12 quick steps to craft flawless business emails
Electronic communication faux pas can cost your company lucrative accounts, and blunders will erode your credibility. Follow these tips to avoid Gmail gaffes and Outlook oversights.
The concept of email emerged in the early ’70s, and the familiar format—Date, From, To, Subject, Message—is based on the memo format of the typewriter era. Typewriters have gone the way of the dinosaur, but email still dominates the realm of business communication.
Here are a dozen quick tips to help you fine-tune your email skills and avoid embarrassing and potentially costly mistakes:
1. Leave the TO field blank until you are ready to press SEND.
2. Use the SUBJECT line to inform rather than simply to identify; it should read like a headline that summarizes your message and draws in the reader.
3. Base your message content on your receiver’s need to know. Consider journalism’s five W’s: Who, What, When, Where, Why (and sometimes How).
4. Use standard grammar and spelling. Go easy on the acronyms, abbreviations and jargon.
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