Write More Effective Emails

Because email is the preferred medium to communicate with clients, prospects and just about everyone you interact with professionally, improving your ability to write more effective emails will contribute to more business, fewer problems and enhanced productivity.  How many times have you been at the receiving end of an email that left you scratching your head not sure what is required of you and the reason for the correspondence?  

Here are several keys to writing more effective emails.

• Determine "who is the email for"?  Who are you writing to?  What’s their style?  What information do they need to respond with?  How do they think?  To answer these questions, simply review emails you have received beforehand from the person you want to write to.

• What’s the goal? What’s the message you want to communicate and why should the recipient care?  What do you want the reader to do after the email has been read?

• Using the active voice makes your emails more powerful and shorter.  Here’s an example of don’t and do.
• Do - We just returned from the Kitchen & Industry Show and have identified, after a thorough tour of more than 800 exhibits, new products that we believe will help sell your house more quickly.  
• Don't - We just found great new products to improve and expedite your sales.  Want to see them?

• Pictures are worth thousands of words.  Use images, charts and graphics to make your points.

• Also, use examples because they show readers how to implement your suggestions.  If you want a builder to use a different product, explain why that product will deliver better returns than the product currently used and provide examples of the return on investment.

• If the message and/or recipient are important, write several drafts.  Eliminate unnecessary words.  Make sure the voice is active and that there is a call to action.