As the world has progressed with time and communication via the Internet has become inevitable; however, so has become the lack of formality. The concept of casual conversations has gained the upper hand since there is a belief that if you wish to work closely in a corporate environment, then you need to bond, and for that, it is the casual tone that works. However, what is unfortunate – is that in this scenario, people have forgotten the email etiquette. There is a process to be followed for email writing for business which most people tend to ignore.
Are you one of those? Or have you forgotten how to write down these emails strictly for business purposes? In any case – a recap is not bad. Scroll down, and this article will walk you through the procedure to write an email for this purpose.
Key points to remember about the style of email writing
To ensure that your email writing for business matches the acceptable standards – it is important to follow certain points. Here is the list –
- Clarity is the key to success – What you must remember is that – business writing has a definite purpose – to relay certain information. This must be done in a precise manner with the help of concise, definite sentences that relay the message. These emails are not the place to prove your grammatical and language skills.
- From which address you send the mail is also very important. The email id should be professional and business-like rather than a personal mail id.
- Sloppy language, over-friendly use of words, emoticons, and lack of proper format are strictly not acceptable.
- Smartening the emails is the correct impression. So, you will have to negate those filler words and useless terminology from your emails. How you present your mail is a mode to depict how you wish to conduct business hereafter. Only the smart ones get ahead in this tough game in this competitive world. So you need to portray the professional format; a casual approach might not make the cut here.
How to proceed with email writing for business?
Since you have decided on taking a little help here – scroll down a bit further to find some steps that will help you frame the email in the correct manner.
- The Subject Line should state what it is about
This is the ‘make or the break’ line. Specific, Catchy, Simple – these are the 3 primary words that you need to concentrate upon while framing a subject line. If this does not catch the attention precisely – then the chances are high that your mail will not make it to the concerned reader.
- Salutations are important – keep them formal yet cordial
A casual Hi, Good Morning or a Hello – may work in casual texts. But when it comes to saluting or addressing in business emails, stick to the cordial but formal format. ‘Dear’, ‘Respected’, ‘To whom it may concern’, are some of the ways to start the mail. Also, in case you are addressing the emails to more than a single entity, then it is important to know – whom to keep in the Courtesy Copy (CC) and Blind Courtesy Copy (BCC).
- Precision is the key to success
Simple and Relevant – these are the two words that you must remember while framing such emails. Whether it is the language or the tone – both must be kept simple. Also, to ensure that your mail comes across as one where things can be taken further – and for that, deletion of every irrelevant aspect is important. Always value the time of your readers so that your correspondence is taken as favorable vis-a-vis others.
- The body is the main part
Do you know – there is data published by McKinsey Global Institute which states that people who manage mails – the HR department and other concerned departments spend almost 28% of their workweek – trying to decipher emails, their actual subject of consideration, and the targeted audience.
The language must be very precise, strictly speaking, placing the main concerns and without much use of floral language. This is not a domain to portray your language skill but a domain to get the job done. A succinct format that may be divided into paragraphs or bullet points is the way to ideal email writing for business.
- The closing statement is important
Once done – the email requires a formal and cordial closing – one that keeps the door open for future correspondence. The phrases – ‘Yours faithfully, ‘Yours sincerely, ‘Best wishes’ and ‘Kind regards’ are the ideal ways to end a mail.
Done with the mail? Proofread your mail, and check the spellings, grammar, inappropriate statements as well as punctuation marks.
Some key factors that you must consider – If you are writing this email in response to a mail that the concerned person has sent before – then make sure that you thank the other person. You can surely start your email by stating that – “Thank you for your immediate reply.” From there, you can go ahead with the mail.
If you have to go in for strategies of email writing for business – especially the rejection mail types, in that case – the best way to deliver the news is to sandwich the positive with the negative. The idea is to ensure that the reader understands that in spite of the bad news that you would are delivering – you do care.
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In such cases – you can write the mail with a positive or a neutral starter and then go ahead and deliver the negative news, but with a touch of sensitivity. The goal, in this case, is not to minimize the problem but to ensure that the reader understands that some action is being taken to resolve it.
These are some of the basic points that you must remember while you are email writing for business. Also, make sure that the next time that you write such a mail proofread it twice before pressing the send key. If you like this post, do pin it for future use and send it off to your friends and family for their help.
