Do you wish not to drive prospects away, ruin the relationship with your current clients or displease your colleagues? Then you should be careful what kind of e-mails you send. E-mail communication has its own etiquette, though not everybody follows it. Nonetheless, according to Forbes, there are 4 types of e-mail messages that annoy almost everybody. What are they?
1. Mass messages with many addresses in copy
There are some experts who feel the need to acquaint people with what is going on in their correspondence. They often put people in copy who have nothing to do with the topic of the communication but the person replying to the e-mail keeps them in copy because they do not want to be the one excluding others from the exchange. When putting people in copy, keep in mind the rules of the real world. Would you take that colleague to a real meeting where the topic is to be discussed?
2. One-word replies
People often react negatively to very short replies, usually because it is hard to tell what exactly the sender had in mind. Short answers often come across as sarcastic, rude or disdainful. Write e-mails that are long enough not to offend the addressee.
3. The word “IMPORTANT” in the subject
Words like important or urgent are unpopular as subject lines because they are often used in trivial messages. Give the recipient some space and leave it to them to decide whether or not they consider the e-mail important.
4. E-mails with no greeting or signature
Everyone deserves to be greeted. You would never enter a person's office and, without saying hello, start to explain something or want something from that person. The same goes for e-mail communication. At the beginning of each message, greet the recipient and show that you acknowledge them.
What do you hate in e-mail communication?
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