Effective Email Communication

Let's face it, the phrase 'junk mail' has given emails a bad reputation.

That's because so many emails, dare we say most, are written poorly and don't effectively communicate anything. So, they're often actually... junk. But you can change that by harnessing the real potential of an email to help your business grow.

As a business leader, how effectively you communicate can be the difference between delivering on your customer promise, or failing to do so. Put more bluntly, it’s the difference between keeping customers satisfied or falling short.

Email is an invaluable tool for connecting with customers, employees, and suppliers, but only when used wisely and effectively. So how can you optimize email for business communication that's not junk? You've come to the right place.

Understand when to use email

‍Email is a great communication tool when you need to do the following:

• ‍Provide updates: Share progress reports and brief news.‍
• Document information: Keep a record of your communication.
• Circulate information: Share important and timely details.

To use email or not? That is the question.

Just as important as knowing when to use email is understanding when not to use it, like these situations:

• ‍Immediate responses: Scenarios requiring instant feedback or quick back-and-forth conversation.‍
• Complex communication: Emails may not be the best medium for delivering negative or bad news.‍
• Sensitive matters: When a human touch is needed to provide context or nuance, as feelings may not be understood when written.

‍Writing effective emails

A lot of overthinking can go into writing an email. But in the end, trust yourself and ask: Will my recipient read and understand my email? For better readability and impact, consider these strategies:

• ‍State your purpose: Make sure your subject line clearly states the intent of your email. For example, a subject line of "Action Required: Follow-up on 8/5 service call" is better than a vague "following-up." Emojis can also grab attention and help improve open rates.‍
• Clarity and brevity: It may sound obvious, but start your email on a positive note before shifting to questioning or discussion. This ensures you’re clear and concise (plus, being friendly goes a long way).  For example, “Thank you for connecting with me yesterday about the 8/5 service call. I did have a couple of points I wanted to clarify…”
• ‍Comprehensive and concise: Make sure to write all the information you need, but be aware that it’s not overly long, because you risk losing the reader’s attention. Ask yourself if a phone call or meeting may be more effective if your email is too dense.‍
• Close it out strong: Conclude your email with a short summary to clarify the purpose of your email and include a call-to-action. Make sure the reader knows what action you want them to take.‍
• The power of the signature: Having a professional email signature with your name, title, contact information, and business hours has a lot of benefits. It adds credibility, fosters brand recognition, and is considered good email etiquette.‍
• Read it twice, send it once: Have you ever received an email, then a few minutes later received a correction to the first email? The lesson is clear- re-read your email before hitting send.

Other considerations and additional tips:

• ‍Be selective in responding: Use “reply all” wisely and sparingly (you don’t want to clutter inboxes)
• ‍ALL CAPS!!!: Scale down the use of all caps and over-punctuation, as it can give the impression of shouting.‍
• Confidentiality consideration: Emails are a great way to document things, but that also means they can be easily shared. Don’t put anything out in the world you wouldn’t want your mom (or the internet) to read.

The ultimate goal of any email you send is quite simple: to have your audience read and understand your message. A well-written and thoughtfully crafted email can effectively and successfully convey your intended communication. But a long, over-written and repetitive email could actually create problems.

If you want to quickly harness the full potential of your business communication, just slow down. Take time as you write that first email today.  Put yourself in the recipient’s shoes, review the content of the message, and make adjustments to make it an effective email before you hit send. Even if you need to step away or get a second set eyes on it, that’s fine.