Understanding business email etiquette
By Ulrike Hill
I was once a product manager in the IT industry. I was new to the job and eager to please. One day an important client criticised my product. I took his comments personally. Whinging back at the office about the client, my director was unsympathetic. He told me to ‘take the emotion out of business’ and to stick to the facts.
Fast forward many years later. My director’s advice still resonates with me. Thinking back, his advice was relevant in a world where technology did not dominate business communication. Technology has created a sterile business world. Business people are interacting mainly via email and are spending less time speaking to each other. Too often misunderstandings tend to creep into written messages.
How can we avoid misunderstanding that may happen without the sender realising it?
Acknowledge the recipient
In the hurried world of business, people forget the use of ‘Dear X’ and dive straight into the message of the email. Acknowledge that there is a human being on the receiving end of the email. I prefer using ‘Hello’ and the person’s name. Ensure that you get the spelling of the person’s name correct. If not, the message you are sending to the receiver is ‘You are not important enough to me’.
I am shouting at you
The sender is in a rush and does not notice that THE CAPS LOCK IS ON. THE ENTIRE EMAIL IS WRITTEN IN UPPER CASE. People tell me that it is not a big deal. But it is a big deal. Using caps lock is the same as shouting. Imagine the response if the email is about an over-due payment. Or meeting an urgent deadline.
Smiley faces
During my discussions with a few business people, some felt that using emoticons reveal the human behind the email. I disagree. Emoticons are for friends. Emoticons are for informal communication. Emoticons do not make the email human. Humans talk.
So how are you, really?
Use words that will express the human. Instead of demanding, ask. Instead of diving straight into the main message, introduce a personal line like “I trust you are well.” It is more formal than the “How are you?” but it does show that you are interested in the recipient’s well-being.
Saying goodbye is hard to do
Like the forgotten greeting, signing off the email is taken for granted. Worse still, it is forgotten completely. This is the same as walking out of someone’s home without saying goodbye. The sign-off can reveal a lot about you. Create a professional ending to your email. ‘Faithfully’ sounds fake, ditto ‘Yours truly’ and imagine how a client may react to “With love”. Signing off can be professional and still reveal the human part of business.
These are a few suggestions for email users to create the ‘human face’ behind the words and to reduce misunderstandings. Business is tough so the human touch without the ‘touchy-feely’ will go a long way to maintaining a professional relationship.
Ulrike Hill provides a writing workshop to assist people with email etiquette. Contact: writer@ulrikehill.co.za or call 071 636 8028 (South Africa only).