Transcript
Page 1: Business emails company meeting v1 0

Business emails

Page 2: Business emails company meeting v1 0

Communication is the key to acquiring and retaining clients.

Page 3: Business emails company meeting v1 0

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.

Page 4: Business emails company meeting v1 0

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)

Page 5: Business emails company meeting v1 0

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

Page 6: Business emails company meeting v1 0

Use proper spelling, grammar & punctuation

Page 7: Business emails company meeting v1 0

Don't shout at people

Don't write in CAPITALS

or oversized fonts

Page 8: Business emails company meeting v1 0

No slang

Hi D & E,

Yep got that thanks.

Pete

Page 9: Business emails company meeting v1 0

Active instead of Passive

Page 10: Business emails company meeting v1 0

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:

Page 11: Business emails company meeting v1 0

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…

Page 12: Business emails company meeting v1 0

“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?

Page 13: Business emails company meeting v1 0

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.

Page 14: Business emails company meeting v1 0

Phrase to avoid:

“I’ll try…”

Page 15: Business emails company meeting v1 0

Phrase to avoid:

“it’s not our fault, you didn’t…”

Page 16: Business emails company meeting v1 0

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.”

Page 17: Business emails company meeting v1 0

Emails are not for arguments

Page 18: Business emails company meeting v1 0

Phrase to avoid:

“Don’t you think?” or “Okay?”

Page 19: Business emails company meeting v1 0

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?”

Page 20: Business emails company meeting v1 0

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?

Page 21: Business emails company meeting v1 0

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. 

Page 22: Business emails company meeting v1 0

When making a delivery…

What would you say to the client?

Page 23: Business emails company meeting v1 0

When making a delivery…

Tell the client:

- what exactly was delivered (detailed description)

- what they need to be testing or focusing on, etc.

Page 24: Business emails company meeting v1 0

When making a delivery…

And some part wasn’t 100% tested…

Page 25: Business emails company meeting v1 0

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.

Page 26: Business emails company meeting v1 0

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

Page 27: Business emails company meeting v1 0

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!

Page 28: Business emails company meeting v1 0

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

Page 29: Business emails company meeting v1 0

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.”

Page 30: Business emails company meeting v1 0

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.

Page 31: Business emails company meeting v1 0

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”

Page 32: Business emails company meeting v1 0

Working hard or hardly working

?

Page 33: Business emails company meeting v1 0

Any questions?


Top Related