Things to Do Before Responding to a Business Email
It’s crucial for you to be cautious before you respond to a business email. It’s possible that you send the wrong response. When you’re communicating with a potential business partner or investor, such mistake could have terrible consequences. Therefore, you need to carefully plan what to write before responding.
Understand the content
You can’t respond to something you don’t understand. You need to know first what the email is about and what you’re required to do as a response. Some emails are FYI in nature. There’s no need to respond to them except if you wish to acknowledge receipt. Other emails require a specific response. It could be in regards to a meeting you wish to set up with a potential investor. You will send the correct response if you know what the message is about, and what is asked of you in return.
Be polite
Even if you’re close with the person you have communications with, or you’ve met before in an informal setting, it doesn’t give you the right to be rude or even casual when responding to the email, especially when you’re using official correspondence. At some point, these emails might be reviewed for investigation purposes. You don’t want others to see how informal your interactions are in regards to an official transaction.
Check your grammar and sentence construction
It might seem unnecessary for you to go through the grammar or spelling especially if you’re confident with your communication skills. Rechecking the emails isn’t only about feeling embarrassed because of spelling mistakes. It could also lead to miscommunication. It’s possible that the other party will misinterpret your intentions due to an incorrect grammar or spelling issue. Therefore, you need to thoroughly check the mails before sending them to avoid confusion.
Respond within 24 hours or as soon as you can
The problem with the availability of modern communication tools is that it seems like no one uses emails anymore. However, in the corporate world, it’s still popular. For security reasons, email transactions are way better than other platforms. The attachments could even be scanned for viruses. It’s the reason why most people in the corporate world prefer communication through emails. However, even if you’re trying to be cautious with your response, you need to try responding as soon as possible or within the next 24 hours. Some of these messages might require urgent responses. You can turn the notifications on so you will at least read the content and decide when to respond.
Once you went through the content, it’s time to hit send. Don’t forget to say thank you at the end of the mail and sign it with your name and position. You can also use other kind words to express your gratitude or sincerity towards the person you’re talking to. Even when the content is quite tense, you still need to maintain a level of politeness.
Photo Attribution:
Featured and 1st image from https://unsplash.com/photos/5ZnS3wK6sUg
2nd image from https://www.forbes.com/sites/dailymuse/2016/10/13/how-to-respond-to-every-email-within-24-hours-even-when-you-dont-have-an-answer/
