Email - The Great Communicator Friend or Foe

– Don Capman, President,
   J.D. Associates

Does anybody out there remember Emily Post? I do. Oops, I guess that says something about my age. C’est la vie. Emily Post lived from 1872 until 1960 and wrote a book and a syndicated column on etiquette. In short, etiquette is a set of rules about how we should behave in a civilized society. While I don’t intend to make this article a commentary on the death of etiquette in our society, I do believe that, in many ways, we are in a sharp state of decline from a kinder and gentler place.

There are many ways to communicate. Most commonly, we communicate verbally. If we have the opportunity to communicate face to face, we communicate non-verbally as well as through our eyes, facial expressions and body language. When we communicate verbally, a response is almost always immediate. We also communicate through the written word. We write articles like this one, and we write memos, letters, and, more recently, we write email.  And do we write email…. In many cases, email has replaced verbal communication. We can be sitting across the table from someone and, instead of talking with them, we type a message and hit the (all too overused) SEND button.

So, what does etiquette and Emily Post have to do with email? If our dearly departed Emily were around today, you can bet that she would have written a book and published a syndicated column on proper email etiquette.  Did you realize that there’s a right way and a wrong way to use email? In fact, some companies make a ton of money writing about and giving classes on email etiquette.

There are many rules and suggestions on writing effective and meaningful email. I will mention but a handful of, what I consider to be, the most important. Whether you’re emailing your customers, vendors, or employees, you want to be effective.

• Ask yourself, “What do I hope to accomplish by sending this email?” Before you send an email, make sure you have a clear goal in mind. Do you want better pricing from your vendors? Say it clearly. Are you documenting undesirable behavior with an employee? Do it accurately and without prejudice.
• Be concise and to the point. Most of us do not have the time to read long and ambiguous emails. If you set a clear goal for an email, get to the point in a concise yet inoffensive manner. This shows the recipient that you respect their time.
• Respond in a timely fashion and try to address all issues brought before you by the sender. Too often email threads can go on and on and on. You don’t want to be responding to the same sender over and over again. If you reach an email impasse, speak with that person directly and end the “e-pain”.
• Spell check, spell check, spell check. Misspelling and poor grammar can leave a lasting impression on the email recipient. Further emails from you will not be treated seriously. If you have an important email, run a spell check, and then take the time to have someone else check it out for you.
• Punctuation is your friend. I have a great aunt whom I love dearly, but who never had a formal education. Whenever she writes a letter, I turn purple from lack of oxygen since she never uses punctuation. Run-on sentences can be exhaustive and confusing. A comma and a period can help make your email more effective and legible.
• Take notice of the layout. Did you know that it is much easier for the average person to read a hard copy than a computer screen? Use manageable paragraphs and highlighted bullets that draw the recipient’s eyes to the desired text or graphic.
• Personalize your emails. If your marketing includes email blasts to your customers, use a mail merge that allows you to put their name in the content.  Design it in such a way that it looks thoughtful and not automated. If you’re in specialty retail, you know customers value personalized attention.
• Watch your tongue, or better yet, your fingers. We all get angry at times. For obvious reasons, an angry email is called a “flame”. At the time the flame mail is written, it is almost always intended to hurt the recipient. Compose the email, back off and don’t hit the SEND button until you have had time to cool off and ask someone else’s opinion. Once a flame mail is sent, it’s difficult to fix.
• Don’t email in all capital letters and don’t end every sentence with an exclamation point. All this does is get people angry because it appears that you are yelling at them. It is more likely that they will miss the important points of your email and just get wrapped up in the emotion. Additionally, when you want to make a real point, no one will notice.
• Copy only those people that need to see what you have written. Don’t clog up a third party with irrelevant emails. They may begin to simply delete every email you send them in the future without reading them.
• Leave out inflammatory and obscene language, racist statements and bad jokes. Email can find itself in the public domain very easily, and you can find yourself not only embarrassed, but in legal trouble.
• Add a disclaimer to all of your emails. You don’t want your company to face serious liability issues.  Consult your attorney or go on-line to find many good examples of disclaimers.

There are many other rules that apply to email etiquette, and there are many websites with very useful information. Following a simple set of guidelines will help free you and your company from “email slavery” and cause you to become much more effective at using a truly remarkable tool. Who knows, you could become the next “email Emily Post”.