In today’s world, formal etiquette has relaxed considerably. For example, did you know that it used to be considered poor manners to place a ketchup bottle on the table or mention a gift registry on an invitation? Today, we have to be concerned with netiquette-the use of manners online, in emails and in texting-than with etiquette. How do you measure up when it comes to email manners? Inc.com gathered a veritable Who’s Who of business etiquette experts asked them for their top tips. Click here to read all 25 suggestions, or just skim a few of my favorites below:
Use exclamation points sparingly. The maximum number of exclamation points in a business e-mail? One. Otherwise, you risk looking childish and unprofessional.
Avoid using shortcuts to real words, emoticons, jargon, or slang. Words from grown, business people using shortcuts such as “4 u” (instead of “for you”), “LOL” in business-related e-mail is not acceptable. If you wouldn’t put a smiley face or emoticon on your business correspondence, you shouldn’t put it in an e-mail message. Any of the above has the potential to make you look less than professional.
Don’t get mistaken for Spam. Avoid subject lines that are in all caps, all lower case, and those that include URLs and exclamation points – which tend to look like Spam to the recipient. shouldn’t put it in an e-mail message. Any of the above has the potential to make you look less than professional.
Always include a signature. You never want someone to have to look up how to get in touch with you. If you’re social media savvy, include all of your social media information in your signature as well. Your e-mail signature is a great way to let people know more about you, especially when your e-mail address is does not include your full name or company.
Only use an auto-responder when necessary. An automatic response that says, “Thank you for your e-mail message. I will respond to you as soon as I can” is useless. However, one thing these messages do great is alert spammers that your e-mail is real and that they can add you to their spam list.
Refrain from sending one-liners. “Thanks,” and “Oh, OK” do not advance the conversation in any way. Feel free to put “No Reply Necessary” at the top of the e-mail when you don’t anticipate a response.
I confess- I’ve been guilty of a few of these email etiquette rules, but I also put ketchup on my French fries!
