Comments on: 8 Essential Tips for Business E-mail Etiquette

By: Lorna - Garrendenny Lane

Lorna - Garrendenny Lane — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 09:03:56 +0000

I’ve seen Damien doing that too!.

totally agree – a lot depends on your relationship with the person

By: Amanda Webb

Amanda Webb — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 15:22:55 +0000

I guess the biggie for me is make sure the person you send the email to wants it. I’ve lost count of the number of email lists I seem to have been added to that have no interest for me. Getting an email about your product or service when you have no use for it and didn’t ask for it just makes you annoyed with the sender. Recently I received one of these from someone I had given a quote to. Not only was I not interested in what they were selling but it was also sent so that it was cc’d (carbon copied) to her whole list.

I love the way Damien Mulley out’s all the email spammers on his Twitter account.

Someone above mentioned smilies. I think they are acceptable if you know the person you are emailing and of course dependant on your relationship with them. I find I am a bit of a smilie addict and the is becoming the new exclamation mark.

By: Mairéad Kelly

Mairéad Kelly — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 16:17:39 +0000

I think it is important to request a delivery or read report with some institutions, but not with all of them. I have found that my emails can get “lost” in the system especially government agencies or banking institutions if I don’t request the delivery report. Then I might as well not have bothered in the first place, with them being accountable with a report this rarely happens.

When sending out mass emails have a mail merge sorted. I think it is really rude to just get a blanket “Hi” instead of my name included

By: Lorna - Garrendenny Lane

Lorna - Garrendenny Lane — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:10:01 +0000

Lots of great additions here – yes, totally agree with not using those abbreviations in business emails. Agree with John and Marie too – don’t pretend an email is really important if it isn’t.
Mona, a friend of mine says that she sometimes doesn’t use a salutation either and had never thought of it coming across as rude. I’m not saying it always does but it does depend on the tone of the overall email and in my experience above, it really had a negative effect on my mood and opinion of the sender too.
Many thanks for all the comments, Lorna

By: Marie Ennis-O'Connor (@JBBC)

Marie Ennis-O'Connor (@JBBC) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 14:40:04 +0000

Great post Lorna – I’d like to add one more word of caution – don’t = overuse the high priority option. Even if a mail has high priority for you, it may not for the recipient and your message risks coming across as slightly aggressive and arrogant if you flag it as ‘high priority’. If it really is high priority, then pick up the phone and make a call to explain why.

By: Dee Sewell

Dee Sewell — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 14:32:28 +0000

Great points and can’t think of anymore! Agree with you that just a name can seem rude. I usually start with a Hi (name) and finish with best regards and suspect that it’s lack of education rather than meaning to be rude that encourages overfamiliarity. Will share this

By: WiseMona

WiseMona — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 14:25:06 +0000

I am guilty of not even using a salutation Lorna. I think you make a lot of great points and feel that business these days are very lax in their email etiquette and communication skills overall.
I am all for using free forms of communicating, but there are times when I think that a good old fashioned phone call is necessary. The tone used in electronic mail can be mis-interpreted so easily.

Great piece. I love this blog. Now, off to mind my p’s and q’s!