Email is used for various reasons and business communication is one of them. You’ve decided to write an email to your client but don’t know where to start without sounding unprofessional or wondering about your company’s motives. Writing a professional email is not as difficult as it sounds, but there are a few simple steps to make sure your email is successful.
A professional email needs to be short and to the point. The best way is to start your message with a personalized greeting and end with a genuine thank you note. Make sure to include specific and informative call-to-action so that the recipient knows what are the next steps.
This article will help you write a professional email in a 5-step-guide for personal or business purposes.
Things to Consider before Writing an Email
While a professional email should fulfil its intent, there are few other things to consider before you start writing an email.
Identify Intent
Analyse the real purpose of your email and anticipate what the recipient will do after reading it. After you identify your goal, make sure you deliver a concise message that will help the recipient take actions.
Target Audience
After you identify the intent of your email, the next step is to make sure it reaches the targeted audience. For a business email, always keep it formal and treat the recipient with respect. Don’t rush into stating your message but rather take a slow start.
Make it Brief
Make sure to not leave out any key information while writing a professional email and keep it brief as far as possible. Avoid unwanted and irrelevant information and use simple words and sentences. Last thing you want to do is make it challenging for the recipient to read.
Proofread your Email
Always recheck your email for errors, grammatical mistakes, and proper etiquettes before sending out. An error-free email fulfils its goal and manages to deliver what it was written for. For an important business email, you can ask your superior to double-check before you send it out.
Five Steps for Writing a Formal Email
Follow this five-step pattern while writing a professional email that fulfils its purpose.
1. State the Subject
Subject is a short phrase that summarizes the reason behind your email. A proper subject is necessary while sending a professional email so the recipient gets the first glance of what your email is about. Statistics say, an email with the proper subject gets more read than without one.
An example of stating a subject can be “Updated Review of a New Gmail Feature”.
2. Open with a Greeting
Remember when our parents said to greet everyone with respect? Always open your email with a respectful greeting like “Dear Prithvi”. If it’s a friendly email, you can just greet them as “Hi Prithvi”. For a business email, the formal greeting is important like “Dear Mr. Prithvi”. If you don’t know the name of the person you are sending the email to or the head of department, a formal way to start your greeting would be “Dear Sir/mam” or “To Whom It May Concern” or “To the Head of Department”.
3. Body of Your Email
The body of your email should state the purpose behind it in a brief manner. Write your whole message in this part and create different paragraphs if needed. Start your body with “I received your request….” Or “Thank you for showing interest in our …”.
For a more professional first-time email, start with a “I am Prithvi from…” or “This is Prithvi from…”. Make sure you state your purpose right early in the email. Don’t make it over lengthy trying to prove your point. Pay attention to your grammar and punctuation mistakes to maintain your company reputation.
5. Add Closing Remarks
Add a polite closing remark at the end of your email that can emphasize any requests you made in your email body.
An example would be – “Thank you for your time and patience” or “Let me know if you have any questions”. A more professional email might include “I look forward to hearing from you”.
6. Closing and Signature
A closing signature is the last step in your email. Write an appropriate closing signature with your name and other information as required. Few professional closing statements are “Best Regards”, “Sincerely”, “Yours Truly”. Closings like “Best Wishes” or “Cheers” are appropriate for friendly emails but avoid in a business email.
Read: How to Add a Signature in Gmail?
An example of a closing signature:
“Best Regards
Prithvi Pant
Product Manager
Boxysuite, LLC”
An Example of a Professional Email
Here’s an outline of a professional email:
Subject: Ad Partnership with Adzdata
Hello Adzdata Team,
This is Prithvi from XYZ Publishers reaching out for a possible business relationship with Adzdata. LLC. XYZ Publishers is a native ad serving company based in California, USA with ads served in more than 1000 websites worldwide. In our proud list of clients, we have worked with Google, Apple and Yahoo.
After an initial analysis of your website, we found our ads can serve you better with an increased CPC and revenue at lesser management cost.
Please let us know if you are interested and we can set up some time to discuss it further. I look forward to hearing from you.
Best Regards,
Prithvi Pant
Marketing Manager
XYZ Publishers, LLC
We hope this helped you write a professional email for your personal or business purposes. Stay tuned for more email guides!
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