No Opening Greeting or Courtesy Closing

Too many think that starting a business e-mail with a nice greeting is trivial or unnecessary. “E-mail is informal — that stuff isn’t necessary!”  You may be able to get away with that train of thought in your personal e-mails; but not with business e-mails.

The same group also thinks it not important to include their name and a closing statement — it’s a waste of time.  Those who think that way, then probably don’t mind being informed that the lack of a greeting and closing, besides being simple common courtesy when communicating with the written word, that their e-mails risk being viewed as rude, bossy or even terse.  Nor should they be surprised if potential customers choose to do business with their comptetors who make communicating with them an easy, enjoyable and efficient experience.

Let’s compare the difference in tone when integrating proper E-mail Etiquette into your business e-mails based on an actual e-mail received by yours truly. First, the e-mailer who feels greetings, clarity and courtesy are not necessary:

my site isn’t working you need to fix this now

What exactly isn’t working? No “Hello”, proper sentence structure or courtesy involved — just a statement of what the sender wants to get across.

Now, just add a dash of details with a little courtesy…

Hello, Judith:

Hope you are having a nice day. I was wondering if you could check out an issue with my Web site, the problem is on page 3 with the news feed. The page’s URL is… (request continues).

Thanks for your help!

Carry Client

The second example was courteous, clear in their request providing the necessary details and signed off in a manner that makes one feel as though their efforts are appreciated.  Providing me the details I needed to address her concern allowed me to also resolve her request and note what the situation was in my reply.  With the first inquiry I had to reply and ask questions to determine even what the “problem” was before I could investigate further or determine even if it was something I could resolve.

Can you now see how the very same request can be perceived completely differently simply by taking the time to add some common courtesy?  Taking the time to communicate clearly, succinctly and with courtesy will ensure you maintain and nurture the best virtual professional relationships possible.  And, in business, that can make or break you!

Some More Info for You:

1. There is No “I” in Courtesy
2. E-mail & Courtesy
3. E-mail Etiquette = Courtesy
4. Business E-mail Courtesy and Politeness
5. Business Courtesy and E-mail Attachments