1. What is the biggest mistake people make when sending business emails?
The biggest mistake would have to be sending emails with too many subjects.
If you are sending an email, make sure that it is on one subject alone, not many. Because when people receive emails with too many subjects, the email respondents end up forgetting to reply to most of the different matters.
So I suggest when sending emails, make sure they are on one subject, and if you have a number of matters that need dealt with, keep them as separate emails.
2. What is a common mistake people make without realising they are making a mistake?
Bad grammar – forgetting to spell check is a common mistake people make that they don’t realize.
When sending emails throughout the day, we may become busy and so will rush through an email, and sending it without double checking our grammar and punctuation.
Make sure spell check is always turned on. However, spell check misses mistakes like this:
“I this due by Tuesday”
Spell check would say that is correct. When really it isn’t and should be:
“I need this due by Tuesday”
So it is always good to double check our emails before sending.
Ways you can quickly check for typo mistakes:
Read through the email but only concentrate on the words and their structure, not what the email is reading. This way you will be able to find mistakes easier without getting caught up in the email
3. How should an email be properly constructed?
- Specific subject
Eg.
BAD: Next Tuesday’s appointment
GOOD: Appointment for Tuesday the 20th of August 2010 with John Smith
- Introduction
An email should start off with a good introduction which captures your reader’s attention and helps them to follow on through the email:
Eg.
Hello John,
Hope you had a good weekend OR
Thank you for your time today to discuss the matter with you.
- Body
This is the base of the email.
Key information for the reader is in this part of the email. Whatever you need to ask or say put it in here.
- Conclusion
Always end an email off in a positive note or to recap your email.
Eg.
Please feel free to contact me if you would like more information
Kind regards,
OR
I look forward to seeing you next week and discussing the proposition with you.
Kind regards,
4. How important is good email etiquette?
Very important.
A good email shows professionalism so sending a well written email will impress your client or customer
5. What are the possible ramifications of bad email etiquette?
- Perception by the email respondent as unprofessionalism and lack of care in the way your conducting business
- The email respondent may disregard the email and forget about it
- The email may be passed on as junk mail if the subject line is too general or small.
- The use of emoticons and acronyms like BTW (by the way) are way too informal. Not everybody knows what they mean. Readers could even get the wrong impression of your email writing skills.