Reference no: EM132180831
Tips for Effective Business E-mails
Proper salutations should demonstrate respect and avoid mix-ups in case a message is accidentally sent to the wrong recipient. For example, use a salutation like “Dear Ms. X” (external) or “Hi Barry” (internal).
Subject lines should be clear, brief, and specific. This helps the recipient understand the essence of the message. For example, “Proposal attached” or “Your question of 10/25.”
Close with a signature. Identify yourself by creating a signature block that automatically contains your name and business contact information.
Avoid abbreviations. An e-mail is not a text message, and the audience may not find your wit cause to ROTFLOL (roll on the floor laughing out loud).
Be brief. Omit unnecessary words.
Use a good format. Include line breaks between sentences or divide your message into brief paragraphs for ease of reading. A good e-mail should get to the point and conclude in three small paragraphs or less.
Reread, revise, and review. Catch and correct spelling and grammar mistakes before you press “send.” It will take more time and effort to undo the problems caused by a hasty, poorly written e-mail than to get it right the first time.
Reply promptly. Watch out for an emotional response—never reply in anger—but make a habit of replying to all e-mails within twenty-four hours, even if only to say that you will provide the requested information in forty-eight or seventy-two hours.
Use “Reply All” sparingly. Do not send your reply to everyone who received the initial e-mail unless your message absolutely needs to be read by the entire group.
Avoid using all caps. Capital letters are used on the Internet to communicate emphatic emotion or yelling and are considered rude.
Test links. If you include a link, test it to make sure it is complete.
E-mail ahead of time if you are going to attach large files (audio and visual files are often quite large) to prevent exceeding the recipient’s mailbox limit or triggering the spam filter.
Give feedback or follow up. If you don’t get a response in twenty-four hours, e-mail or call. Spam filters may have intercepted your message, so your recipient may never have received it.
For this first writing assignment of the course, you will be drafting an email.
This is a "refusal of a request email". You'll be using the email seen below as your template to create a more positive email taking into consideration of the words that you use and the possible negative effects that poorly chosen words can have on those you communicate with.
Your email submission will use this scenario... this is an email message that is being sent to a college administrator (Mr. Burroughs) for the purpose of allowing a philanthropist (Mrs. Rooney) to be able to make a formal donation to a college that she feels strongly about supporting. So, be sure to use the names and information I've provided for you here. Go ahead and create a better version of this message and paste it in the text box here by the due date.
Subject: Your request for a donation
Mrs. Rooney:
We're so sorry to tell you that we will not be granting your request to make a donation to the college's scholarship fund.
We get so many requests just like this every day that it's impossible for us to accept any donations except for those that have already been budgeted for this year. Because the budgeted funds for this year have already been used, we just can't accept any additional requests right now. We won't be able to consider your request until next year.
We really regret our inability to help you now and hope that you understand our reasoning.
John Burroughs