E-Mail Etiquette
Jennifer Koch

With the vast improvements in today's communication technology, it has never been simpler to send messages to clients and employees alike in record time. Email is fast, clear, simple, and short.

…Isn't it?

What do the messages look like in your inbox? Did your senders use a formal greeting and closing, or did they use one at all? Are there complete sentences? Are there misspelled words? Did someone send you a message written IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS? Maybe it was one person's good-intentioned idea to heed their creative streak and send your message in primary colors and a four-inch-high font.

A good email won't win you a Pulitzer; it isn't intended to. Many of the basic rules that normally apply to corporate letter-writing do not apply here. Still, think of the reason you're writing that email before you click the 'send' button, and think of the person on the other end. You know what you mean to say, but the question is…do they?

The next time you sit down to write an email, keep the following guidelines in mind. You'll make the most of your time, and your writing skills will be the envy of the office. Just don't let on too much, or they'll be asking you to write theirs too.

Guidelines to Follow:

1. Be concise and to the point.
   Do not make an e-mail longer than it needs to be. Remember that reading an e-mail is harder than reading printed communications and a long e-mail can be very discouraging to read.
2. Answer all questions, and pre-empt further questions.
   An email reply must answer all questions, and pre-empt further questions - If you don't answer all the questions in the original email, you'll receive further e-mails regarding the unanswered questions, which will not only waste your time and your customer's time, but also cause considerable frustration. Moreover, if you pre-empt relevant questions, your customer will be grateful and impressed with your efficient and thoughtful customer service. Imagine, for instance, that a customer sends you an email asking which credit cards you accept. Instead of simply listing the credit card types, you can guess that their next question will be about how they can order. Include some order information and a URL to your order page. Customers will definitely appreciate this.
3. Use proper spelling, grammar & punctuation.
   This is not only important because improper spelling, grammar and punctuation give a bad impression of your company, it is also important for conveying the message properly. E-mails with no full stops or commas are difficult to read and can sometimes even change the meaning of the text. And, if your program has a spell checking option, why not use it?
4. Make it personal.
   Not only should the e-mail be personally addressed, it should also include personal i.e. customized content. For this reason auto replies are usually not very effective. However, templates can be used effectively in this way, see next tip.
5. Use templates for frequently used responses.
   Some questions you get over and over again, such as directions to your office or how to subscribe to your newsletter. Save these texts as response templates and paste these into your message when you need them. You can save your templates in a Word document, or use pre-formatted emails.
6. Answer swiftly.
   Customers send an e-mail because they wish to receive a quick response. If they did not want a quick response they would send a letter or a fax. Therefore, each e-mail should be replied to within at least 24 hours, and preferably within the same working day. If the email is complicated, just send an email back saying that you have received it and that you will get back to them. This will put the customer's mind at rest and usually customers will then be very patient!
7. Use proper structure & layout.
   Since reading from a screen is more difficult than reading from paper, the structure and lay out is very important for e-mail messages. Use short paragraphs and blank lines between each paragraph. When making points, number them or mark each point as separate to keep the overview.
8. Do not write in CAPITALS.
   IF YOU WRITE IN CAPITALS IT SEEMS AS IF YOU ARE SHOUTING. This can be highly annoying and may send your recipient the wrong message. Therefore, try not to send any email text in capitals.
9. Add disclaimers to your emails.
   It is important to add disclaimers to your internal and external mails, since this can help protect your company from liability. Consider the following scenario: an employee accidentally forwards a virus to a customer by email. The customer decides to sue your company for damages. If you add a disclaimer at the bottom of every external mail, saying that the recipient must check each email for viruses and that it cannot be held liable for any transmitted viruses, this will surely be of help to you in court. Another example: an employee sues the company for allowing a racist email to circulate the office. If your company has an email policy in place and adds an email disclaimer to every mail that states that employees are expressly required not to make defamatory statements, you have a good case of proving that the company did everything it could to prevent offensive emails.
10. Read the email before you send it.
    This rule can't be more strongly stressed. A great deal of people don't bother to read an email before they send it out, as can be seen from the many spelling and grammar mistakes contained in emails. Read your email as though you were the person receiving it. This will help you send a more effective message, and avoid misunderstandings and inappropriate comments.
11. Take care with abbreviations & emoticons.
    In business emails, try not to use abbreviations such as BTW (by the way) and LOL (laugh out loud). The recipient might not be aware of the meanings of the abbreviations and in business emails these are generally not appropriate. The same goes for emoticons, such as the smiley :). If you are not sure whether your recipient knows what it means, it is better not to use it.
12. Use a meaningful subject.
    Try to use a subject that is meaningful to the recipient as well as yourself. For instance, when you send an email to a company requesting information about a product, it is better to mention the actual name of the product, e.g. 'Product A information' than to just say 'product information' or the company's name in the subject.
13. Don't send or forward emails containing libelous, defamatory, offensive, racist or obscene remarks.
    By sending or even just forwarding one libelous, or offensive remark in an email, you and your company can face court cases resulting in multi-million dollar penalties.
14. Keep your language gender-neutral.
    In this day and age, avoid using sexist language such as: 'The user should add a signature by configuring his email program.' Apart from using he/she, you can also use the neutral gender: 'The user should add a signature by configuring the email program.'

Okay, so now you have a better idea of email etiquette and effective email writing. Are you a manager or supervisor and want to make sure others do too? The first step is to create a written email policy. This email policy should include all the do's and don'ts concerning the use of the company's email system and should be distributed amongst all employees. Secondly, employees must be trained to fully understand the importance of email etiquette. Finally, implementation of the rules can be monitored by using email management software and email response tools. Drake Hardware & Software's experienced software support consultants can help you find and implement these tools to run your business communications more efficiently.