Email Etiquette
Some of you may see this title and think “Really? I know I handle email fine”, but you would be surprised at some of the emails I receive from other companies. Just as there is phone etiquette, there is also email etiquette, below are some tips to make sure you’re emails look professional to your clients and vendors!
Signature
Create email signature for you and your employees. Make it consistent with your brand and with your staff. Some items to include are : your name, company name, website, relevant phone numbers. Everyone’s signature should be formatted the same within your company, same font, same size, same arrangement. Keep it simple! The worst thing you can do is clutter your signature with every social media handle you have, your studio hours, pricing policies, etc.
Below is our studio manager’s email signature.
Grammar
I know it’s a pain! But use correct grammar, punctuation, capitalization, at least until you get to know your client. Once a client has booked us and we are comfortable with each other, I’ll let the caps and punctuation slide (as MAC mail doesn’t auto correct like Outlook does).
Referencing
If there is an issue with a client or vendor where you reference a previous email, don’t just say “see the email I sent last October”, attach the ACTUAL email. Why make your clients do extra work and get frustrated. This makes you look organized and reliable, and saves your clients from getting more frustrated.
Cc or Bcc?
If there are multiple clients on an email, I will always Bcc. I want each of our clients to feel as if they are our only client, so I never want them to be connected to each other or see all our other clients. However if I tell my client in email “Alissa will handle that for you”, I’ll Cc Alissa (our studio manager) on the email so now everyone is in sync, and the client can now work with Alissa without having to ask for her contact information.
In conclusion, emails count, there should be uniform etiquette across your company that is in line with your customer service and your brand.
For more tips on email etiquette here is a great article by Microsoft, enjoy! https://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook-help/12-tips-for-better-e-mail-etiquette-HA001205410.aspx
