At a time when businesses have turned to emailing as the predominant mode of communication with clients, knowing how to write a professional and informative email that achieves your objective is critical. Writing an email is simple – but writing a professional and informative email encompasses the principles of style and structure.
Clients and customers are inundated with a barrage of emails daily, and they often skim quickly through the list to determine which ones are worthy of their time and attention. Therefore, you want to make sure they see, open, read and respond. Those are the primary purposes of drafting an email.
Consider the following when drafting an email.
- A good descriptive subject line – one that identifies you as a legitimate sender – is critical.
- Personalize the email by addressing the recipient by name in the opening of your email.
- Determine what you want your end result to be. What action do you want your recipient to take? Make sure what you write in the body of the email supports your end goal.
- Consider who you are emailing when you provide steps or instructions. There are generational differences involved in how a person receives instructions, especially if they are being asked to navigate a website.
- If you are instructing the recipient to perform a specific action, make your instructions concise and brief. Use numbered or bulleted lists when appropriate. Remember, recipients often feel hurried or rushed and don’t read past the first few lines.
- Read back through your email and try seeing it from the recipient’s perspective. Often we forget that person doesn’t have our area of expertise or background knowledge.
- Check your email for spelling and grammatical errors, adding to the professionalism of your email.
- Ensure that you have included any referenced attachments. Attachments should be given an identifying file name.
- Finally, end your email with a polite closing. Always include your email signature, which should always include your firm or company contact information.
How we communicate with clients is important to the firm’s success. You want to instill confidence with the professionalism of your communication. Communicating with a professional and informative email results in the recipient feeling they are selecting a competent attorney and that the firm is worthy of their trust in the services it provides.
Author
Jamie has worked at OAMIC since 1997, serving as both executive assistant and underwriting assistant. She processes applications and fulfills quotes for new and existing insureds. Jamie has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Oklahoma, and was previously selected as one of Oklahoma’s Top Executive Assistants by The Journal Record.