Dale Carnegie Training Western Connecticut: Tip #353: 10 Tips To Improve Your e-Mail Etiquette (Part 2 of 2)

10 Tips To Improve Your
e-Mail Etiquette (Part 2 of 2)

Greetings!

Last week, we introduced the first five of ten tips on e-mail etiquette. As we mentioned, e-mail has been and continues to be an integral staple of the business world. Numerous businesses rely on this technology to communicate internally, to contact clients and customers, to help market their business and to reach out to venders and suppliers. E-mail has increased multi-tasking and efficiency in the business world to levels once thought unimaginable.

You Get What You Put In When It Comes To e-Mail.

Unfortunately, abbreviations, chat speak, all-capped text, and unnecessarily shortened words ("u" instead of "you") all spilled over from chat messengers to e-mail. This does not fly in the business world due to the formal and established guidelines of etiquette -- especially if you expect to be taken seriously.

We wrap up our discussion on e-mail etiquette this week with tips six through ten below.

10 Tips To Improve Your e-Mail Etiquette (Tips 6-10):

Tip #6. Use Formal Grammar And Spelling: Inter-office e-mails have the luxury of being more casual or informal, but e-mails to prospects, clients and customers need to adhere to accepted forms of spelling, grammar and formatting. Sending a sloppy, hastily written e-mail peppered with typos and spelling errors will compromise your professionalism. And writing in all caps -- the textual equivalent of screaming or a loud, booming voice -- is simply unacceptable. Always run important e-mails through a spell checker just to play it safe.

Tip #7. Please Proof All e-Mails: Again, minor mistakes in inter-office emails can be forgiven. But first-time and early e-mails to a new contact need to be impeccable. Your writing (spelling, grammar, tone, voice, style, etc.) in an e-mail is the digital equivalent of the outfit you pick for your first meeting with someone -- it is the surface detail that we all judge someone by whether we mean to or not. So to avoid having your e-mail dismissed because of sloppy writing, do not hit "send" until you proof, proof, proof.

Click here to read the Purdue Owl Online Writing Lab's Guide To e-Mail Etiquette

Tip #8. Don't Hide Behind e-Mail: This pertains more to inter-office e-mails than client e-mails, though it can apply to them as well. E-mail is a passive form of communication. People use the sense of anonymity and safety that the "distance" e-mails inherently possess as a way to avoid conflict or put on a show of bravado they never would on the phone or in person. Don't do this. Hiding behind e-mail to avoid an uncomfortable situation is only going to paint you in a negative light, and probably exacerbate the situation.

Tip #9. Ask To Send An Attachment: e-mail recipients are wary of attachments in fear that they might carry a virus, worm, trojan or other type of malware that might corrupt their computer or cause them to lose crucial data and have to spend money on a new machine unnecessarily. Attachments accompanying an unannounced e-mail are sure to be buried in the trash, so wait until a second or third e-mail before sending attachments, and always be sure to ask the recipient for permission to send them an attachment.

Tip #10. Include Contact Info In Signature: The last aspect of any business e-mail should be a signature that includes your name, job title, e-mail address, work phone number (and extension if you have one), website address, physical work address and any other pertinent contact information you may use at your business (such as messenger screen names). This allows your e-mail recipient to look into your business on their own, without having to contact you for more information, and when they are ready to contact you, all the information they need is right there in one convenient location.

Executive Summary: The prevalence of e-mail in today's business world has led to the degradation of e-mail etiquette. While the debate over informality versus formality is a subjective matter, in the business world it is safer to error on the side of formal, well-written e-mails that get right down to business in a concise manner. This is especially true of e-mails to first-time prospects or clients, where humor, informality and spelling/grammar mistakes risk presenting you as sloppy.

Your Next Step: If you want to find out more about how Dale Carnegie® Training can make your business more effective, or need more information on this subject, please send us an e-mail at the address below.

e-Tip Archive

Make it a great day!