be on the same page. These business people know each other or have been introduced and have no problem having their e-mail address exposed to the parties involved. If you are not sure if a business associate would mind their address being made public, ask!
• Reply to All: Use this button with discretion! You need to carefully think about whether “all” really need to be aware of your reply to conduct business. Never use this button to CYA or eTattle on a coworker or colleague — doing so will just make you look petty while increasing others e-mail volume unnecessarily.
• Formatting: Refrain from using any formatting in your day-to-day business e-mail communications. Unless you would type something in bold crimson letters on business letterhead, don’t do it when e-mailing for commercial gain. With all the spam filtering going on today; the more formatting or embedded images that higher the chance that your e-mail could be blocked as spammy.
  Even something as simple as using a different font makes your e-mail’s display contingent upon the recipient having that specific font on their system or it defaults to their designated default font. Keep in mind the recipient may not have their e-mail program configured in such a way as to display your formatting the way it appears on your system – if at all.
• Attachments: How do you think your relationship with a potential new customer/contact is enhanced when you send them that 10M Power Point presentation they didn’t request and you fill up their inbox causing subsequent business correspondence to bounce as undeliverable? And, if they do not have Power Point, they wouldn’t be able open the file anyway! Never assume your potential customers have the software you do to open any file you may arbitrarily send.
  If you need to send a file (or combination of files) over 500,000 in size, business courtesy dictates you ask the recipient first if it is O.K. to send a large file. Next, confirm they have the same software and version you do and what is the best time of day to sent it to them to ensure they are available to download the large file and keep their e-mail flowing. Never send large attachments without warning, on weekends or after business hours when the recipient may not be there to keep their inbox clear.
• Using Previous E-mail for New Correspondence: If you want to give the perception of lazy, find a previous e-mail from the party you want to communicate with, hit reply and start typing about something completely irrelevant to the old e-mail’s subject. Always start a new e-mail and add your contacts to your address book so you can add them to a new e-mail with one click.
• Down Edit Your Replies: Do not just hit reply and start typing — that’s called top posting. Editing is a skill those you communicate with will appreciate as it lends to reflecting a respect for their time and clarity in your communications. Removing parts of the previous e-mail that no longer apply to your response including e-mail headers and signature files removes the clutter. By making the effort to reply point by point keeps the conversation on track with fewer misunderstandings.
• Common Courtesy: Hello, Hi, Good Day, Thank You, Sincerely, Best Regards. All those intros and sign offs that are a staple of professional business communications should also be used in your business e-mail communications. Always have a salutation and sign off with every e-mail. Here again – think business letterhead.
  Courtesy also includes that you make the effort to communicate as an educated adult. Type in full sentences with proper sentence structure. Not all caps; not all small case. Proper capitalization and punctuation are a must! You are an educated professional and need to communicate as such. All caps or all small case smacks of either lack of education, tech/business savvy — or laziness. None of which is positive for instilling confidence or encouraging others to want to do business with you.
• Signature files: Keep your signature files to no more than 5-6 lines to avoid being viewed as egocentric. Limit your signature to your Web site link, company name, and slogan/offer or phone number. Include a link to your Web site where the recipient can get all your contact information from A-Z – that is what your site is for. Do not forget to include the “http://” when including your Web site address within e-mails and your signature file to ensure the URL is recognized as a clickable URL regardless of the user’s software or platform.
• Respond Promptly: You should do your best to respond to your business communications as quickly as possible. This is a customer service issue that should not be underestimated. By not responding promptly you appear unorganized, uncaring or worse yet, risk being outperformed by your competitors who understand the importance of appearing efficient and on the ball.

There you have it! These very important issues will certainly allow your business communications to rise above the majority who do not take the time to understand and master these issues.
When forging new business relationships and solidifying established partnerships, the level of professionalism and courtesy you relay in your business e-mail communications will always gain clients over the competition that may be anemic, uninformed or just plain lazy in this area.
When it comes to business, regardless of mode of communication used, professionalism and courtesy never go out of style!