11 Tips to write an effective e-mail
11 Tips to write an effective e-mail
E-mails have grown out to be a fundamental part of our lives in today’s time. We all connect with each other via e-mails more often than before, be it personal or official. In the lieu of writing an effective mail we will be able to consume time as well as be able to build confidence and buoyancy on the other person.
But have you ever thought; what happens if you write a bad mail?
- If the content of the mail is ambiguous, then in the lieu of making the opposite person comprehend of what you say; you exchange unnecessary number of mails, henceforward increasing your workload and a decreasing your productivity.
- In-case if the mail is being written to a new client or to a top notch personality, it leaves a poor dint for you.
- Since you do not have control on who is reading your mail, you may lose a client or you may even tend to ruin your relationship with the reader. Hence it becomes all the more important for you to write an effective mail.
- Due to lack of control on who is reading your message, you may make the things complicated if the mail is read by somebody who should not be reading the mail.
- If you have to climb the ladder of success, it becomes a part of your profile where interaction with the top management happens on a daily basis. If you are not communicating in the right way, it acts as a barrier for you to be a successful professional.
Below given are some tips to write an effective e-mail.
The subject line ought to be evocative.
The subject line should precisely pronounce the content of your e-mail. The subject line should be such that it provides the reader a substantial purpose to open your message.
If your subject line is ambiguous, or blank, you have squandered your first chance to buoy the person to read your e-mail.
For example: the subject line should not embrace greeting words like, “Hi” or “Hello”.
If for instance you have to send a purchase order to your client through mail, then your subject line should be “Purchase order of Washing Machine”.
Or if you have to send the payment details to somebody, then your subject line should be “Payment Details”.
Define your preferred outcome.
There is a limited pool of people who identify what precisely they have to mention in the mail. Devoid of an unblemished understanding of the preferred outcome, our thoughts will be disorganized and will ultimately confuse the reader.
There are four different types of mail. Your preferred outcome determines the type of mail you send.
a. Self - fulfilling email: As the name proposes, the content of the message is itself the theme of the mail. It either conveys or accolades the receiver. In such kind of mails giving a response is not necessary.
b. Inquiries:This is the type of mail that requires the receiver to respond the sender for the inquiries that he has asked for in the content of the mail.
c. Open Ended Dialogue:The open ended dialogue mails leave the communication lines open for future desired result.
d. Action Mails: Action mails are those that need some action over the content mentioned in the mail.
Keep your emails short.
Nobody likes to read long mails. The shorter your content will be the more convincing your mail will be but make sure that you have provided all the required information to make your e-mail sound genuine.
Address it to a person
Always try to include real names of the receiver as well as the sender in the mail. An e-mail addressed to a particular person is expected to get a faster reply than an e-mail addressed to Dear Sir/Madam.
Provide all the required details.
In this cyberage, although the business takes place over Internet but the spammers have generated a mistrust in the communicators. They are more careful in reading and replying to an e-mail.
If you really want your e-mails read and replied in the desired way, make sure that you have provided all the relevant information to make the reader treat your e-mail to be genuine and take a desired action.
Spellings, grammar and coherency play an important role
Grammatical errors or spelling mistakes leave a bad impression on the reader and in such a case the reader looses the interest in your e-mail.
Similarly, make sure that you have written the e-mail in a coherent language. A badly worded e-mail with insufficient information does not generate a required response.
Reply to emails timely and effectively.
You should always try to respond to mails as quickly as possible. While choosing the “reply all” button, one needs to be extremely careful, Keep a track of the people to whom the message has to be sent. You should always keep the mails written before in the trail, for the other person to remember the link.
Keep the CC and BCC minimum
Try to keep the minimum number of people in CC or BCC. A mail addressed personally to someone is expected to generate a better reply rate.
Use a clean signature
A signature is often used as a mean to display your contact information. If the signature is ambiguous, then you would lose the opportunity to display your contact details. Hence it is important for you to keep your signature clean and clear so that you can display the contact information correctly.
A phone no. and contact address in the e-mail adds to the genuinity of the e-mail. The receiver, if in doubt can call and confirm the authenticity of the e-mail.
Choosing the correct font
If the font is too big or too small, or if it’s too bright or the text is not readable then the reader would want to close the mail instantly. Do not use flashy fonts for official e-mails. Keep the font colour to sober blue, black, dark grey or teal to mention a few colours.
Prefer to use formal fonts like Calibri, Verdana, Times New Roman or Arial rather than artistic font like Lucida Calligraphy.
Format the email properly
The content of the email should be properly formatted. Consider arranging it in a proper format, may be in bullet points or numbered lists. This will make it easier for the reader to decipher the information easily.
