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Business emails
Communication is the key to acquiring and retaining clients.
Subject line• Subject line must summarize the body of the e-
mail.
• Keep it short. Be specific.
• If your email comprises multiple topics, consider breaking it into multiple messages.
• If your message requires the recipient's action, say so; preferably with the first word.
BUT: At all times try to avoid “URGENT” or “IMPORTANT” types of words in an email or subject line. Only use this if it is a really, really urgent or important message.
Attachments
• Do not send large attachments
• Do not send more than 2-3 attachments (unless it’s been specifically requested)
• Provide a logical name to the attached file(s)
Structure & layouti’ve attached my resume i would be grateful if you could read it and get back to me at your earliest convenience. i have all the experience you are looking for – i’ve worked in a customer-facing environment for three years, i am competent with ms office and i enjoy working as part of a team. thanks for your time
Dear Sir/Madam,
I’ve attached my resume. I would be grateful if you could read it and get back to me at your earliest convenience. I have all the experience you are looking for:• I’ve worked in a customer-facing environment for three years• I am competent with MS office• I enjoy working as part of a team
Thanks for your time.
Yours faithfully,Joe Bloggs
Use proper spelling, grammar & punctuation
Don't shout at people
Don't write in CAPITALS
or oversized fonts
No slang
Hi D & E,
Yep got that thanks.
Pete
Active instead of Passive
Don't assume the recipient knows/remembers the background
“To give you a bit more Softjourn background on some of the areas we discussed during our phone conversation…”
“We look forward to receiving a description of the new functionality that we talked about: ………”
• Include the original message you are replying to below (keep the thread)
• Do repeat, in as few words as possible, questions you are answering
For follow up emails:
When replying to the email:
Acknowledge ALL emails
Answer swiftly ... but allow time for a reply
– “I have received your email, will get back to you as soon as possible.”
– “I understand.” or “Thank your for sending this!” Waiting…
“Friendly reminder”
Hello John: I just wanted to double check that you got the document we sent a couple of weeks ago,
We had talked about connecting again around this time and talk about a possible proof of concept.
Thank you!
experience and some ideas of pricing?
Reply / Reply AllBefore we hit the send button on an email, we think about:
- who needs to “take action” (TO)
- versus who needs to just be “kept in the loop” (CC)
After all the TO’s and CC’s are assembled correctly in the email, then we do our best keep hitting the “reply all” button so the team stays together throughout the various threads.
Phrase to avoid:
“I’ll try…”
Phrase to avoid:
“it’s not our fault, you didn’t…”
Example:
“it’s not our fault, you didn’t…”Issue:
1. You provide client with a very rough estimate (guestimate)
2. Then you estimate the project, and it appears that initial fee was underestimated
3. You send quote to the client, and receive an email:
“This is not what we have agreed for.”
Emails are not for arguments
Phrase to avoid:
“Don’t you think?” or “Okay?”
Phrase to avoid:“I don’t have time right now,” or
“I’m too busy.”
“I’d be happy to discuss this with you after my morning meetings. May I ping
you in skype around 1pm?”
Think about the person reading your note
Before hitting Send, slow down to consider:
• Did I give all the information needed?
• Will the reader understand my message?
• Is my point clear?
• Are the next steps obvious?
Anticipate questions
Your objective is to make it as easy as possible for the Client to provide you with the answers that you need.
Give him/her more information in order to help eliminate so many back and forth emails.
When making a delivery…
What would you say to the client?
When making a delivery…
Tell the client:
- what exactly was delivered (detailed description)
- what they need to be testing or focusing on, etc.
When making a delivery…
And some part wasn’t 100% tested…
When client reports a bug…
When we let client know that a bug was fixed, we need to explain why the bug occurred, or what we did to fix it etc.
It’s Wednesday…
Looks like not all features will be delivered on Friday…
Let the client know:
• it can be the case that X feature won’t be ready by Friday
• give a reason
Issue we see before the deadline/delivery
Add 2 days buffer to check the issue and analyze why it occurred, it could be complicated and take several days to fix.
Do NOT tell the client that we will do the delivery tomorrow!
Anticipate questions
Put yourself in the Client’s place – What would you think if you heard this?
“The changes you requested are on the test server.”
“We are making the next delivery, here it is. We are waiting for your feedback.”
OR
Think about the person reading your note
• Does it give all the information needed?
• Will the reader understand the message?
• Is it clear?
• Are the next steps obvious?
“The changes you requested are on the test server.”
Anticipate questions
“The changes you requested are on the test server.”
• Will Client know exactly what is meant by “our test server”?
• Does this mean it is on the internal test server in IF?
• If so, then there is nothing for Client to do here, no action for him to take?
.
“Now it is on our test server here in UA. As soon as we are finished testing, we will push it to US staging so that you can look at it. I will let you know as soon as we do that so you can do your own review.”
This tells exactly:
• what the status is• that there is no action Client needs to take right now• and it clearly informs what the next step needs to be.
What Clients have said about working with Softjourn personnel! – Stuff to improve!
• “Let me know if I should expect any issues.”• “I am not sure what I am going to get in the
next delivery?” or “I am not sure when the next delivery is going to be?”
• “Don’t wait until the last minute to let me know that not everything will be delivered.”
• Forewarn about potential issues
• When in doubt, it is okay to say:
“I am not sure right now, let me check on that and get back to you as soon as possible”
Working hard or hardly working
?
Any questions?