Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Email like a Pro



So much of what we do in our personal and professional lives is via email. When I am at work I would much rather handle something via email rather than over the phone. Not only does it leave a paper trail, but it also gives you time to work on your other tasks rather than just one at a time. Since most of my work is done via email I have seen a lot of issues dealing with office emails.

Here are some tips to get you emailing in the office like a professional.

1.) Email Address
Your Luvrgirl@yahoo.com email will no longer be acceptable. But hopefully with graduating high school or college you have already created a more professional email address. Most companies will provide you with an email address, but if they don't you will need to make sure you have a separate email for work. 

2.) Set Up a Signature
Always make sure you have a signature line on your emails. Not only will this let them know who they are dealing with other than just a first and last name but it will give them ways to contact you other than by email. Most people forget to also set up a signature line from your phone as well.
Below is a sample of my signature - my signature has clickable links for people to visit our Facebook Page, our Better Business Bureau site, a site where people can donate to a hike (it will become available at a later date) and a link to my cousins Warriors for Wells facebook page - our company is a donating sponsor for them.



3.) Short & Sweet
No one ever wants to read a long dragging on email. Half the time I don't even read all the short ones. So be sure to make your emails short and to the point.

4.) Reply-All
There have been many times when I hit "Reply-All" and really should not have. Be aware of times when you need to reply to all or you just need to respond to one person in the email.

5.) Paper Trail
As I mentioned before, communicating via email leaves a paper trail. This can be a good thing and a bad thing. Be aware that the person you are communicating with has the ability to forward you email to anyone he or she pleases and the top of your company can get into your email and read your emails (if it is an email address provided by your company).


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12 comments :

Anonymous said...

LMAO Luvrgirl! So true. I had to make a new email specifically for my blog! I didn't want my blogger peeps emailing my school account. Great post, Ash!

Joey Hodges said...

Oh gosh, so you mean my joeygirl111 email isn't going to cut it anymore? (I'm totally kidding, I ditched that one when i got into HS :)) Love this--and definitely second the "short and sweet." No one has time for lengthy emails!

Bethany Magnie said...

I miss sending work e-mais! But all of these tips could also be applied to blogging e-mails as well I guess!

Cathi said...

Excellent post! Thanks for the great information, mine could use some tweaking!

Marielle said...

Yes, the dreaded "reply all." Working at a large corporate company, I learned that it only takes one accidental "reply all" to learn to never do it again! haha.

Justine Y @ Little Dove said...

These are great tips Ashley. I have an email signature, but I've been meaning to update it a bit, gotta get on that.
And yes to being aware of "reply all", such a pet peeve of mine! Seems to happen a lot when people are emailing from their smartphones and not desktops.

Jessica said...

haha those awesome emails from middle school.. I wish I still knew my logins. Great post!!

Chardae said...

Good points. My pet peeve is when people have a mile long signature with 30 different quotes.

Christina Lea Loves said...

Great tips! The reply all has gotten me too now I always overly check!

Unknown said...

Hi Ashley,
These are great tips! I especially liked the last one. So many people learn the hard way that you should never put anything into an email that you wouldn't want everyone reading. My good friend tells a funny story about her email problem (of course it wasn't humorous to her at the time). She was emailing back and forth with her boyfriend about pies (yes, really). She had just made one that they both enjoyed and it was "love" so you get the picture. Anyway, there was a horrible email system snafu, and the email went to the entire company of 60,000 people. Not so good for her or her pies.

Anyway, thanks again for the great tips.

Carol

amanda @ as the wine cork turns said...

ha lurvegirl@hotmail - oh gosh. this makes me cringe!! and yes, kudos about the reply all tip!

Unknown said...

You have to be careful with how you email - any potential instances in which you don't sound professional could cost you a lucrative opportunity!