Business Email Etiquette
The number of emails we all receive every day can be overwhelming, but they are a fact of life. Keeping that in mind, try to observe some of the basic email etiquette rules for emailing within the business world. Your email message may be the first impression someone has of you. And you want that impression to be a good one. Here are some rules to follow:
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Make sure your email address is professional and identifies you as the sender.
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Fill in the subject line. Your e-mail will more likely be read if you alert the recipient as to what you’re going to say in the body of the email.
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Use a professional and cordial salutation such as, “Good morning or Good afternoon Mr. Jones” or the long standing “Dear.” Avoid the often seen “Hey.”
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When responding to someone’s e-mail leave their message in tact so both parties can refer to the entire message.
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Do not use “reply all” unless all need the reply.
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Use the “BCC” function when sending an email to a group of people. This protects other people’s privacy.
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Let people know if you are copying or “CC” someone on your email.
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Respond quickly when you receive an attachment or document so the sender knows you received it and that you can open it.
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Remember that e-mail is not private. Once you hit send it’s out of your hands. So, if you wouldn’t want to read it in court, don’t put it in an email.
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Do respond in a timely fashion. E-mails are the phone calls of today’s tech society we live in. Responding in one business day is ideal.
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Use the auto reply when you are out of your office. If necessary, offer another contact person for urgent business.
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Be attentive to grammar and punctuation just as you would in a written message.
- Use emojis and exclamation marks sparingly or not at all in business communication.
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Use a signature block containing your name and company, etc. And do add your own closing even with a signature block.
- Observe your company guidelines for storing and saving emails.
16. Always reread your email message before hitting send.
