No Need for Email Etiquette Training?
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I came across an article saying that 60-70% of businesses don’t offer formal email etiquette training. I wasn’t surprised. No wonder many employees, customer service reps, and business owners don’t use proper practices. They don’t know.
Email Etiquette is a Required Business Skill
Whether you’re looking for a job or running a business, online or offline, impressions are everything. And how you use email can make all the difference in your business success. Here’s an analogy for you.
Offline, you notice what people wear, how they present themselves, and the quality, or lack thereof, of their business cards. The same applies online, except you don’t have those in-person visuals and tone of voice to rely on. That means you have to be even more detail-oriented.
You’ve probably formed impressions on first contact. For example, if you receive a one-line email with no spell-checking, poor sentence structure, or basic grammatical errors. What do you think? How does that reflect on that person or business? Probably not so good, right?
I’ve worked with various professionals for over 30 years; unfortunately, some assume they are more professional than their perceptions allow. They’re not uneducated or rude—they simply don’t realize the power of perception in their online communications.
Perception is Online Reality
From the homepage of this website…
I see this in my daily communications. Even so, I’ve built long-term business relationships with people who know I have two email etiquette websites and several books on the topic.
They can seem terse, demanding, rude, uneducated, and lazy simply because they are unaware of, or choose not to practice, the basics of business email etiquette. Some are so unprofessional in their emails that I wouldn’t do business with them if I didn’t already know they were intelligent, credible, and very friendly.
Email Etiquette is Just Smart Business
Email etiquette isn’t brain surgery. Instead, it is a set of basic skills, considerations, and courtesies every business, business owner, and employee needs to know and practice.
You and your business can shine and thrive by building awareness and practicing these skills. Many businesspeople tell me they are viewed much more seriously than their coworkers when they hone their email skills and write professionally.
That then leads to career advancement. Who would you promote? The employee who emails like a grade-schooler or one who impresses with a polished communication style?
So, why are folks so resistant to something that can only reflect positively on their career or business? After all these years, I honestly believe it is simply because people underestimate the power of email in day-to-day business communication.
Email is viewed as informal. However, nothing about running a successful business is informal.
Email is now a staple and expected communication channel. Unfortunately, many are unaware of the importance of email etiquette in their branding efforts and will suffer the consequences.
Yes, Branding!
Everything you do related to your business can and will impact your branding. Written, verbal, phone, and in-person communications display how you run your business. How you use email is now a critical part of that process.
Do you want coworkers or your business competition to outperform you? Of course not. So, at the very least, become familiar with the basics and practice them yourself. Then lead by example.
Sit down with those using your business email address and review the basics. Have a conversation about email use and expectations. Then put a policy in place and let them know what you envision for emails sent on behalf of your company.
By not using best email practices in your business communications and keeping your employees on the same page, you will miss opportunities, cause misunderstandings, and create a perception of your company that may be very difficult to recover from.
I see it happen every day—and it isn’t pretty…
