Developing good business writing habits is key to success, productivity, and joy at work. Do you know how to compose a friendly, professional email that will tell the recipient exactly what you need and get it for you in a timely way? Here we provide some tips on what to write in a professional email.
Why is it important to be professional when you write emails for work or business?
You want to accomplish a business purpose with your email. How can you do this the most effectively? How can you get something done or convey that you understand what someone at work needs? How can you show respect and in turn be respected with your words?
Your email can be read by anyone in the company, your boss, colleagues, the CEO. Although you may right it for one person, think about how the email would read if the CEO was reading it over the company PA system.
Pay attention to the tone of the email
Have you ever known someone that was really nice in person, but then their emails are rude or sound like they are barking orders? Or have you found people who write so casually like they could be your ‘besty’ inviting you to a party. This is why it is important to think about how the tone of your email will be perceived. You want to come across as friendly but also direct and businesslike. It should be a bit more formal than a personal email, which can have a casual tone and lingo. However, consider who you are sending it to and make slight adjustments to the tone based on your relationship with that person.
Who do you address it to? The greeting or salutation
Say we are writing it to a colleague named Sarah. Then start it with this:
Hi Sarah,
Hello Sarah,
Dear Sarah, (I would stick with ‘Dear’ only if you know the person well)
If you are writing to a company representative whom you don’t know then use this:
To whom it may concern,
Dear (Name of company) representative,
Definitely, address it someone. Sometimes, when someone just starts writing without addressing someone, the tone feels like they are giving commands or orders.
Do not use overly casual salutations more appropriate for personal emails.
Hey Sarah,
What’s up?
Hows it going?
Add a friendly one liner, especially if you know the person
if I know the colleague, I like to start by conveying a friendly tone and personalizing it a bit if I know the person. Here are some examples below.
Hope you are doing well.
Hope you had a nice weekend.
Hope the project is going well.
Hope you had a nice vacation.
What to include in the body of a professional email
If you are the sender
If you are the sender, put the necessary details in the body of the email. You may include the following based on what you are needing from the recipient.
What are you asking them to do?
What date do you need it done by?
What are you letting them know that you did.
What are instructions you need them to follow?
What necessary details do they need to complete the tasks?
Put important details closer to the top
Make bullets or numbered lists to make it easy to follow.
For example:
Would you compile a report of this quarter’s accomplishments? Here is what you need to know:
- It is for the Quarterly business meeting that I’ll be presenting to marketing
- Report on 2-3 goals
- Please copy John
- Please send to me by Monday 10/1
If you are the recipient
If you can provide the information that is being requested then send that in your response. If it is something that may take you awhile to do (>24 hours), then as soon as possible, acknowledge that you received the email and understand their instructions. It is fine to be friendly but brief. However, do send a response within 1 business day.
For example, a response the request above may be:
I am happy to put together the Quarterly Accomplishments for your meeting. I will get it to you by Monday and copy John.
End with Thanks, and appreciation
End the email with a note of thanks and appreciation. If it is appropriate you can also offer to answer questions or provide specific support.
Thanks.
Thank you.
I really appreciate your help.
Many thanks. Let me know if you have any questions or need any assistance.
State your name
State your first name, unless it is a very formal email to someone you don’t know. In that case, you can state your first and last name and even include a title if it is appropriate.
Add relevant photos, links, or attachments
Attach any relevant photos, links, or attachments. Only include relevant documents or photos. Be aware of size restrictions and items that might be caught in a spam program. Consider, putting attachments in your company’s secure storage folders and including the link so that your email doesn’t go into spam. If you don’t receive a response or any evidence that your recipient is working on what you asked for in the email, then consider sending a follow-up email, making sure they received it and it didn’t go into their junk folder.
Examples of a professional email
Let’s take a look at an example. Tom needs Sarah to review a document. Tom has been a colleague of Sarah for awhile and is on friendly terms.
Hi Sarah,
Hope you had a nice weekend. Would you review the business proposal that is attached. Would you do it by August 30th. Here are the instructions.
- Please check to make sure the objective is on target
- Are the financials accurate?
- Do we describe the goals clearly or do we need more details.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Many thanks.
Tom.
Then Sarah, the Recipient could answer like this.
Hi Tom,
Hope you had a nice weekend as well. Thank you for allowing me to review the business proposal. I will get any edits to you by August 30th. I will let you know if I have any questions.
Thanks.
Sarah.
Notice that Sarah acknowledges the email. She lets Tom know that she understands his instructions and deadline. She had a friendly, yet professional and brief response.
How is a professional email different from a personal email?
In a personal email, you can ask about personal things, such as to a relative or friend. You are free to be more casual and use more casual lingo, humor, or salutations. In a professional email, your tone and wording should be a bit more formal and straightforward. You are mostly using it to accomplish a business need.
Should I use text or email?
I would use emails for work and business and reserve text messages for more personal interactions. Emails are often searchable and I use them quite a bit to keep records, Texts are still considered informal modes of communication. Text in business may be okay in small doses when you have an immediate locational need, such as “I am at the door”. “I should be at the restaurant in 10 minutes”.
What should you include in the subject line?
Think of the subject line like a headline and put in the main purpose. For our example it would be “Review request: Business proposal. You could optionally add in the deadline “due November 1st”.
Who should you copy?
Only copy individuals that have to have this information in order to accomplish your requested task or that absolutely need to know about it. Avoid unnecessary ‘Power plays’ by copying bosses, executives, higher-ups, unless the nature of the email if urgent and they need to know. Doing this, puts the email recipient ‘on edge’ like you are going to tell on them unless they do what you ask. This is not a great long term strategy. However, if some cases, it may be necessary for bosses, etc to be copied.
I would also avoid, copying too many people unless it requires it. If you were in a meeting of 6 people, and you were emailing the meeting minutes, then if certainly would be appropriate to copy all 6 people. In our example of Tom’s email to Sarah, if wouldn’t be necessary to copy 6 random colleagues or bosses. You need to judge the situation but only copy people that need to know the information.
Consider the timing of when you send the email
Consider the timing of when you send your emails. Although it is not always possible to plan, if you time emails appropriately, it may be received at a time when recipients are more attentive or have more time in their schedule. For instance, I work with colleagues that travel Tuesday through Thursday. So I tend to send emails to them Monday or Friday when they are in their office. Also, extra credit if you can time emails during business hours such as for international colleagues. Many email programs have ‘scheduled send’ programs that you may consider trying that allows the email to be sent during the colleagues regular business hours.
Knowing what to write in a professional email will give you the efficient and productive results you need at work. It shows your professionalism and business skills and will cause you to have to ‘chase down’ less items from colleagues. This ultimately leads to more balance at work and more comfort, leisure, and joy in your life.
