Business Email Etiquette

Every day I get inquiries about the appropriateness of e-mailing other onliners about commercial ventures, new businesses or “information I know they can use.”

Whenever this question is asked it is because the person making the inquiry has an inkling that they shouldn’t but want to see if there is an excuse or a reason to override what they pretty much know is not a good idea.  So today I thought I would cover here for you some of the questions I get asked repeatedly.

Can you e-mail someone you don’t know whose e-mail address was included with yours and a whole bunch of others in the To: field of a forwarded e-mail? I have some information about my company I know they can use.” Nope, spam!

Just because you have a contact in common, doesn’t mean you have the right to e-mail everyone they know. Because the knucklehead who forwarded the e-mail didn’t use the BCc: field for their list of contacts thereby displaying everyone’s e-mail address publicly to strangers, does not give you tacit permission to e-mail those whose addresses you are now aware of. You don’t know them and they don’t know you.

No matter how important you think your information, product or services are, you don’t e-mail others about them unless they specifically gave you their e-mail address and asked you to.

Can you e-mail business associates you’ve known over the years about your new business?” Nope, spam!

That would be taking a liberty with the e-mail addresses of those associates — and hope they appreciate you doing so.   Of course it would depend on how close or in touch you’ve kept with these contacts.  If you haven’t communicated with them in over a year — there is no relationship to update.

Did they provide their e-mail address because they wanted to know about your new business? If not, don’t spam them. Why not send an old-fashioned snail-mail letter on your new nifty letterhead and include a business card with the introduction? Certain business practices will never go out of style and taking this approach will set your new business apart from the majority taking the easy route and e-mailing unasked for “FYI” e-mails.

Can you e-mail addresses found publicly listed on business sites about your commercial venture?” Nope, spam!

If an e-mail address is listed on someone’s business Web site that doesn’t mean they want to be sold to or hear from anyone who feels they have a service or product to offer. You’re still spamming them — because they didn’t ask for your information.  Instead, use their contact form to ask if they would be interested and to whom specifically you can direct additional details to.

Don’t use their server resources and include your whole sales pitch in the form.   Short, sweet and ask if they are interested and would like to know more.  I can tell you from experience this is an approach that will be appreciated and given more consideration than the copy-n-paste Web site form spammers.   If you don’t hear back, you have your answer.

The fact remains that unasked for e-mail is spam.  If an onliner did not directly provide their e-mail address to you to know about your commercial venture, you don’t e-mail them. There are all kinds of nifty and creative marketing tactics one can use to get their business exposure and to make announcements that lend to your credibility and garner attention.

If your authenticity and legitimacy are important to you, e-mailing those who didn’t specifically ask for your commercial pitch isn’t one of them.

I am probably more organized than most when it comes to my e-mail.  I have to be due to the shear volume of requests that I get and services I am subscribed to.  What I have found is that many I work with are in fact stressed out at work in of itself, then that stress is compounded by the volume of e-mail they have to deal with.

What some do is ignore e-mails and requests to their detriment.  Others whip off less than stellar responses just for the sake of responding. While others delete e-mails they don’t want to deal with and claim “I never received it.”

I read an article today that discussed dealing with work related stress — by reducing e-mail time.  Even commenting on how some improperly cut corners “The written word is also a reflection of you, and when in business you want your emails to be a proper reflection of you and your talents.”  That means you have to take the time, make the time, to e-mail properly and professionally regardless of how stressed you may be.

Folks comment on how when they call me on the phone I am always “so darn cheery.”  I’ll share a little secret with you — I’m not always that darn cheery!  But when I pick up my business phone, that’s what you get without a clue otherwise. The same goes for every e-mail I send and the same should apply to your e-mail habits.  Regardless of what is going on, how pressed for time you are, or what else may be going on that is having an effect on your day — you should be nothing but helpful, courteous and professional in every business e-mail you sign you name to.

Give the article a read and see if you agree: A Tip To Reduce Stress: Reduce Email Time. Then, to find ways to reduce your e-mail time — get organized! Check out my article 10 E-mail Organization Tips.

Daily e-mails pour in about what to do in regard to situations involving work related e-mail. Many times these problems could have been avoided if folks just used some common sense and discretion in how they chose to use their employer’s resources.

When at work and using your employer’s resources — which includes computers, online connections and of course e-mail — business is business.  The level of attention, professionalism and ethics you choose to apply is not up to you to determine or ration out.  Your employer should be able to expect they have 100% of your attention and 100% of your efforts in regard to conducting yourself as a professional with the highest of ethical standards — that’s what you are being paid for.  Business is business.

A good general rule of thumb is to not put anything in a business e-mail that you wouldn’t feel comfortable putting on company letterhead. This includes your choice of formatting, formality and verbiage.   What you forward and to whom needs to be carefully thought out as well.  No chain letters, jokes, non-business related Web sites — business is business

Discretion also comes into play when e-mailing with those in your office or company — you still should watch your P’s and Q’s. Stay away from being an eTattler, gossip and personal commentary best left for after hours, off location discussions.  Business is business.

To that advice some have responded that if their employer doesn’t have an e-mail policy in place “anything goes.” Believe that and you will be the first to go!

When at work, respect your employer’s resources. Only use your company e-mail for business purposes and only use your personal e-mail when on your own time. Think before you type, think again before you send. You are a representative of your company and you need to make a professional polished impression with each and every e-mail you send.

For the basics, check out my very popular article: Business E-mail Etiquette Basics.

Yes, you can make money by integrating business e-mail etiquette skills into your day to day activities. Many who follow my writings, know this to be true so forgive me if you feel as though I am preaching to the choir.

Today, I am specifically writing to those of you just discovering that there are considerations, information to embraced and skills you need to hone when it comes to your daily business communications. I know for a fact that there still is a healthy portion of business onliners who do not realize, do not want to embrace and disregard the importance of the issues we discuss here. That fact puzzles me because it really takes no more effort or time to integrate business e-mail best practices.

If you think about it business is all about competition. Now that e-mail has become a business staple — your e-mail is a competitive tool and one that when used properly can and will give you a competitive edge over others who are anemic in these areas or make the mistake of disregarding the importance of communicating with e-mail properly.

By communicating as an educated professional who is tech savvy enough to understand the power and proper use of the tools available to them, this increases your chance to gain more customers, solidify partnerships, grow networks, create new opportunities, make new contacts — make $$$!

If you communicate like a grade schooler, if you don’t include basic simple non time consuming courtesies in your business e-mails — what if your perceived competitors do? Yes, perceived. See, your e-mail gives the other side that may not know you very well, who may be considering if they do business with you over someone else,  a window into what it will be like to do business with you. Will your communications add clarity and efficiency to the relationship? Or will they cause more work and confusion?

Remember, people do business with people. They prefer to do business with people they like and that in some way make their life easier and that they know are reliable, knowledgeable and professional. To think you need not integrate the basics of proper e-mail habits into your business strategy is risky at best.

So why would anyone be so resistant to learning and applying the skills necessary to thrive online?

Is it because we are too busy thinking of ourselves that we forget to integrate a simple greeting and cordial closing? Are we too preoccupied with our end game that we don’t take the time to reread our e-mail to ensure the tone and formality is appropriate?  Do we think we are so smart that it isn’t necessary to check for grammar and spelling errors before clicking send? Or is it simply that we are so narcissistic that we just want to do what we want to do and we’ll send those 20M attachments without notice over the weekend because that is convenient for us — and we won’t be told otherwise?

Regardless of your reasons for ignoring, minimizing or trivializing all the things I talk about here on this Blog and on my other sites, when it comes to Business E-mail Etiquette, if you take away anything from all my ramblings, know your competitors thank you for your lack of attention to these details.