How to write a formal email to an organization: a step ... - Front

First, begin with, “Yo!” Just kidding. Read some tips for making formal emails professional, but not awkward. FrontlogoFrontPagewordmarkBuildTeamCultureConnectwithCustomersWorkwithIntentionFrontNewsFront.comKimberleeMeier,Writer26November2020•0minreadFirst,beginwith,“Yo!”Justkidding.Readsometipsformakingformalemailsprofessional,butnotawkward.Writingaformalemailcanfeelalittleawkwardandstuffy.There’sno“haha”andprobablynoemojis—noGIFofyourfavoriteMichaelScottquote.Itmightfeelstiff.That’swhyit’sgreattosticktoasetstructure.Ifyouknowhowtoformthebodyoftheemailandusetheappropriatesalutation,youcanturntheprocessofwritingaformalemailintoaquickandsimpleone.Belowwebreakdownwhataformalemaillookslikeandthefivestepsyoucanfollowtostartwritingformalemailstoanyorganization.Whetherit’sajobyou’retryingtoland,newclientoutreach,oranyotherformalemail,thestructurebelowcanhelpyougetyourfootinthedoorandgettheresponseyou’relookingfor.Whatmakesasolidformalemail?Thehintisinthename.Aformalemailisanemailthatusesformallanguage,introductions,andsignaturescomparedtootheremails.Itsstructureisalsodifferentbecauseitshouldfollowformalwritingstandards.Yep,that’sright—nocommasplices,nosentencefragments,andnoinformalities.Formalemailsalsohaveacertainwaythey’restructuredanddelivered.Thepunctuationismoreprofessional,thegreetingsaretraditional,andthey’reshorterinlength.So,whenaretheseemailsnormallyused?Youcanuseformalemailsforalltypesofsituations,whetheryou’retryingtowinacontractwithanewclient,respondtoacomplaint,orreachingouttoanofficialorCEO.Thenicethingaboutformalemails(especiallyforthoseofusthatarestuckfortime)isthatnomatterwhoyou’resendingthemto,allformalemailshavethesamebasicstructure.BreakingdownthestructureofaformalemailInformalemailstendtobealittlemorecarefree.Theydon’thaveasetstructure,andtheycanbelongorshort,funnyorserious,withGIFsoremojis.Formalemails?Notsomuch.Obviously.Aformalemailstructureisnearlyasimportantasthegreetingyouuseorhowyousignoff.Becauseformalemailsshouldberelativelyshortinlength,youonlyhavetogetfourelementsright:Thesubjectline:Itshouldbeshortandspecific.Anythingovertenwordsisprobablytoomuch!Thesalutation:Alwaysmentiontherecipient’snameandasuitablegreeting.Losethe“Hey”andreplaceitwitha“Hello”or“Dear.”Thebody:Likeanyotheremail,formalemailshaveabodyoftext.Thissectionisshort,usespropergrammar,doesn’thavesentencefragments,andonlyhasoneask.Thesignature:Yoursignatureneedstobeasformalastheemailitself.It’salsoessentialthatyouuseyourfirstandlastnameandincludeyourcompany’snameiftheemailisbeingsentonbehalfofthem.5stepstowritingaformalemailtoanorganization1.Writeasubjectlinethatcatchestheperson’sattentionStartwritingyourformalemailfromthetop—itssubjectline.We’vealreadytalkedaboutkeepingitto10wordsorless.Buthowmanywordsistherightamount?AccordingtoMarketodata,subjectlineswithsevenwordsorlessgetopenedmore,onaverage.Asyouhavesolittleroomforerrorwhenwritingyoursubjectline,it’sbesttoplanoutwhatyou’regoingtosay.Whenwritingoutsubjectlines,thinkabout:Yourrecipient:Areyouemailingtheownerofthecompany?ACEO?Theheadofsales?Knowingwhatinboxyou’reaimingforwillhelpyouwithmessagingandtargeting.Yourconnection:Howareyougoingtogettheirattention?Thinkofsomethingthatcangrabtheirinterest.Ifyouhaveameetingscheduled,mentionit.Ifyou’vehadtherecipientonademo,includeit.Ifyouarecoldemailing,mentionaproblemyoucanhelpsolve.Yourcredibility:Thisisabigone.Don’tspamyourrecipient’sinboxwithsubjectlinesthattrytotrickthemintoopeningyouremail.Ifyoudon’thaveameetingbooked,don’tpretendyoudo.Ifthisisthefirstemailyou’vesent,don’twritethatyou’refollowinguponanearlieremailjustsotheyopenit.Herearesomesubjectlineexamplesyoucanusetostartyourformalemail:Howis(company’sname)handling(problem?)Niceseeingyouat(event)Regardingthisweek’sdemocallFollowinguplastweek’smeetingMeetingRE:productdemoAboutyourinterviewwith(companyname)2.StartwiththerighttoneIt’salwaysdifficulttoswitchtoaformalemailtone,especiallyifyoudon’twritethemthatoften.Now,formalemailsdon’thavetobestiff.Buttheydohavetobeprofessionalandmatchthenatureofyourmessageandyouraudience.Thisiscalledthesalutationoftheemail,whichisaposhwayofsayinghowyoufirstsayhellotoyourrecipient.AsbusinesscoachBarbaraPachterwritesinherbookTheEssentialsofBusinessEtiquette,thesalutationwillsetthetonefortherestoftheemail,soshesuggestsscrappinginformalexpressionslike"Hey”or"Hifolks.”"Therelaxednatureofourwritingsshouldnotaffectthesalutationinanemail,"shesays."Heyisaveryinformalsalutation,andgenerally,itshouldnotbeusedintheworkplace,andYoisnotokayeither.“UseHiorHelloinstead."Shealsoadvisesagainstshorteninganyone’sname.IfyouarewritinganemailtosomebodynamedJoseph,don’tassumethey’llbeokaywithyoucallingthemJoe.HubSpot’sMegPratersaysyoushouldalsosteerclearofstuffysalutationslike“DearSirorMadam.”“Itshouldbeavoidedforafewreasons:First,today’sdigitallyconnectedworldmakesiteasierthanevertofindoutwhoyou’reemailing,”shesays.“Second,thisgreetingmaynotbereflectiveoftherecipient’sgender.“Andthird,it’svagueandabitlazy.”Usethesesalutationstostartyourformalemailinstead:Dear(theirname)Towhomitmayconcern(Althoughwe’drecommenddoingalittleresearchtofindtheperson’snamethatyou’relookingtocontact!)Hello(theirname)Hi(theirname)Greetings(theirname)Goodmorning(theirname)Goodevening(theirname)3.MakeonekeypointDatashowsthatyouhaveawholesevensecondstogetyourrecipient’sattentiononcetheyopenyouremail,sodon’twasteit.Thatmeansyouhavetocutthefluff—herearesomewordsandphrasestoleaveoutofyouremails.Skipthe“Ihopeyouhadalovelyweekend”orthe“Ihopeyouarewell”nicetiesbecausetheynotonlywastetimebuttheyalsodon’tfitinwithwhataformalemailshouldlooklike.Instead,jumpstraightintowhatyouwantthereadertoknow.HarvardBusinessReview(HBR)callsthistheBLUFstrategy;writingyourBottomLineUpFrontsotherecipientcanquicklyanswerthefiveWs:who,what,where,when,andwhy.HBR’sKabirSehgalsaysthestrategyworksbecausethereadercanquicklyandeasilydigesttheemail’sintent.“Thereaderdoesn’tnecessarilywanttoknowallthebackgroundinformationthatledtothedecision,”hesays.“Heorshelikelywantstoknow“howdoesthisemailaffectme?”andtheBLUFshouldanswerthisquestioneverytime.”Here’sanexampleofhowthisstrategyworksinreallifeinaformalemailaboutameeting:Seehowquicktothepointitis?Formalbodytextlikethisworksbecauseitcutsrighttothechaseandonlysharesimportantinformationwiththerecipient.Remember,thesetypesofemailsaren’taboutyou—they’reaboutyourrecipient.4.Closeitasyoustartedit—formallyTieitupwithasignaturethatreflectsthetoneoftheemail—formalandpolite.Youshouldalwaysincludeyourfirstandlastnamewhensigningoffonaformalemail,aswellasyourcompanyandyourposition.Ifyouhaveatitle,includeit:Dr.JaneDoe,orDr.Doe,orJaneDoeDon’tjustwriteJane.Aneasywaytomakesureyou’retickingalltheboxesistoincludeanelectronicbusinesscardatthebottomofeveryemailyousend.UsingatoollikeFront,youcancreateformalsignatures,whichareautomaticallyaddedtothebottomofeveryemailyousend.Allyouhavetodoiscreateyoursignatureinthedashboard,saveit,andit’llappearoneveryemailyousend!5.PutallthepiecestogethertocreatetheperfectformalemailAllthat’slefttodoistoputeachsteptogetherandwriteoutyouremail.Let’ssayyouwereemailingtheCEOofanorganizationregardingademomeeting.Yourformalemailshouldlooksomethinglikethis:Thebestpart?Formalemailsfollowarigidprocessthatdoesn’tchangemuchnomatterwhattheaimisorwhoyouaresendingthemto.Youcanusemessagetemplatestosavetime.Amessagetemplateisafancytermforanemailtemplate,soinsteadofwritingformalemailsfromscratch,youcanuseatemplatetosavetime.Here’sawalkthroughofhoweasyitistocreate,use,andeditmessagetemplatesinFront.Formalemailsshouldbeno-nonsenseWritingformalemailsdoesn’thavetobeboring,anditdoesn’thavetobeatimesuckeither.Thefirststepisrealizingthatformalemailsarequitesimpletowrite.Allyouhavetodoiswriteaclearsubjectline,includeaformalgreeting,andcuttothechaseaboutwhyyou’resendingtheemailinthefirstplace.Nononsense.Ifyousticktothesesteps,usepropergrammar,anddroptheinformalbanter,you’llbeleftwithafoolproofformalemailyoucansendtoeveryonefromnewclientstoCEOs.Andonceyou’vecreatedtheperfectformalemail,youcansaveitasatemplatesoeverytimeyousendone—you’llbeconfidentit’stickingalltheboxes.ReadwhyFrontisabetterwaytomanageyouremail.WrittenbyKimberleeMeierOriginallyPublished:26November2020FrontPagelogoGetthelateststories,videos,andmore.SubscribeStoriestostrengthentheheartofbusinessSubscribe