Is E-mail Etiquette a Choice?

To that I say a resounding “NO”! There are certain things in life one must embrace and skills one must acquire to participate in a socially acceptable manner and more importantly to succeed in business. If business success were so easy; everyone would be a tycoon.

Business success is directly determined by the choices, efforts, planning and work ethics of the business owner. E-mail Etiquette is one of those things that sets business professionals apart. E-mail Etiquette takes very little effort to learn about and apply, and can make you stand out from your perceived competitors. Business is about competition after all and if you are not willing to compete you’ve lost the race before the start flag has been waved.

I get e-mailed daily by business onliners who are genuinely frustrated with associates and coworkers (4 out of 5 referencing their boss or those up the ladder from them in the company’s hierarchy) who refuse to take e-mail etiquette seriously and continue on with their lack of courtesy by disregarding it’s existence entirely.

It is naive to think one can disregard established practices that reflect professionalism and credibility and not expect there to be repercussions.

Customers get away with it; because the are “the customer.” But does that attitude make them a valued customer and one that their partners look forward to hearing from? Probably not.

Now the other side of the coin… If a customer seeking out providers gets two e-mails and one is in all lower case with typos and little to no formality, while the other is professional, precise and courteous, who do you think they’ll prefer to contact about forming a relationship?

To ignore e-mail etiquette because you don’t want to “deal with it” or think it isn’t necessary is a mistake you will regret. Disregarding the importance of courtesy and established guidelines will cause you to be viewed as less of an expert in your field, not the most qualified supplier, not a customer that can be profitable. And wouldn’t that be a shame when with minimal effort and consideration this can be avoided?

E-mail etiquette has been in existence before most were even aware that e-mail existed let alone the World Wide Web. (Reference the first RFC on the subject from 10/1995.) Don’t you think it to be a bit arrogant to think that one can disregard these established protocols and courtesies simply because they want to?

No one should negate making the effort to acquire the necessary skills and information to participate in technology responsibly with knowledge, understanding or courtesy. More importantly if they are serious about business success. How successful do you want to be?

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