With emails at the forefront of business communication, the way they are written is crucial to the nurturing of a company’s relationships and reputation. These are our tips on how to perfect yours.

Emails are central to business communication. And although we receive and write tens (if not hundreds!) a day, it’s important that each one is handled with care. After all, when written in the right way, a good email can guarantee a great first impression, and help build strong, professional relationships with clients and colleagues.

The quality of your team’s email etiquette is also critical because it can affect what respondents think about your company. The aim is for your team members – from top managers to new interns – to come across as professional and approachable as possible.

Besides the above, here at Finesse Consulta, we believe that excellent email etiquette is an opportunity. “When people understand that the way they write emails is a great tool, they will see that it is worth investing those extra few minutes to turn an email from bland and unenthusiastic to dynamic and engaging. It is that extra effort that will help build a strong relationship vs one that stops short of its potential,” says Finesse Group CEO, Jo Caruana. “Your email has the power to make people feel positive, inspired, impressed and keen to work with you… or it can merely communicate the bear minimum and risk being forgotten. Which would you prefer?”

So, to help you achieve high-quality email etiquette across your operation, these are some of the tips we give to our clients:

Watch that tone

We’ve all been there. When reading an email, it’s easy to misconstrue its tone as cold or standoffish. That’s why it’s important to consider how your wording could be interpreted by your reader. Our advice is to always make a conscious effort for your language to be as enthusiastic and positive as possible, especially in the early stages of relationship building. You’ll stand out for the right reasons and could make a positive connection even before to meet the person on the receiving end.

Spell checker apps are your friends

Nothing damages credibility faster than an email riddled with mistakes. True, you can’t control every email your employees write out, but there are some things you can do to improve their overall professionalism. Downloadable online spell checkers, like Grammarly and Reverso, for example, can help with perfecting grammar, punctuation, and spelling, while in-person training could teach them how to avoid the kind of mistakes that are very easy to fix. A little effort will go a long way if you want to maintain a professional appearance!

Small actions, big difference

Create an office protocol for your team to follow and which includes tips to assure professionalism, such as time limits to reply to emails, your company’s ‘house language’, and even specific fonts and the font sizes to use. The protocol could also include a checklist of small actions for your employees to go through whenever writing an email: Proofread the email before it’s sent, make sure the recipient’s name is spelt correctly, use proper salutations, improve language, clear formatting after copy and pasting, use email fields properly, and double check attachments, among other things.

A hands-on approach

What better way to improve writing and perfect punctuation than by learning it hands-on? Invest in a writing course for your employees and watch how it both benefits those who are a little weak in this area and even strengthens those who are proficient. If you’re stuck for ideas, Finesse Group’s online writers’ club is all about providing writers with regular professional insight and tips for excellent writing. Keep an eye out for our next call for applications! 

The good old talking-it-out method

Despite putting the right structure in place, your employee’s vocabulary may still be too limited, their tone dull, or their style a bit off. At Finesse Consulta, we advocate talking it out. Regular one-on-one meetings with your employees are always beneficial and create the perfect space for an open discussion about issues and expectations when it comes to how you want company emails to be written. At the end of the day, when done right, constructive feedback and discussion is always key to improving the team and moving forward. 

Do you need more guidance on how to improve your business’ email etiquette? Contact us for a free 30-minute consultation on [email protected].