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1. Use Email with Care |
- Don’t use email to replace the human touch when communicating major change, sensitive information, conflict, bad news, or performance issues
- Avoid sending angry, sarcastic, or joke messages
- Remember email is not private and you have little control of where it will end up
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2. Respond Promptly |
- Remember that internal and external customers appreciate a prompt response
- Let your customer know when to expect your response, especially when you need more time
- Use auto-response if you are unavailable
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3. Be Aware of Audience |
- Maintain a professional tone for both internal and external email
- Modify language based on how well you know the customer – internal may be more informal and external may be more formal
- Modify language based on how well you know the customer – internal may be more informal and external may be more formal
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4. Show Respect and be Courteous |
- Use warm greetings, kind words, and thanks
- Use customer’s name in message
- Make the customer feel important
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5. Format with Brevity |
- Be brief using short paragraphs, lines, and bullets
- Avoid fancy fonts, graphics, and tabs – they may be different when received by your customer
- Send only necessary email
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6. Communicate Effectively through Clarity |
- Make subject lines clear, short, yet descriptive
- Quote the previous email to which you are responding
- Use examples to illustrate a point
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7. Always Proofread |
- Spell check and use excellent grammar and punctuation
- Avoid sending messages when angry or tired
- Keep in mind when proofreading that anyone may read your email message
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