E for E-mail Etiquette and Efficiency

The fact is that integrating solid e-mail etiquette skills in your day to day business e-mail activities will help to make you a more efficient communicator. Those who you e-mail regularly will appreciate these efforts as you will help to make doing business with you easier and them more efficient as well.

I thought about this today as I was answering my overflowing inbox where I found e-mails that made replying difficult, requests that had already been answered asking where my answers were and inquiries that were vague at best. This caused me to have to dig out my previous replies and resend them to the same individuals, ask questions for information to better clarify the request so I could answer with confidence added with the chore of having to weed through previous back and forth to figure out what was new that I was supposed to respond to.

These type of e-mails took more of my time to have to respond to and made me inefficient. As is usually the case, I thought “this will make a great topic for Business E-mail Etiquette!” Here are the issues that I took note of today that made both sides spend more time than necessary with their e-mail communications — all of which can easily be resolved with minuscule effort.

1. Before responding to a e-mail, order your e-mails by Sender. This will help you see any subsequent e-mails on the same topic that you can then easily combine into just one e-mail reply. Minimizing the number of e-mails is a benefit to everyone involved.
2. On that same note, consolidate your thoughts and put them in one e-mail using a bulleted list as I am doing here. Sending numerous e-mails with just one thought, concern or question takes unnecessary time for the Sender to send and the Recipient to have to weed through.
3. Down-editing your replies is the sign of a tech savvy skilled communicator. Always remove what is no longer necessary to the conversation. Only leave what you are specifically replying to so the person on the other side knows what your comments correspond to. To have to review an entire email looking for the one spot where you inserted a “no” as your answer reflects a lack of concern for the time of the person you are communicating with.
4. Before assuming that a request was not acknowledged or processed, check your inbox, trash or spam folders to make sure that you did not in fact receive the desired response or information before you send off an accusatory follow-up. Add important contacts to your address book or whitelist to ensure your contact’s e-mails can get through any filtering your software may have in place.
5. When making an request, be sure to do your best to include all the possible information the other side will need to assist you. The more time you take to provide all the necessary details and information that the other side will need to respond to your request, the faster you will receive the response you desire.

These are just the 5 things that stuck out today that caused me lost time and efficiency. Clearly Business E-mail Etiquette serves to assist all involved in using the least amount of time tapping away at these keyboards thereby freeing us all up to have more time to do our jobs and run our businesses.

What can those you communicate with do to help make you more efficient?

No E-mail Etiquette; No Response?

Who needs Business E-mail Etiquette? Each and every person who is online using technology for commercial gain — that’s who! Business onliners e-mail me daily wondering why they do not receive responses to inquiries when their inquiries to me do not even include the very basics that can lend to their credibility and legitimacy.

Business E-mail Etiquette is simply a set of guidelines that help you to:

1. Use technology properly so you don’t look as though you are fish out of water and so that you are taken seriously. Don’t make these efforts and you will be perceived as uneducated, lazy and inconsiderate.
2. Understand that regardless of how you run your life — your business e-mail is not all about you and what you are willing to do or not when using it. By having that attitude you show no concern for the person on the other side. You really need to think about how your e-mail activities and efforts (or lack thereof) will impact those you communicate with.
3. Communicate with clarity and courtesy so that you are a pleasure to communicate with so folks don’t cringe when they see your name in their inbox! And, believe me — they do cringe!

There are still a great many online for business who by virtue of their e-mail activities, are perceived as though they didn’t make it out of grade school. Their e-mails are demanding and terse because they refuse to integrate simple courtesies that only take a moment to include. Mention this to them and all you get is more of the same.

I had a site visitor e-mail me just this week with this same dilemma stating she would no longer respond to coworkers who e-mailed her without any basic business e-mail etiquette. I understand her frustration, however, on the job you cannot ignore coworkers — lead by example and show them how to e-mail properly knowing you are doing the right thing.

The fact there are folks who feel courtesy is not important in their e-mails speaks volumes as to what they will be like to communicate with. Professionals take the time, make the time to be courteous.

If you are going to e-mail a Business E-mail Etiquette site — you need to be on your best behavior.

If you are going to e-mail any site or person that doesn’t know you in regard to your business, believe me it behooves you to do so in a professional manner.

How do you handle business e-mail etiquette resistant e-mailers? Do you correct them, do you ignore them?

[Updated: 01.07.10]

Approaching Employers Via E-mail

Loyal readers have heard me say this before – you simply cannot underestimate the power of perception in your online activities! Online, those you e-mail do not have eye contact, your firm handshake, your body language to determine your sincerity and professionalism.

They only have how you communicate, the words you use or how you approach them to determine if you are someone they want to communicate with – or possibly hire. With the economy a bit sluggish and many seeking new opportunities, here are a couple considerations for your online employment communications.

Above and beyond the issues covered in my Business E-mail Etiquette Basics Article; all of which will contribute to a positive perception, how you approach prospective employers online can go a long way to getting that all important follow up.

If you are going to use technology to job hunt, you have to make sure you reflect the skill set to do so impressively or you could end up be excluded right out of the gate.

• Take the time to review the prospective employer’s requirements in regard to submitting your resume or CV for consideration. Not doing so gives the impression of lack of attention to detail, not to mention the inability to follow instructions.
• Never send unsolicited e-mail resumes! Most sites will offer an available opportunities area on their site and if they don’t pick up the phone and find out — before you send without notice. I receive on average 3-5 unasked for resumes each day through my WordPress Consulting site. What type of impression do you think that makes? A courtesy e-mail asking if there are any opportunities and requesting permission to send your resume first is highly recommended in lieu of blindly sending it along.
• Send your resume to the specified address given or provided on an employer’s site for resume submissions. Do not send to any e-mail address you find or worse yet sending multiple copies to multiple addresses. Take the time to review the employer’s site to determine the appropriate address to use.
• Send your resume in plain text, .rtf format (Rich Text Format) or PDF format to ensure cross platform viewability. By doing so, regardless of the word processing software used by the employer or recruiter, your information can be viewed as you intended. Keep your resume limited to a brief cover letter stating your interest in that specific position and resume of no more than two pages that highlight and tailors your previous job experience as it relates to the position you are applying for. You can note additional information will be provided upon request.
• Refrain from formatting with colors or adding photos or graphics to spruce your resume up.
• Do not use Return Receipt to track when/if your resume was received or opened. This can be viewed as intrusive and will most likely be declined anyway.
• Have a friend or associate review your cover letter and resume to catch any misspellings or grammatical mistakes that you may have missed. You wouldn’t believe what I’ve seen on resumes sent to me!

Just e-mailing your resume willy-nilly certainly isn’t a professional or effective approach. By taking your time, using common sense and doing your due diligence you’ll rise above other applicants that disregard the importance of paying attention to detail! Good Luck!

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