April 24, 2008

Business E-Mail – Make sure that your writing is professional and to the point

If you want your e-mail to be read, get to the point right away. Write It Well, the business writing experts, conducted a survey which proves thatwhen the message isn’t clear and professinal,busy readers might skip or delete your e-mail without reading it.

People expect business e-mail to be written professionally. Seventy-two percent of those surveyed said that it is important to write clear, professional e-mail. In fact, 88 percent reported that e-mail with typos or mistakes in grammar, punctuation, or spelling leaves a poor impression of the writer – and the writer’s organization.

If a business e-mail is not clear, there is a good chance that it won’t be read. More than 85 percent of respondents reported that they are likely to skip over or delete a message without reading it if the main point isn’t clear right at the beginning.

If the subject line is not clear, recipients might not open the message. Fifty-three percent of the respondents said they usually skip over or delete messages from people they do not know if the subject line is too vague.

For tips and tools for improving your e-mail writing skills, read Write It Well’s book about business e-mail