A professional email is often the first interaction someone will have with you. Whether it’s a job application or a business inquiry, you need to ensure that you give a good first impression. Here are eight tips to make your email more professional.
Check your email address
The first thing to look at is your email address. If you’re still using your very first email address, it’s probably not going to be suitable. A professional email address should always contain your name. Then, you can include things like your job title and year of birth to make it unique. Avoid using extra characters or anything humorous.
Double-check the address you are sending to
It’s really important to make sure that you are sending an email to the right place. Otherwise, you could end up waiting weeks for a replay, only to find out that you sent it to someone else. Get it right the first time and you will avoid any difficult conversations further down the line.
Check the instructions in the email you’re replying to
If you’re replying to an email, read any instructions carefully. To appear professional, the recipient needs to know that you read their email and took the information in. If an instruction is unclear, ask for clarification. This is more professional than guessing.
Use the correct terminology
When you are writing a professional email, you need to use appropriate terminology. That means starting the email with something like ‘Good morning’ and ending it with ‘Kind regards’. It’s easy to fall into the trap of becoming informal with your email tone, but this could be a serious error of judgment. It’s best to keep it professional at all times.
Create a professional email signature
Your email needs to look professional. One of the best ways to do this is to create a professional email signature. Using a tool like Rocketseed.com, you can create an email signature with your contact information and pictures that will give off a professional vibe.
Check spelling and edit
An email full of grammatical and spelling errors is seriously unprofessional. If you’re not confident in this department, use an online grammar checker. Then, read your email out loud to make sure that it makes sense. Also, edit out any information that doesn’t need to be there.
Keep things short and to the point
People are busy. No one has time to read your 2000 word mega-email. So, keep it short and to the point. Email is supposed to be a concise form of communication, so keep it that way. Prioritize your information with the most important message at the top and cut out anything that doesn’t need to be there.
Think carefully about the subject line
The subject line is one of the most important parts of your email. It tells the recipient what to expect inside and how important the email is.
So, you should consider it carefully. Try to sum up the content of the email in a couple of words. If you are emailing someone for the first time, give the recipient a reason to open the email in the subject line.