How to Write a Business Email – 8 Easy Guidelines!

How to Write a Business Email – 8 Easy Guidelines!

You can spend hours editing an email but send it as if you wrote it in a minute.

– Sally Rooney

This quote perfectly defines the gist of writing a business email. You can spend hours editing an email but send it as if you wrote it in a minute. Sending a business email is always a bit harder than sending an email to your friend. You need to consider quite a lot of things while doing this.

But do you know how to write a Business Email?

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The process to write a business email is not that hard nor complicated. As long as you follow a few guidelines you can write it quite well. So what are the guidelines?

Guidelines on “How to write a Business Email?”

How to Write a Business Email - 8 Easy Guidelines!

The thing is, while considering how to write a business email or any email for that matter, there are a few things you should remember before you follow any sort of guidelines. They are:

  • Know the subject of your email
  • Know whom you are sending the email to
  • Know the relationship between you and the email recipient
  • Keep the Email Concise
  • Proofread

Once you keep this in mind following the guidelines of “how to write a business email” should be rather easy. Now let’s move on to the guidelines.

1. Keep Subject Line Precise

How to Write a Business Email - 8 Easy Guidelines!

While writing a business email be sure to include a subject line. It is the first line of attraction towards an email as it shows the reader what the email is all about. People won’t read an email unless they know what the email is about- especially if the ones receiving the email are bosses of the company. So remember:

  • Use Keywords that briefly summarize the contents of your message

2. Greetings

How to Write a Business Email - 8 Easy Guidelines!

After you write the subject lines the next thing that you need to write is Greetings. This is also the first thing that the reader sees as well. Be sure to use an appropriate greeting when you write a business email. You can use greetings such as :

  • Dear Firstname Lastname
  • Dear Mr./Ms. Lastname
  • Dear Mr./Ms. Firstname Lastname
  • Dear Dr. Lastname
  • To whom it may concern

3. Precise Context

How to Write a Business Email - 8 Easy Guidelines!

Once you are done with writing the greetings of a business email, it’s time to move on to the body. While writing a business email be concise and define your matter as clearly as possible. We understand that sometimes things are not clean not clear. In such cases, make a draft and try to simplify things as much as possible before you write a business email. You can use phrases like:

  • I am writing you as…
  • This email is written to inform you that
  • I am writing to you about
  • This email is written regarding

Regardless of how you start a business email or how you write it, get straight to the point. You are not sending this email to chat but to inform somebody about an event regarding your business. 

4. Use the correct tones

How to Write a Business Email - 8 Easy Guidelines!

This is probably the most important part of “how to write a business email”. The use of correct tones may be the difference between offending someone and getting your message across – especially in this age where anything can be offensive. Now you can be both formal and informal while sending a business email – but that depends on your relationship with the recipients. 

For example, if you need to ask for a document xxx  for yyy purpose, you can ask for it like

  • Formal: I would request you to send me the document xxx for yyy
  • Semi-formal: I was wondering if you would have the time to send me xxx document for yyy
  • Informal: Can you send me xxx document form yyy

Do keep in mind that your tone of speech should be appropriate as per your relationship with the receiver when you write a business email. 

5. Delivering the bad news

How to Write a Business Email - 8 Easy Guidelines!

Not all emails are sent to give good news- some are sent to give bad news as well. But the thing is, giving bad news is never an easy job – especially in an email. Maybe someone needs to be fired, maybe their salary has been reduced or their job application has been rejected, scenarios like this are not uncommon in the business world. So in these cases, if you need to write a business email, you can use the following tricks:

  • Start with a neutral or positive aspect of the news
  • Insert the bad news in between
  • Provide possible solutions at the end

By putting the core of the bad news in the middle and surrounding it with a neutral aspect and a possible solution, you will reduce the negative trauma of the news.

6. Leave a kind note near the end

How to Write a Business Email - 8 Easy Guidelines!

Everybody loves kind notes. So regardless of what the news is, it is a good idea to end the email with kind words to leave a positive impact on the reader. You can use the following endnotes when you write a business email:

  • Thank you for your consideration.
  • … should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me
  • I look forward to hearing from you

These notes will not only show that you are positive to hear good news from them but also that you have goodwill and are open for discussion. Being open for discussions is always a big plus when it comes to businesses.

7. Leave with an End Greetings

How to Write a Business Email - 8 Easy Guidelines!

Before you end writing your business email, it is a good idea to end with a positive greeting. Along with just simply being kind, this will also leave a good image of yours. These end greetings can be:

  • Yours sincerely, <name>
  • Best Regards
  • Kind Regards
  • Take Care
  • Thank You
  • Have a nice day

Do keep in mind that the last three endnotes are not formal ones and are only to be used when your relationship with the reader is good enough to be informal while conducting business. 

8. Proofread

How to Write a Business Email - 8 Easy Guidelines!

This is where the quote that we mentioned at the start of this article comes into play. After you write a business email, you may spend a while at night proofreading the contents of the said email. It is a business email after all and you need to keep it as professional as possible. If you are someone who doesn’t write business emails often or someone who doesn’t need to do so, you may slip a few redundant pieces of information in between. 

Even if you are a professional, there is always a chance for a typo error to occur. So before you write a business email, be sure to give it thorough proofreading before sending it. 

In the end, 

How to Write a Business Email - 8 Easy Guidelines!

In the end, once you know the subject and recipient of your email, you will know what tone to use. And when you know what tone to use, it will become easier to follow the guidelines on “how to write a business email”.

Do keep in mind that these are just guidelines to help those who are new. If you are someone who is already used to writing a business email, then you already know that at times, some of these guidelines can be skipped. But if you are a beginner, then it is recommended to follow each one of these guidelines until you get used to the process.

Hope this was helpful for you. If you have any suggestions for us, do let us know them down in the comments below. And as always, thank you for reading till the end. 

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