Why email Etiquette Require

You may have heard, “Don’t sweat the small stuff." That might be true in some aspects of life, but over email, sweating the small stuff is exactly what you should be doing.

Why email etiquette required?

Research shows making errors seriously impact how people see you. In one study, participants who read an email with grammatical errors thought the writer was less conscientious, intelligent, and trustworthy towards his/her work.

This shouldn’t be too surprising. If you read an email damaged with typos, you probably think one of two things:

? The sender doesn’t know basic spelling and grammar

? The sender didn’t care enough about this message to review it before sending

Neither bodes well for your relationship. So, to avoid prospects coming to these conclusions about you, here are a few email etiquette tips every professional (especially client-facing ones) should know and follow.

Email etiquette rules dictate what’s appropriate and what’s not when you’re sending a message to a prospect, business partner, coworker, manager, or acquaintance. They help you avoid miscommunications and mistakes. Want to make sure your email etiquette meets modern standards? Check out the templates below.

Email Etiquette Tips & Examples

1. Keep your tone Professional

You still don't know your prospect well after a discovery call, so it's best to keep your subject line descriptive and your greeting formal. In the example above, you've reminded them of your earlier conversation and kept things personal and friendly. You've confirmed your scheduled meeting and called out the tidy agenda attachment, so it doesn't get lost below. Finally, you've signed off formally, which is fitting for this stage of the sales process. And you've proofread.

2. Subject lines should be Clear

The subject line of this email doesn't tell the prospect anything about the contents -- so why would they open it? Also, the greeting is too casual, there's nothing personalized about the email itself, and no meeting confirmation has been included.

Sending long URLs is also an email etiquette no-no, the sign off is too casual, and the typos make it clear the person writing it either has very poor grammar or didn't take the time to read it through.

3. Use Proper Punctuation

Punctuation is subtle when you use it correctly and obvious when you don’t. Don’t make your recipients cringe.  Follow the given below Rules.

Terminal Punctuation

Every line should end with a terminal punctuation mark, i.e. a period, question mark, or exclamation mark. If you skip terminal punctuation, it will look like you never completed your Sentence.

·        Use question marks sparingly. If you use too many question marks in one email, you’ll sound like you’re interrogating the recipient.

    Semicolons (;)

   A semicolon can also connect two unique, but related, sentences. It cannot act as a comma.

  Comma (,)

 One of the most common emailer is adding commas where they don’t belong. While I could devote an      entire post to proper comma usage (English major talking), here are the most important rules:

Use before a coordinating conjunction (and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet) that’s connecting two independent clauses.

“I worked with a similar client last year, and their open rates went up 20% in one month.

Use after a dependent clause at the beginning of a sentence.

“After improving their subject lines, open rates improved dramatically.

Use to separate items in a list.

“I focused on email length, readability, and content.

Exclamation Mark

Use exclamation marks as sparingly as you use question marks. If you go overboard with exclamation marks, you’ll come across as hyper and overexcited.

"Thanks again for a productive conversation yesterday! Good news, I talked to Finance and we’re good to go! Can’t wait to work together!"

4. Practice Good grammar

You have to give your full attention to studying grammar (which is much less lucrative than sales), you’re bound to make the occasional mistake. Just steer clear of basic mix-ups that your prospect will definitely catch, and you’ll be golden.

Know the difference between:

·        There/they’re/their

·        Its/it’s

·        Effect/affect

·        Your/you’re

·        Too/two/to

·        Loose/lose

·        I/me/myself

5. Resist emoji’s in email

I understand the urge to add a smiley face to a potentially harsh sentence or cap off a joke with a laughing emoji. However, unless your recipient has already used one, resist temptation. Research reveals including emojis in work emails is bad for your reputation: They make you look less competent (and they don’t have any effect on how friendly you seem).

6. Keep Subject Lines Descriptive and Short

Your subject line should be descriptive and relatively short. Ideally, it should give the recipient a good idea whether they want to open your message.

Bad subject line:

“Hi

What are you emailing them about? It’s completely unclear.

Good subject line:

“Summary of meeting 11/9 call

This line leaves no doubt about the contents of the email.

7. Choose your email salutation carefully

Above, we covered which punctuation to use in the salutation. You also need to pick a greeting -- which can be formal or informal, depending on whom you’re emailing and what your relationship is like.

Most of the time, a casual salutation is appropriate. You’ll set a friendly, easygoing tone and communicate confidence.

Casual email greetings include:

·        Hi

·        Hey

·        Hey/hi there

·        Good [morning, afternoon]

·        [Name]

If you are reaching out to someone for the first time -- or they work in a conservative industry -- skew more formal.

Formal email greetings include:

·        Dear [First Name]

·        Dear Mr./Ms. [Last Name]

And which ones should you never use (not even as a joke)?

·        Yo: Too informal

·        Hey!: Too intimate and excited

·        [Name]!: Too off-putting

·        To whom it may Concern: Too impersonal

·        Dear sir or madam: Too Rigid

·        Hi Friend: Too Creepy

·        Gentlemen: Very old-fashioned

·        All: Too cold

8. Leave the right impression with your email sign-off

The right sign-off will complement the tone and content of your email. Since it’s the last thing your recipient reads, this line influences their lasting impression.

If your tone is lighthearted, end with a warm sign-off.

Informal sign-offs:

·        Thanks

·        Thanks again

·        Best

·        Cheers

·        Happy [day of the week]

·        Enjoy the weekend

·        Talk soon

·        Talk to you [tomorrow, on Wednesday, when you get back]

·        Looking forward to working together

·        Looking forward to our next conversation

·        Excited to hear your thoughts

If your tone is more reserved, your sign-off should be as well.

Formal sign-offs:

·        Thank you

·        Thank you for your time

·        Have a wonderful [day, weekend]

And here are the closing lines you shouldn’t be using:

·        Sincerely: Too outdated

·        Regards: Too unfriendly

·        Kind regards: Too unnatural

·        Warmly: Too relaxed

·        Respectfully: Too random

·        XOXO: Too intimate

·        Cordially: Too stilted

·         [Your name]: Too Abrupt

Conclusion:-

As you can see, there's quite a bit to think about when it comes to email etiquette at work. Email in the workplace is a fact of life, and there is research that suggests that this will be the case in the years ahead as businesses continue to rely on emails to communicate both internally and externally. What this means is that you need to learn how to use email effectively, particularly if you want your messages to be read rather than deleted.

Maintaining a professional image includes communicating properly, and that, of course, includes emails. Email is a powerful, professional tool, both in the workplace and for networking, and these email etiquette tips will give you a good start.

Note: - Some content is taken from Google.

Rajiv Kumar