Introduction
In this article, we will see how to write a business email. Business emails are one of the central cores of modern-day methods for interaction. Many of the emails which we send might not even be effective. Everyone has their inbox with dozens of unread emails, either they are promotions or the unnecessary junk. People also do not even tend to open and read their emails. You should be careful and not let this happen to your business email.
Whenever thinking to write a business email, focus particularly on the style, etiquette and format. These things are significant when writing emails that produce fruitful results.
This article will reflect on the practices to ensure a way to write the best business email. The one that shall not be over-looked and will be responded to as well. Read below to walk through the steps to write an effective business email.
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Audience
Always keep the audience in your mind. The audience may be the writer’s:
– Supervisor
– Colleague
– Client
In respect to whom you are writing the email, focus on the level of formality, content and tone of communication.
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Purpose
A business email is based on, “One thing rule”. This means that before starting off with your email, be sure about your purpose. Every email should have only single:
– Request
– Task
– Item
Restricting to just one purpose makes an email less confusing. When emails are written to the point, the reader gets a clearer idea about the intentions of the writer. Therefore, emails should be written in a less ambiguous way as much as possible.
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Appropriateness
Always be careful regarding your mail being appropriate. The irrelevant information should be eliminated. Focus on:
– Design
– Content
These two aspects greatly influence the impact on the reader. It should be less personal and more formal because it is a business email. Sensitive information such as funny stuff should better be avoided in a business email.
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Style
Business emails should be brief yet professional. The style of your email will greatly affect its outcome. We will discuss this point further in the following points. It will help you make your business mail look more professional.
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Tone
– Tone should be relevant to the audience
– Avoid CAPITAL LETTERS
– Do not be too polite, but “Please” and “Thank you” should be added where necessary
– Use features like bold, italics and underline to emphasize on important things
– Add headings which makes it easier for the reader to find relevant information easily. It also saves time.
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Format
This is an essential part of one’s business email. The following should be considered:
– Skimmed email
– Short paragraphs
– Use lists or bullets
a) Font
– Avoid decorative fonts such as those with strokes
– Use modern yet simpler fonts which are easier to read
b) Text size
Keep your text within a readable size. 10-12 points is considered to be a normal text size.
c) Text colour
Avoid making your email look colourful. This looks unprofessional. Moreover, the attention of the reader may be diverted due to it.
d) Alignment
Business emails are preferred to be aligned left. First sentence of the opening paragraph is indented usually to 5 points.
e) Quote text
We use this feature when we want to quote some text in the email. This shall allow the reader to know that the writer has quoted some external information.
f) Remove formatting
Whenever copy/pasting any data, remember to remove the formatting function. Otherwise, the styles and format of the certain page or link shall be visible and the reader would then know that you have copy and pasted the information from some other site. The formatting has to be uniform throughout your email.
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Other important features
Apart from the main body of your email, there are other important things too which you should consider before sending your email.
a) Subject line
It is a short summary of your business email which is very important to add in the provided space. It is the foremost tool to make the receiver open and read your email by making it look worthy enough. Few examples of the subject line include:
– Important
– For reviewing purposes
– Client report
– Please review at 7 am
b) Greeting
This should be concise and professional. It is dependent on your relationship with the reader; either formal or a bit causal. Some examples are:
– Good morning!
– Respected Sir/Ma’am
– Greetings,
c) Short pleasantry
If you are writing someone for the first time, do not forget to add a brief pleasantry at the beginning. Few examples include:
– I was glad to read about your advertisement in the newspaper today.
– I am hoping that you would give me time and help me out in this project.
However, you should not add this greeting if you have met the person recently. Add it in the email only when you are writing to someone for the first time or after a long time.
d) Additional information
You can add any link regarding your professional profile or portfolio to explain things better. This will increase the overall understanding level of the reader.
e) Add a specific call to action at the end of your mail
This provides a clarification for the tasks or expectations for the recipient to respond in less time and more efficiently. This statement should include a particular timeline and action. For example:
– Please let me know as soon as possible.
– I shall be waiting for your response around 8 pm today.
f) Closing message
It simply denotes that the email has come to an end. It should be polite yet brief.
– Thanking you in anticipation!
– Looking forward to hearing from you.
g) Signature and sign off
We add our signature add at the end of the mail.
– Dr Patel
– Prof. David
– Sarah Shehroz (less formal)
– Sarah (least formal and most common)
You can mention your job title, company name, address and contact details in your signature.
Conclusion
By incorporating the described steps while preparing your business email, you shall learn to write better. Moreover, your overall communication via mail shall improve.
So, this is how you can write a business email. Check out this article on how to write a formal business letter.
