Usherpa Blog - Email etiquette and 4 steps to writing the perfect mail
Does every email you send get the response you want? Does every email you getdeserve a response? We all send and receive a high volume of emails each day, but if everyone were a little better at writing them, they’d be a lot easier to manage. Here are four easy steps to writing an email that can get the job done — whatever the job is.
Make sure you need to send it. Nobody likes getting emails that waste their time. Before you hit “compose,” make sure you’ve done absolutely everything you can on your own.
Write an engaging subject. Don’t be afraid to use the subject line as the first sentence of the email. Tell them why you’re emailing, and give them a reason to click “open” instead of “delete.”
Be straightforward and succinct. We’re all busy, and no one has time for a rambling email. Get straight to the point right up front, and keep the body of the email brief enough to read quickly — or they may not read it at all.
Tell the recipient why they should care (although maybe not in so many words!). Why should this person spend their valuable time and energy on you? Make sure they know why it’s worth it to respond.
Email is a staple form of communication in the business world. But unlike a phone call or a face-to-face meeting, it’s all too easy to ignore if the email isn’t written in the right way. Learning to craft an email that grabs and keeps the reader’s attention will serve you in all facets of your business life!
Should You Email, or Call?
Both phone calls and emails can be essential for communicating, but using the wrong one can be make-or-break. How do you decide when a phone call is appropriate, and when an email would be better? Here are a few guiding principles.
Do You Need It In Writing?
An email can be ideal when you’re conveying information that you or the recipient may want to look back on and reference. Maybe you’re providing resources to someone else, or contact information. In these cases, a phone call may lead to that all-important information getting jotted down on a scrap of paper that gets immediately lost — or not noted down at all. Plus, a digital paper trail of a conversation can also be helpful if there’s disagreement later over what was said or agreed upon.
Is It Personal?
We live in a digital world these days, so it’s becoming more and more common to favor email over more personal forms of conversation. That means a phone call can feel friendlier and more authentic, making it ideal for congratulations, apologies, or any other message that could benefit from feeling more personal.
Is It Urgent?
Even if you check your inbox obsessively, not everyone does! More and more people are preventing distraction by checking their inbox only a few times a day, or by turning off their email notifications while they’re trying to focus on another task. Plus, it’s easy for emails to get lost or buried. If you need an urgent answer, a phone call remains the quickest way to get in touch with somebody.
Email is a valuable tool, but it can’t completely replace the benefits that a good ol’ phone call can offer! Knowing which to use and when can be the difference between contacting someone and truly communicating with them.
How to Get Email Replies
It’s a major downer to spend time crafting an email, send it off into cyberspace, and then watch the days tick by without a response. You’re often left guessing at what you did wrong. To make sure your next email gets a reply, try out these quick tips:
Have a clear CTA. Whoever reads your email should be left with a clear concept of the action you want them to take. If you give them too many options (or none at all!), you’re much less likely to get a response.
Ask a question. If you don’t ask a question, your email recipient may not know how to respond to your email. By giving them something to answer, you make it easy for them to fire back a response.
Keep emails short and sweet. We’re all busy, and sometimes the sight of a long-winded email can overwhelm someone before they even start reading. Keeping emails to-the-point can make it easier for people to find time to read them.
A great email is still wasted if you can’t motivate readers to take action! These simple tactics will help encourage them to hit that reply button and engage with you.
Thanks for reading, and I hope this helps you level up your email game! Have a great week.
