1- Key Elements of Clear and Professional Emails

A famous proverb ‘You never get a second chance to make a first impression’ holds true when you introduce yourself to someone in person or via email. In fact, every single word hits right when you communicate through email.

Hence, expertise in email writing skills seems much important. They help you present yourself in the most positive and professional manner. Mastering the professional email can have far-reaching effects on the recipient and your business. Sharpening your professional writing skills is as simple as following the upcoming nine steps:

 

1.1    Professional Email Address

Choosing the right email address is essential to building trust and establishing a professional image. First, decide on a domain. Generally, for business or professional emails, you should avoid using domains like Hotmail and Yahoo. You can usually get away with using Gmail or Outlook since they are the most commonly used email providers and they’re more reputable.

 

1.2    Clear Subject Line

Subject lines are a critical element of professional-sounding emails. If a subject line is poorly-written, it can have devastating effects on your outreach or marketing campaigns. The wrong subject line can leave your email unread or worse, routed to the spam folder. To give your email a fighting chance, follow these proven subject line best practices:

• Be brief by using only 3-4 words.
• Get personal by using their name or business name.
• Keep it casual by writing as if you are communicating with a long-time friend or colleague.

 

1.3    Professional Greeting

Choosing the right professional greeting is all about knowing your audience. Greetings should be personalized based on who the recipient is and how well you know them. Never use regular greetings like “Dear Sir or Madam.” That just looks lazy.

Greetings for business should be more formal and respectful. Some clear examples are: “Hi [Name]”, “Dear [Name]”, or “Hello [Name]”.

1.4    Clear and Concise Email

These days, the body of your email needs to be short and concise to be effective. That is because an average person receives about 90 emails a day. Nobody has the time to read all of them, so we easily dismiss those that are too long, too wordy, and are not formatted well.

With professional emails, it is important to get right to the point. So, keep your paragraphs to 2-3 sentences max, and leave sufficient space around each paragraph.

 

1.5    Professional Email Salutations

If your recipient is embarking on a new project, then “Best wishes” would be a safe salutation. However, if it is simply a meeting request or some product information, “Thanks in advance” will work faster.

 

1.6    Professional Email Signatures

The email signature block should be confined to 3-4 lines. First, your name, company name and phone number should appear in sequence.

 

1.7    Flawless Grammar and Spelling

When you are writing a formal email, you either do not know the other person well, or you are writing to a person of ‘authority’ (e.g. your boss or someone you are doing business with). In either case, your recipient will be much more likely to take your message seriously when it is not full of syntax issues, misspelled words, and missing punctuation. These errors are not just unprofessional, they can also be stumbling blocks for the reader and make your message harder to understand.

 

1.8    Consistent Formatting

Although your email platform may offer multiple fonts, font sizes, and formatting options like bold or italics, professional emails are best left to plain text. Try to use an easy-to-read font and font size, and stick to it throughout the email body.

 

1.9    Simple language

Even if you have a large vocabulary and enjoy using it, your email is not the place to show it off. Everyone cannot comprehend difficult vocabulary, so keep it simple. Your primary goal is not to impress the recipient with your written communications, but rather to receive a sufficient reply.