How to write better e-mails to your Foreign / Chinese clients and colleagues

If you are reading this post you probably work in an office and spend between 10-50% of your working day reading and writing e-mails.

What if you can improve your e-mail writing efficiency by just 2-3%.

- You will have more time to spend with your kids, family and friends rather than sitting in front of your computer or tapping away on your smartphone.

- Ensure more people reply to your e-mails more quickly.

- Perhaps you may also be perceived as more professional and build stronger relationships with your boss, colleagues, suppliers and clients.

Read on to find out 8 things you should do to ensure you write effective e-mails as well as some specific advice for writing e-mails to Chinese and Foreigners:

• Subject heading – your subject heading should summarize the content of your e-mail. Be sure to include one and keep it short, simple and memorable.
• Most important details at the top of the e-mail – write the key points or deadlines at the beginning of your e-mail if not the reader may not get to them.
• Double check before sending your e-mails – check for spelling/grammar mistakes and think if you received the e-mail how would you feel. If you wouldn’t read it because it’s too long then delete some of the content.
• Keep your e-mails under 10 lines – my former German boss suggested this tip and I think it’s very simple and effective.
• You don’t have to send your e-mail when you finish writing it – if it’s an important e-mail think where the recipient will be when you click send. If they are in a meeting and have to check 20 e-mails when they come out of that meeting maybe they won’t even read your message. Therefore why not send the e-mail very early in the morning or late afternoon.
• Include your full signature at the end of your e-mails – it’s very important even on internal e-mails to colleagues in other offices to include your full contact details when you first contact someone in case they would like to call you urgently. If they can’t find your telephone number on your signature you may lose a sale or create a bad impression.
• Don’t write e-mails when you’re angry! – if someone criticises you or upsets you don’t reply to their e-mail immediately. Simply wait for a few hours or even better until the next day and this will probably prevent you from writing things you later regret.
• Send e-mail updates – if you can’t reply to an e-mail within 3-5 days send a quick update for example to say you are waiting for some information and will get back to the person soon. If you just don’t reply to an e-mail for 2-3 weeks it will make you seem unprofessional.

Tips for Chinese to write better e-mails to foreign clients or colleagues

• Have a clear ‘ call to action ‘ – tell the person you are writing to what you want them to do. For example if you would like to arrange a meeting give two or three possible dates when you are free. Make life easy for your recipient and they will be more likely to reply.
• Details are very important – sometimes due to cultural habits Chinese people are a little vague when communicating and use words such as “ maybe, “ “ cha bu duo. ” etc When communicating with foreigners both face-to-face and via e-mail I advise you to be more direct and include all the little details and specifics to ensure your recipient doesn’t need to send you several extra e-mails to get the answers to their questions.
• Remember to say thank you – if a western colleague or client helps you out with something be sure to say thank you. Chinese people don’t usually say thank you all the time to their family members like most westerners do and therefore they can occasionally forget to use thank you with their western clients/colleagues. If you remember to do it this will help you to build a good relationship.

Tips for Foreigners to write better e-mails to Chinese clients or colleagues.

• Some Chinese don’t like e-mail! – especially in state-owned companies some Chinese employees are not that keen on reading and writing e-mails and much prefer to pick-up the phone and of course nowadays use Wechat. Therefore if you don’t get an answer via e-mail trying calling or sending a Wechat.
• Simple language – it’s best to keep language very basic and not use too many technical words or acronyms such as ASAP for example. This should help avoid any misunderstandings. Rather like if you are making a presentation to an international audience.
• Short e-mails – as written above some Chinese staff don’t have the habit of using e-mail as much as some westerners so it’s best to keep your messages as short as possible. This will increase the chance that your e-mail gets read and you receive a reply.

In conclusion, try to keep your e-mails short and clear but also think about the way the person you are contacting likes to communicate. For example my wife never checks her e-mails but uses Wechat every day!

You may get a quicker reply from your Chinese clients/colleagues if you send them a message on Wechat or QQ or give them a call as opposed to e-mail. Where as Chinese people could of course pick up the phone but can also try contacting foreigners on Linkedin, Facebook (via a VPN) or Skype.

Did you find this article useful? Do you think your staff in China or Asia would benefit from a one or two-day effective e-mail writing or Business writing workshop?

 If so, feel free to contact me.

James McTavish is the Managing Director & Lead Trainer at Captivate Training & Consulting - a British-owned corporate training firm based in Qingdao, China.

We deliver Soft Skills, Management and Communication Skills training for both Foreign and Chinese companies throughout mainland China and Asia-Pacific. 

We deliver training in both Chinese and English

If you have any specific training needs for your staff in China or Asia you are welcome to contact us to see if we can help.

China Office number: 0532 5557 9497 / 5557 9498                                                               E-mail: [email protected]

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