3 Email etiquette rules to follow to get ahead in 2020

What is the biggest difference between email and verbal communications?

For verbal, we know the rules. We hear intonation, understand pauses, detect nuances.

Email. Not-so-much.

Here are 3 email etiquette rules to buy respectability and elevate your reputation:

Use a searchable subject line
How will your buyer find your email when they want it?
Your subject lines should be an accurate, honest summary of the email you’ve just sent. (Not the email you originally sent a month ago.)

Include a search term that reflects the content.
Ex: Your email is about the XYZ Event, specifically about an updated proposal with inclusions. Your subject line should include those searchable terms – not just XYZ Event.

Always respond
You have about a day to respond and not be considered a jerk.

A great out-of-office message IS a response (as long as it doesn’t say, “I have LIMITED access to email”).

A templated, “Thanks for your RFP. You can count on a personalized proposal by <when>. You can count on X here” also works.

Yes. You can be offline. Just be sure they hear from you and know when they can get what they need.

Allow white space
Don’t fool yourself. They’re scrolling and skimming your email. At least they are, until you compel them with your caring, relevant message. So…

•Shorten paragraphs and leave white space between.
•Use lists with numbers (when sequence is important).
•Use bullet points.
•Use bolded sub-headings.

Yes! As a former English teacher, I’m giving you permission to forget about the need for a topic sentence in each paragraph.

BONUS
It’s almost 2020.

Email has to accomplish a lot. It’s NOT just transmitting information. If it doesn’t create connection with another, you’ve wasted your time writing.

When email was a secondary (or non-existent) tool for creating relationships, focusing on just content was fine. As THE tool sellers use to engage, nurture and advance, build your reputation by writing so your content and INTENT are always understood.