Blog

Knowledge. Experience. Resources designed to advance your success.

Ask The Expert

Email Etiquette and Suggestions

Written and presented by Mark Rowbottom

(Note: Most of the following apply to texting as well)

Replying: When you are certain of your response, send it. Rereading emails is wasteful.

If an email is confusing you, responding without clarity is likely to cause more confusion.

Never fight or have an argument over emails. Flippant responses are a really bad idea. Resolve conficts with people, not a keyboard! I have written responses in anger, put them in drafts and read them the next day. I am always happy I did not send them! It was good to get off my chest at the time – very cathartic!

Don’t try to be funny. 90% of funny is in presentation, connotation and related to both parties situation, history and relationship.

Read your first email an hour after turning your computer on. Create 3 times a day for email reading (really hard to do in our business – I know). Just give it a try for a week, or 3 days.

Have a trusted peer who can peek at your email when needed in case an Ipad dies, phone loses range, or you drop it in the portable potty.

There are rules and filters you can set up – learn and use them!

Make your subject lines bold when marketing and factual when conducting business with established relationships.

Emails and texts do not require a response. It is likely you have a message on your cell phone indicating if a message is left it will be returned by you when you are available to. This is not how emails and especially texts function at all. Many messages are sent and the sender is not expecting a response.  If you need a response then you should request one for a specific reason. Otherwise, no response is fine. Call people when you have a very compelling reason to get a response to insure clarity.

Private or confidential information is no longer when you send it in an email. Use the phone and have a conversation as needed! The last thing you need is a breach of trust or an “accidental” forward.

Proofread important messages and try to anticipate whether the message can be perceived by the receiver as intended.

Salutations should be simple, Hello, Greetings and the like. Avoid opening with “Hey Dude” or “Sugar Mama”.

Have a full on Signature template with contact info – you would be surprised how many people do not include a phone number – so return an email asking for one if you do not have a number!

Avoid confusion by checking judgment on what you receive and send. Stick to factual and objective messages – we are at Gate 7, my car is a Silver Ford Escape, I am tall and bald waiting for you in the entryway.

Other Articles