Email Etiquette And Its Impact on Business

An email says a lot about the person writing it. Business Email writing is an art. Sometimes friendships get forged through emails. I clearly remember when I was in HR in my previous organisation, I had to write mails to various stakeholders. One of them was from the Overseas Operations Cell. I always used to receive very courteous mails from one particular individual in the OOC. Every email used to start with a greeting and end with warm wishes. Email etiquette was followed to the T.I used to look forward to writing to her. Most of the mails which I received were curt one liners so this mail really stood out. I started looking forward to meeting the writer of these emails. One day I got an opportunity when I had to go to Bangalore to meet a client. I walked into the OOC office at Bangalore curious and eager to meet the writer of the emails and asked for Aparna, the person who had been writing those courteous emails to me. I was pleasantly surprised to meet her and we connected within a few minutes of our meeting. Her emails had already created a positive impression about her in my mind so forging a friendship with her did not take much time. She is one of my closest friends till date.

“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart!”  William Wordsworth

Most of us do not have the time or the bandwidth to write courteous emails. We often write curt one liners that do not get us a response most of the times. Based on my experiences I would like to share a few pointers to effective email writing-

1.      A strong subject line is an essential part of business email writing. It gives an insight into what the email is all about and peeks the curiosity of the reader.
2.      Always start the email with some kind of greeting. This creates greater connect with the reader.
3.      Reflect on the content of the mail by asking yourself these questions, “What do I intend to accomplish through this email”, “Who is my audience?”, “ How can my message have the intended result and what do I need to do to achieve that?”
4.      Be sure to provide the context clearly while writing the email. Do not assume that the reader knows.
5.      Be as crisp and concise as possible while writing the content

Email Etiquette training can help you learn the globally accepted etiquette and methods of email writing. With most people in business getting over 300 emails a day, learning how to get your emails read is an invaluable skill.

MMM Training Solutions conducts Soft Skills Training, corporate training, cross cultural training and leadership training programs for corporates in India and abroad.