EMAIL ETIQUETTE

Email writing prerequisites

OPENING
CLOSING

SUBJECT
EMAIL CONTENT

INFORMATION DELIVERY
SOUNDING SINCERE

PROBING
HANDLING IRATE CUSTOMERS
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Email communication

Basic email etiquette

DOS
ACKNOWLEDGE WITHIN 24 HOURS
WRITE SUBJECT

DONTS
AVOID TOO MANY ITALICS AND
UNDERLINES

HAVE OPENING AND CLOSING

AVOID ABBREVIATIONS

USE STANDARD AND ONE FONT

AVOID INDENTATION

USE PARAGRAPHS

AVOID JARGON AND SLANGS

BE PROFESSIONAL AT ALL TIMES

AVOID WRITING IN PASSIVE VOICE

WRITE IN ACTIVE VOICE

AVOID USING RED COLOR

SPELL NAMES CORRECTLY

AVOID OVER PUNCTUATING

Greeting
VERBAL HANDSHAKE
SETS THE TONE FOR THE ENTIRE EMAIL
CREATES POSITIVE OPINION FOR THE CUSTOMER

Closing
VERBAL GOODBYE
ENSURES EMAIL IS COMPLETE
LASTING IMPRESSION OF THE COMPANY
THANK THE CUSTOMER

Greeting & Closing

USE POLITE, RESPECTFUL AND STANDARD GREETING AND CLOSING
USE APPROPRIATE AND STANDARD SIGNATURE
DO NOT INCLUDE PICTURES, QUOTES OR ANIMATIONS IN THE CLOSING

Subject line
DONT FORGET THE SUBJECT LINE
USE EFFECTIVE AND SHORT SUBJECT LINE
KEEP SAME SUBJECT LINE IN TRAIL EMAILS TO ENSURE CONTINUITY
REMOVE EXTRA EMAIL PREFIXES E.G. RE: RE: RE: [FWD: FWD:]

Email content
KEEP EMAIL CONCISE AND TO THE POINT
USE CORRECT SALUTATION (MR. /MS. AND CUSTOMERS LAST NAME)
USE SIMPLE SENTENCES WITHOUT ANY SLANGS OR JARGONS
THINK ABOUT THE PERSON READING THE EMAIL AND WRITE ACCORDINGLY
DOUBLE CHECK ANY RATES, DATES, TIME OR ANY SPECIFIC DETAILS
PAY ATTENTION TO THE CHOICE OF WORDS
USE PARAGRAPHS

AVOID SPELLING, GRAMMATICAL AND PUNCTUATION ERRORS

AVOID WRITING IN ALL CAPITALS AND IN RED FONT AS THAT MEANS SHOUTING
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SAMPLE EMAIL

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Probing
TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM THE CUSTOMER
TO HELP UNDERSTAND CUSTOMERS REQUIREMENT BETTER

TO ARRIVE AT A QUICKER RESOLUTION

ASK WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY AND HOW QUESTIONS

WHERE APPROPRIATE

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Information delivery
HAVE THOROUGH PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE
PROVIDE CORRECT AND COMPLETE INFORMATION TO THE CUSTOMER
BE PROACTIVE AND PROVIDE INFORMATION TO AVOID FURTHER EMAILS
BE CLEAR AND CONCISE WHILE PROVIDING INFORMATION
SUMMARIZE INFORMATION WHERE REQUIRED

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Sounding sincere
UNDERSTAND THE MINDSET OF THE CUSTOMER
USE EMPATHETIC WORDS OR PHRASES E.G. I UNDERSTAND, I AM SORRY, ETC.
IDENTIFY THE CUSTOMERS CONCERN
MATCH THE CUSTOMERS ANXIETY WITH APPROPRIATE CONCERN
NEVER TAKE THE CUSTOMER FOR GRANTED

ACKNOWLEDGE THE CUSTOMER

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Handling irate customers

READ THE EMAIL PROPERLY
COLLECT MENTAL INFORMATION
RESPOND TO THE CUSTOMER AND DO NOT REACT
EMPHASIZE THAT YOU WILL DO ALL IN YOUR CONTROL TO RESOLVE THE
ISSUE AND DO IT
PROVIDE ALTERNATE SOLUTION IF AVAILABLE
USE EMPATHY, APOLOGIES AND POSITIVE WORDS

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SAMPLE EMAILS

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SAMPLE EMAIL - PRE

Subject: Hi

To Hank,
Whats up? The weather is so nice. I hope your business will
prosper.
You said I should work on a new project. I cant do that. I have
too much work to do.
Anyway, how is your wife doing?

Reply to me soon Bruce Matters

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SAMPLE EMAIL - POST

Subject: New project

Dear Hank,
Thank you for considering me for the new project.
Unfortunately, my current workload is too high for me to start
another project.
Again, thank you for your consideration and I hope I will be
able to work with you on another occasion.
Best regards,
Bruce Matters
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SAMPLE EMAIL - PRE

Everyone!
You remember next weeks meeting. Everyone must be at the
meeting. If you cannot go, let me know.
It will be on Monday, November 16th. Time is 1. Place is the
conference room.

You have to come!

Jong Hee

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SAMPLE EMAIL - POST

Dear all,
The next Marketing Meeting will be held in the Conference
Room at 1300 hours on Monday, 16th November, 2014.
Follow-up items from our last meeting are:
- New Brochure (Kevin Park)
- Annual Dinner with Customers (Mandy Kim)
If you wish to add any further items to the agenda, please let
me know before 8th November, 2014.
Yours sincerely,
Jong Hee
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SAMPLE EMAIL - PRE

Subject: Vacation
Hi,

I am going on a vacation. But you can still contact Young Hee

Kim.
If you want, you can send me e-mails. I will check them when
I get back.
Cheers,
Henry

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SAMPLE EMAIL - POST

Subject: Out of the office: July 6 - 12
Hi Sam,

I hope everything is well with you. Im writing to let you know

that Ill be out of town on a vacation from July 6 through 12.
Young Hee Kim will sit in for me while Im away. You can find
her e-mail address on the CC line.
If you need to contact me directly, please call me on my cell at
(000) XXX XXXX.
Regards,
Henry

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SAMPLE EMAIL - PRE

Subject: Congratulation
Dear Rick,
Congratulations on the promotion. Good job!
Treat me to lunch sometime!
Sincerely,
Juhee Kim

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SAMPLE EMAIL - POST

Subject: Congratulations

Dear Rick,
Congratulations on your promotion! It is a great
accomplishment and Im sure your team will totally benefit
from your expertise.
Congratulations again and let me treat you to lunch or dinner
sometime!
Regards,
Juhee Kim
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SAMPLE EMAIL - PRE

Subject: Meeting
Harry,

I heard you wanted to have a meeting. Lets make a schedule

this Thursday.
Time is up to you but I prefer morning time.
Thank you.
Hyunji

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SAMPLE EMAIL - POST

Subject: Meeting
Harry,
Ken told me that you wanted to set up a 1 hour meeting with
me. Would this Thursday (26th) work for you?
If so, please let me know what time would be convenient. I
would personally prefer to have the meeting in the morning,
but my schedule is quite flexible in the afternoon on that day,
too.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Regards,
Hyunji
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SAMPLE EMAIL - PRE

Jon,
Hey, I was just thinking about the meeting we had about the new
workshop you were planning for next week about resume-writing. I
think that we may have forgotten to include all of the students who
might benefit from this workshop. There are several groups of
students at the School of Public Health that were not on your list. Of
course you may have added them to you list since our last meeting.
Sara from the School of Public Health contacted me to ask if the
students from the Epidemiology program were on our list of
included students. She also wanted a list of all of the included
departments from the School of Public Health. Can you send me a list
of all of the included student groups? I can then send the relevant
information on to Sara because she needs this information by
tomorrow.
Thanks,
Rachell

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SAMPLE EMAIL - POST

Jon,
Can you send me a list of the students included in the resume-writing
workshop by tomorrow?
We may have forgotten to include all of the students who might benefit from
this workshop. There are several groups of students at the School of Public
Health that were not on your list.
Sara from the School of Public Health contacted me to ask if the students
from the Epidemiology program were on our list. I will send her that
information tomorrow after I get the list from you.
Regards,
Rachell
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ALL THE BEST!