What does your email communication method say about your business? Are you short and to the point? Warm and friendly? Informal? Too busy to reply? Email is part of all our daily lives, especially as business owners. It’s our primary system of communication with clients and colleagues, so it’s important we’re aware of what we’re communicating. Lately I’ve noticed extreme differences in how people communicate through email, so I decided to see what the accepted practices are. I read up a bit on the email do’s and don’ts by etiquette gurus Emily and Peggy Post and I couldn’t agree more.
With email it’s important to be warm and personable, especially in our industry! Adding in the occasional exclamation mark or smiley face communicates what your reader can’t see – that you’re cheerful and in a good mood, excited about whatever it is the two of you are corresponding about and ending with a “Thanks!” can show your gratitude. We’ve all been there when you chat with someone in person or over the phone and you get along great! You exchange email info to follow up or stay in touch, and when you receive their email it’s well… cold. Sometimes a cold email can put people off, especially brides. I have received several emails lately that say “Hi-” and then “Thanks.” This type of punctuation can be misconstrued as not warm. When a bride is emailing about her wedding she wants you to be happy, excited and reassuring. She doesn’t necessarily want straight to the point, just the facts, and lacking in personality.
Also, the timeliness of emails is extremely important. Common etiquette states that a typical response time should be 24 hours. Now we aren’t all perfect at this, even I have days where I’m out of the office or slammed with projects that my response time isn’t quite 24 hours. But it’s a goal we should all strive to have! However, does anyone every feel that some people have their auto reply on more then not? There is no need to have an auto reply that says you will get back to someone in 24 hours and then you write them back and they reply to get another auto reply. The ironic part is those that say they will respond in that time frame never do. Why does it take over a week for people to respond to email? Busy doing weddings? I get that, so get an assistant to help manage your email communication because it’s very much your company’s PR message at work. Bad customer relations is not good for your brand or reputation.
Keep in mind too that email is not private. Confidential matters should never be discussed through emails. Messages can be intercepted, accidentally sent to the wrong person, saved or forwarded by the recipient to anyone they’d like. Be careful before hitting send. You should never say anything in an email that you aren’t 100% ok with someone else reading.
There’s no 100% right way to email, we all have different personalities and communication styles… but we need to be aware of how we’re coming across in our emails and what we’re sending out into cyberspace. Be warm and kind, timely, cautious of what information you send out, when you send it, and how you send it.
Photo by Blink Photography
May you be inspired,
Leila
