Initial E-mail = Initial Perception

When e-mailing a site owner through their site, or when sending an e-mail inquiry, one cannot be too careful when it comes to understanding how you will be perceived. The words you use, how you choose to use them and your underlying tone can make a huge difference in how the other side views your request — or if they even respond.

For example, through my WordPress Consulting site, I get 10-15 new project requests each day. How do you think I perceive those who:

• Do not type in complete sentences.
• Do not explain with clarity the info I need to respond appropriately.
• Type their name in all lower case in the name field.
• Ask questions that are answered in my FAQ that they clearly didn’t take the time to read.

Those are just a few of the issues I see from what I have to assume are otherwise educated onliners. Will I be able to help them thrive online and all that goes with that if they do not contact me using the education they received in grade school? That all depends on the intent and tone relayed in their request.

My experience shows with a little coaching and desire to embrace the issues that many are not aware can determine how they are perceived, the above issues can easily be addressed.

That leads to the importance of intent an tone. Those whose sentence structure and grammar are excellent but …

• They have copy-n-pasted a generic request that they are going from site to site and inputting.
• They use language not fitting a professional in describing experiences with previous developers.
• They tell me how much time it will take for me to handle their request and I need to respond ASAP!
• They go on about how experienced they are in Web development, how accomplished they are — then noting what they are “willing to pay” for my services.

I kid you not. I see this type of communication style on a daily basis.

For me, the intent and tone part is what I look most closely at. After e-mailing for longer than most, I’ve learned initial inquiries speak volumes about the person contacting me as to what they will be like to work with. When onliners e-mail me without regard to my experience, policies or don’t take the time to send a personalized profanity free e-mail, I usually take a pass.

Little “eNuances”, as I call them, can make a world of difference when it comes to forming potentially valuable partnerships and online networking relationships. If you are too lax, too informal or too arrogant, you may find that those who you need most will not reply.

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