5 Email Mistakes that Could Threaten Your Business

Five minutes, five months or even five days before receiving that harsh email from a boss or wealthy client with a very cold subject title “You are fired”, or “Not Interested”, you had been given the opportunity to take that one decision that would eventually lead to a devastating outcome for your business/career. It could have been one email or maybe a series of emails but in today’s business world where everything seems to be moving at an accelerated pace, the power of email communication is becoming more frighteningly magnified.

Email is used for all business communication purposes and as a result, it is important to get it right so as to keep that good job or maintain that impressive list of wealthy clients.

So what are those rules and netiquettes governing the use of email for business communications purposes?

A lot!  

SENDING AN EPISTLE - There's nothing worse for a colleague, boss or a business client than receiving an email from you that looks like a hymnal meditation on all the saintly galaxies of the stars as seen through the eyes of the blind. Though, it is understandable that some emails may be long based on the required type of information to be disbursed, a standard email should be brief, clear, concise, correct, coherent & courteous. It should be in readable size keeping in mind that the recipient may have other tasks they need to get back to and the shorter your mail, the more likely they get to read all the content before sending straight to the archive box. And except the recipient is an author proofreading your recently completed work of fiction, keep the email very concise where official information is concerned, well, except it is a wage reduction email alert. If however, the intended information needs to be detailed out which should not be in all cases, you can consider introducing each thought in another paragraph to hold the attention of your recipient step by step. Lumping up thoughts and information will no doubt ensure you hear their bored snores from your office. So, remember to keep it short and simple so it is not confused for some multiple questions examination.

LACKING IMITATION SKILLS– When sending out an email from a professional correspondence, it is very important to understand  and mimic the work attitude & culture of your recipient or the format of all mails received from them. If you have a boss that sends a mail to you like “Hey Dave, why don’t you come on over and let’s hash out those pending budget forecast”, you can certainly respond with “Hi Femi, I’d most certainly be right down in a minute”. If however you have a colleague or boss that sends mails formatted like a presidential speech or one that is meant for ears of the Queen of England -"Dear Manuel, may we have a look at the presentation slides for tomorrow’s board meeting. Kindly bring to the board room if you please", then certainly responding with “Yo Natalie, hold up and I’d be right down with the deal, aiit” will move you down their respect ladder. And when it comes to the content of the mail, it is important that you follow the pace & tune of your recipient. If you are responding to a mail that asked, “May I understand why sales happen to be low this afternoon”, it is important to keep your responses as short so this may not be the best time to explain it was as a result of the head of sales pulling out 20 team members from the work saga which occurred 4 weeks ago. Consider responding with a concise statement such as- “This may be as a result of low staff turnover for today due to the bad weather. However, I suspect this may also be as a result of the system upgrade currently in process”. If the recipient now sends a mail asking you to “explain”, you may then go ahead and compete with the lengthy verse of Alexander Pope’s Rape of the Lock.

Misunderstanding your Recipient: Miscommunication can easily occur because of cultural differences, especially when writing as body languages cannot be read. And in the current global economy where work diversity and inclusion means several workers from different cultures now work closely together, it is important they take time to understand mannerisms and work attitudes to create a great work culture. When you receive a mail, it is perfectly okay to read repeatedly until you get the message. It is a standing joke among my colleagues that when we receive a mail from above, we usually share among ourselves asking one another what they think the message meant. It could be a one liner but we could take several minutes debating on the clarity and if there were any hidden meanings. Tailor your message depending on the receiver's cultural background or how well you know them and their behavioral patterns. Some recipients want immediate responses to any mail sent. Even if you don’t have the answer, simply acknowledge the mail and promise to get back to them. You should understand what your recipient wants and how he/she responds to mails and once you have a good idea what your recipient expects from you, sending mails that’d get & hold the person’s attention will help in getting you through.

Icy Email Alert: Have you ever received a message from a colleague or boss that makes you think of the “world war zombies” or "robocop"? You must find ways to be personable in your mails without sounding like a crush longing for his/her colleague/boss' affection. Leave your humane signature in every email you send out. Let colleagues, bosses or business partners be able to identify your mails even without seeing your name or email address. It could be in the way you use “please” after every request or “kindly” after every task assigned or “thank you” after every request has been fulfilled. Simply show your own humanity and learn to personalize once in a while. Don't get too personal however -"I hope this hot season doesn't make you all sweaty and dripping" just sounds weird & off the beat. If you however receive an email in which your correspondent steps into more personal territory asking after your family or your health, you can take it as a friendly cue and make sure to respond personally but succinctly.

Not Proofreading like Your Life Depends on It: I judge people based on spelling errors. And be rest assured that every email you send to your bosses, colleagues or clients is being proofread even while digesting the information. Reason? The human mind is prone to identifying errors and loopholes. Hence be assured that your mistakes won't go unnoticed by the recipients of your email. Try not to rely on spell checkers and if in doubt, simply leave it out or type the word on Google and it will bring out the correct spelling. Never write a colleague/boss/client's name in small letters nor the names of their companies in small caps.It not only suggests rudeness in some culture, it shows the sender is tacky and not respectful.(I know my Chinese colleagues may take it personal having their names written in small tiny letters) Read and re-read your email a few times like it’s an exam. While working closely with a great boss, I ensure that I proofread my emails religiously and even seek the opinion of other colleagues whether there is a word out of place. It never mattered whether it was a one liner. With him, making spelling or grammar mistakes would have earned me a sarcastic comeback. Everyone in the organisation also knew that. With him, your mails must be devoid of errors, ambiguous meanings and most importantly, very concise. To be certain it is devoid of ambiguity, you can consider reading out aloud to be fully certain. Only then can you hit send.

In my next blog post, I’d be sharing useful communication tips on successful public speaking.