7 Simple Steps to Write Smooth Business Emails in English

7 Easy Steps to Writing a Strong Business Email in English · Hi [First Name], (informal) · Hello Mr./Ms. [Last Name], · Hello [Team Name], (to ... Home»BusinessEnglishTips»OperationEmail:7SimpleStepstoWriteSmoothBusinessEmailsinEnglish ByjoemilanandRebeccaThering Lastupdated: February13,2022 OperationEmail:7SimpleStepstoWriteSmoothBusinessEmailsinEnglish ThenameisBond,JamesBond. Whilethatmaybeagreatmovieline,it’snotthewayyoushould startyourbusinessemails. So,howshouldyoubegin? Andwhatshouldyou include,besides using somerelevant businessphrases? Thishandyguide—withseven simplesteps—willhaveyouwritingstrongbusinessemailsinnotime(verysoon)! Butbeforewegettostepone,let’squicklylookat afewbasicwordsrelatedtoemailinginEnglish: Download: ThisblogpostisavailableasaconvenientandportablePDFthatyou cantakeanywhere. Clickheretogetacopy.(Download) EssentialEnglishEmailVocabulary Recipient —Thisisthepersonyou’rewritinganemailto. Sender—Thisisyou,thepersonsendingtheemail. Attachment—Anyfile(.pdf,.doc,.ppt,etc.)attachedtotheemailisanattachment. CC—“Carboncopy” BCC—“Blindcarboncopy” Subjectline—Thisisthetopicoftheemail,whichtherecipientwillseewhentheemailarrivesintheirinbox. Draft—Whenyou’rewritinganemail,it’ssavedasadraft.Thisisanunfinishedemail,as youhaven’tsentityet. Below,you’llfindaguidethatincludessomeadditionalspecificlanguageyoucanputinemails.Formoreideas,checkoutthevideo “WritingaBusinessEmail.” 7EasyStepstoWritingaStrongBusinessEmailinEnglish 1. StartYourEmailwithaGreeting Soyouareprobablythinking, WheredoI start?Whatgreeting(salutation)shouldIuse?  Beingpoliteisimportantinbusiness,andgreetingsareanimportantpartof this. Tokeepgreetingssimple,herearethreethatyoucanusein90%ofbusinesssituations: Hi[FirstName],(informal) HiJames, HiHannah, HelloMr./Ms.[LastName], (formal) HelloMs.Smith, HelloMr.Bond, Hello[TeamName],(togroups) HelloSalesTeam, HelloMarketingTeam, Noticethatwealwaysstartwithacapitalletter,andthereisacomma(,)aftereachgreeting.Let’snowlookateachsituationinmoredetail. Informalemailgreetings Usingfirst namesisappropriate(okay)whenyoumeetthepersonregularlyandyoufeelcomfortableusingtheirfirstnamewiththem.Oftenthese arecoworkers orpeopleyouknowwhoprefertobecalledbytheirfirstname. Formalemailgreetings Usingtitlesandlast namesisaformalgreeting,andyoushoulduseitwithanyonethatyoudonotknowwell.Whetherthatisanewclientforthecompany,ortheHR(HumanResources)guythatfallsasleepwhilewaitingfortheelevator,thisbasicgreetingworks. Ifyou’reeversendinganemailtoanaddressthatdoesn’thaveaspecificcontactname,usethenameofthedepartment/team(i.e. Dear HumanResourcesDepartment)or“DearSir/Madam” ifpossible. Otherwise,youcanusetheformal“ToWhomItMayConcern”greeting. Emailgreetingstogroups Whenwritingtogroupsofpeople,thinkaboutyourrelationshiptothegroup. Ifit’sagroupofpeopleyouknowreallywell,youcanusesomethingmoreinformalsuchas“Hiall,”“Hiteam”or“Hieveryone.” Ifit’sasmallgroupofpeople(fiveorless),usetheirfirstnames: DearSarah,RoxyandChad. Ifit’samoreformalemail,youcanusegreetingssuchas“DearCoworkers,”“DearColleagues”or“DearHiringCommittee.” 2.TellTheRecipient WhoYouAre Whenyouwriteanemail,sometimestherecipient doesn’tknowyouorrememberyou.So,youhavetotellyourreaderwhoyouare.Thisincludespeoplewho youmetbrieflyatconferencesorpeoplewhomaynotrecognizeyouremailaddress. Howdoyoudoit?Simple:Stateyournameandhowthereaderwouldrecognize(know/remember)you. Forexample: HelloJames Bond, MynameisJoe Milan.WemetattheVillainConferenceinLondonlastMarchanddiscussedwaysmycompanycouldhelpyoupreventevil fromtakingovertheworld. Shortandsimple.Theydon’tneedalonghistory,justsomethingbrief(short) thatwillhelpthemrememberorknowwhoyouare. Remember: Themostcommonmistakes ofthegreetingare forgettingasalutation(Hello)andwritingtoomuch.Keepitsimple,nomorethanacouplesentences. 3. StateYourPurpose forWriting Afteryourgreeting,youneedasimplesentencethatclearlystateswhyyouareemailing.Areyoumakingarequest?Providinginformation?Apologizing?Complaining?Sendingadocument? Getstraighttothepointwithaclearsentenceexplainingwhatyouwant. HelloJamesBond, MynameisJoeMilanandI’maVillainRecruitingRepresentativeatWorldTakeOverInc.WespokelastMarchattheVillainConferenceinLondon.WewouldlikeyourhelpwiththeBadManConferenceinLasVegasthisSeptember. Nodetailsyet,thatcomesnext. 4.GiveUsefulDetails Afterstatingyourpurpose,you’llwanttobrieflyprovideanyuseful,relevantinformation.Here’swhatthenextparagraphinmyemailtoJamesBondmightlooklike: AtthefeedbacksessionsonSeptember15(www.badmanconference/sessions/feedback),ourcompanywillbediscussingideasabout usingandhiding“ReallyBigLasers.” Whileweexpectalotoffeedbackfromthegeneralaudience,wewouldlikeyourexpertiseontwopoints: 1. Youropinionoftheprojectandtheissuesraisedfromtheaudience 2.OverseeingthequalityoftherefreshmentsprovidedbyWorldTakeOver TheaboveparagraphgivesdetailsabouttheconferenceandwhatthecompanywantsJamestodo.Theusefuldetailssuchasthedate,topicsandatheconferencewebsite isallpresentinthisemail.Jameshas everythingheneeds totakeaction. Ifyou’reattachinganydocumentstotheemail,telltherecipientwithaphraselike:“I’veattached~,”“Pleasefind~attached”or“Pleasefindtheattached~.” 5.TellWhatActionIsNeeded We’vegivenapurposeanddetails,sonowweneedtotelltherecipientwhatactiontheyneedtotake. Let’slookattwopossibleendingsforthebodyparagraph.Thisfirstoneisnotagoodoption: Letmeknowwhatyouthink. Best, Joe It’snotgoodbecauseit’snotclear.Yes,it’s short,butitdoesn’tsayexactlywhatJamesneedstothinkaboutorwhatheshouldrespond(andwhen).Let’stryagain: PleaseletmeknowviaemailASAPifyoucanparticipate.Ifyoucanattend,please include(1)anyrecommendationsyouhavefortherefreshments and(2) anoutlineofthe materialsyou’llneedtogiveyourfeedback. Lookforwardtohearingfromyou, Joe Sobetweenthesetwooptions,whichonemakesthenextactionclear?Obviouslythesecondexample.IttellsJamesexactlywhatheshoulddonext,and“ASAP”(assoonaspossible)tellshimtorespondrightaway. Remember: Whenyouwritethebodyparagraphsofyouremail,always include threeparts:(1)yourpurpose,(2)usefuldetails,(3)thenextactionneeded.Dothosethreethings,and youwillwriteagoodbusinessemail. 6.ClosetheEmail Alwaysfinishyouremailswithoneofthefollowingsign-offs,followedbyyourname. Theclassics Regards, Best, Sincerely, Thenon-traditional Hopethishelps, Haveagreatday, Thankyousomuch, Lookforwardtohearingfromyou, Letmeknowifyouhaveanyquestions, Thedifferencebetween“theclassics”and“thenon-traditional”isreallyaboutyou.Isthisaregularemailthatyousendoften?Ifso,aclassicclosing makessense. However,ifyoufeelthatthisemailshouldbemorethanjustaregularemail,thenconsiderusinga“non-traditional”closing.Becarefulnottousetheseifyoudon’tmeanit. Forexample,itwouldbeveryawkwardifyouwrite“Lookforward tohearingfromyou,”ifyoudon’twantthemtowriteback.Andifyou’resendingnegativenews,itprobablywouldn’tbeappropriatetoendwith“Haveagreatday!” 7.EndwithYourSignature Whenyouwritea letter,you finishwithyour signature(signingyourname).Inemail,afteryourclosingwithyourname,youcanautomaticallyinclude anemail“signature.” Anemailsignaturecomesattheveryend,and includesessentialcontactinformation. Here’sanexample: JoeMilan| VillainRecruitingRepresentative WorldTakeOver,Inc.|worldtakeoverinc.evil [email protected]|(999)666-6666 1550SecretDr. HideoutIsland,FL 99999USA Commonmistakesinemail signatures Herearethreecommonmistakesthatpeoplemakeintheiremailsignatures: Not includingenoughcontactinformation. Rememberthatsignaturesareforpeoplebothinsideandoutsidethecompanytocontactyou.Sometimesthebestwayissendyouanemail,othertimesitcouldbebyphone,fax,yourwebsiteorinperson. Usingfonts/colors/graphics. Oftenitdoesn’tlookprofessionalandsometimespicturesdon’tlookthesameonallemailprograms.Remember,it’saboutcommunicationandinformation,sousuallyit’sbettertojustuseplaintext. Inspirationalquotes. Formanypeople,aninspirationalquoteisthebestwaytosharetheirpersonality.Inbusiness,it’sjustmoreclutteronthepage.Itoftenlooksmorepersonalthanprofessional. BusinessEmailPre-send Checklist Wecoveredalot.Frombasicgreetingsandsign-offs,tobodiesoftypicalbusinessemails.Sincethat’salotofmaterial,we’vemadeahandychecklistsoyoucanalwaysremember thesesevensteps. Greeting. Ifyoudon’tknowtherecipientwell,beformalanduse:“HelloMr./Ms./Mrs.[LastName].” Telltherecipientwhoyouare. Iftherecipientwon’trememberyou, remindtheminonesentence:“I’m~whoworksfor~.” Stateyourpurpose. Clearlytelltherecipientwhyyou’rewriting. Giveusefuldetails.Includewhat,whereandwhen.Linktoanyrelevantwebsites,andtelltherecipientifyou’veattachedadocument. Tellwhatactionisneeded. Makesureit’sclear whattherecipientmustdonext. Closetheemail. Useaclassicsign-offlike “Best”forcommonemails. Signature. Makesureyoursignaturelooksprofessionalandhasenoughcontactinformation.   Withthischecklist,yourbusinessemailswillbepowerfulenoughto defeat(winover) anyevilvillains,justlikeJamesBondis! Download: ThisblogpostisavailableasaconvenientandportablePDFthatyou cantakeanywhere. Clickheretogetacopy.(Download) Search Categories BusinessEnglishLearningMethods BusinessEnglishResources BusinessEnglishTips BusinessEnglishVocabandGrammar Enteryoure-mailaddresstogetyourfreePDF! WehateSPAMandpromisetokeepyouremailaddresssafe Close