Business Writing Etiquette: Top Three Errors

(Issue 30: July, 2010) by Mary Cullen

Courtesy is small act, but it packs a mighty wallop.
                                                                ~Unknown

When talking about tone in business writing courses, clients have lately become very upset, sharing incidents of sarcasm, disrespect, and snarky tone in business communication. For the past month, I've asked clients to vote for their top three rude business writing practices that make them disconnect from a writer. The "winners" are:

1. Correcting an error in an email to a group in a way that feels smug, which embarrasses the sender.
   
   
2. Responses that are snarky and authoritarian, with a disrespectful tone.
   
   
3. The email response, "????"

I fully expected the first two items to make the list, as they are surprisingly common. I haven't seen many occurrences of the dreaded "????" email response. When I asked for confidential examples, they all moved downward in an organization, from manager to employee. None moved laterally or upward in the organization.

EXAMPLES

If time allows, notify the sender of an email that there is an error, and allow him or her to make the correction. Only if time is of the essence, or the sender refuses to make the correction, should you jump in and correct the sender publicly to the work group. Correcting an Incorrect Email explains this in more depth. Business relationships matter more than proving ourselves right.

I was a bit annoyed with the tone of a comment posted today on our blog article, Is Plural Form Blackberrys or Blackberries. The comment was simply, "Wrong," followed by a link that was not in context with the grammar question, but which did provide tangential information. If the comment had included some context, and more polite phrasing, it would have helped readers. Instead, it failed because, well, it was just so blunt and smug it was rude.

It's discourteous for a manager to reply, "???" to an email. It is very frustrating to receive an unclear email, but this response just echoes the muddled message. Worse, it adds an angry, dismissive tone.

SOLUTIONS

An Incorrect Email:

Denise, at yesterday's meeting, we agreed Dana would submit the status report during team vacations, not Shahid. Please send a correction to your "Report Submission During Vacation" message sent to the team this morning.

Thanks,
Kara

A Polite Comment, Avoiding Rude Tone:

According to this site, trademark requirements require the term "Blackberry Smartphone." This means plural use must be "Blackberry Smartphones."

Responding to an Unclear Email:

Jason,
I don't understand your question. Do you need my input on the data conflicts or your resolution? Please clarify.
Michael

Note: If you receive several unclear messages from an employee, you should discuss this and clarify expectations. This requires a conversation, not an email, for best resolution.

Business relationships matter, and writing is where we all intersect. Courtesy smooths connection, ensuring information and business flows. Let's be thoughtful and kind to each other. It's just good business, in addition to being the right thing to do.

Any other business writing discourtesies that rankle you? You can comment below...

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Business Email Productivity Tip

(Issue 21: August, 2009) by Mary Cullen

Convoluted, lengthy, and rambling business emails are difficult to resolve and can drain far too much time from your workday.

This issue explains a simple, yet very effective, technique that is too often overlooked. It will redirect business emails that would otherwise resolve poorly and take too much of your time.

Time-draining email messages come in many forms:
    •    unclear
    •    rambling
    •    a rant
    •    too long
    •    convoluted string of appended messages
    •    repeated messages on the same topic
    •    inflamed or sarcastic tone

There is a simple response that will resolve all these issues. It will save your time. It will improve communication. It will improve business. It will stop the email madness.

Simply respond, "Let's discuss over the phone. What is your number and when is a good time to call?"

Email has become the default communication vehicle in business, but oftentimes, it is not the best tool.

Don't be hesitant to shift a discussion away from email to a live conversation if a conversation will clarify an issue better. 

Complex decisions are best discussed outside the inbox. And, it will reduce misunderstandings about sensitive subjects.

 

Learn More in This Course: Email Essentials: Productivity and Impact

Grammar Error: Hunt and Correct

This paragraph contains an error. Find and correct it:
 
Dana and Robert have done an outstanding job promoting our new product. Their market research was thorough. Promotions were well targeted. With these two experienced managers guiding this product launch, we should of expected it would succeed. Congratulations and thanks, Dana and Robert!
 
The answer is here.

 

 

Business Email Productivity Tips

(Issue 14: January, 2009) by Mary Cullen

 

Is your email box exploding?

 

Let's create some more time in this new year for other work, and streamline your business email management.

Step One: Check email only as frequently as your job and work culture demands:

For example, if you run a technology help desk, you need to check email very frequently. If you are a technical writer, you are far less likely to receive urgent messages. Checking email is disruptive; let your work plan drive your day, not email.

Make a conscious decision about how often to check your messages, and have planned time set aside to read/respond/write email. Don't peck away at it randomly throughout the day or it will take over; plan your engagement.

Step Two: Watch what gets to your inbox:

• Use filters or rules to auto-redirect newsletters, daily quotes, stock notifications, church bulletins, company updates, etc. to appropriate folders. Read these messages during time you've previously set aside for this. Don't let them interrupt your work flow and sway your focus.
• Unsubscribe from any newsletters, team lists or marketing messages you no longer read. Mark them as junk if there is no unsubscribe link.

Step Three: The two minute rule. Keep your inbox uncluttered:

If you can respond to an email in less than two minutes, respond to it and move it out. If you cannot, don't let it linger in your inbox. Drag or label emails that require more than a quick response to:

1. Action - those messages that you need to take action upon.
2. Follow up - those messages that you are monitoring for resolution, or you want to save while the activity is moving, or something to check back on later. (These are the messages that most frequently clog up your inbox, enervating you each time you check email.) If necessary, place a reminder of issues in your "to-do" list.
3. Reply - those messages that require a response from you, but which take more than two minutes to write.

Or, file it in a topic folder if it needs no response, but needs to be saved.

Use your planned, allocated email time to address the messages you moved to Action, Follow Up or Reply. You plan the time; don't let the email onslaught drive it. You manage email.

Be a Good Email Citizen yourself:

Choose your recipients wisely:

• Only place recipients in the "To" line who need to take specific action on your email.
• Think carefully if a recipient should be notified in the cc line, and expect that this means no response is necessary as this is used for notification only.
• Use "reply to all" very sparingly. Before you click "send," check your recipient list for accuracy and appropriateness.
  

Be polite:

• Change the subject line of a forwarded message, if necessary.
• Summarize a long string of messages before forwarding.
• If an attachment is included, refer your reader to the location in the document that is relevant. For example, "You will find the demo chart on page six of this attached document."
• Be thoughtful of large attachments, especially since so many recipients now receive email on their mobile devices.

Business Grammar Error Hunt: Find and Correct

This one paragraph contains an error. Find and correct it!
 
The authors will be holding a discussion about registration, to better give instruction to the participants who have to make a choice between which sessions to attend.
 
The answer is here.

 

 

Email Signatures Tips

(Issue 13: December, 2008) by Mary Cullen

Email signatures may be the best-kept secret in the marketing world, but new research shows few companies take advantage of an advertising feature that can reach many thousands of potential customers who are especially valuable since they have already expressed an interest in your product or services.

The advantages of email signatures:

* They offer opportunity for a targeted response to an inquiry
* They are free
* They are easily customized
* They are part of an expected response, so far less likely to be tuned out

Elon University professor Earl Honeycutt and Virginia Tech professor Vince Magnini researched the way global businesses, especially hotels, use sig files (email signatures) to communicate the amenities of their properties. They sent 1200 emails to various hotels requesting information on food services and facilities. Only generic signatures, or none, were appended to the email responses they received.

Their research findings will be published in the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly this winter in the article, "Sig Files: A Means to Strategically Enhance a Brand's Position."

Lessons from this study:

1) Target your email signatures to your audience:

Do not use a generic signature that reflects your interest. Make sure it reflects the reader's interest and particular query. For example, a response to a golf vacation inquiry should include an email signature that reflects golf amenities, not bridal services. Make sure the links lead to the appropriate area of your website (not the home page), where the reader will find more relevant information, such as photos of the golf course, course information, and easy call-to-action information to purchase - in this case, a reservation form.

 BEST PRACTICE TIP:

1) Create 10 or so signatures that cover most of your services. Make sure each links to relevant information and an opportunity to buy. With these created, it's quick and simple to match and append the appropriate signature to the inquiry.

2) Keep content relevant and current:

Read and understand the message being received from the client. Honeycutt says one of the worst things a business can do is to send back a message with an email signature that is unrelated to the initial email of the potential client. While conducting their research, Honeycutt said they received a few emails with signatures in a different language. "It's such a waste," he says. "They're missing a valuable opportunity to get a message back to the client."

3) Present the email message in the most accurate, professional way possible. No matter how strong an email signature is, it cannot compensate for a sloppy or inaccurate email message. Do not exaggerate statements made in email signatures.

4) Enact a policy or set of standards across a company so they consistently and accurately reflect the brand and message.

Earl Honeycutt is a professor of marketing and director of the Chandler Family Professional Sales Center in the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business at Elon University. He also serves as the 2008-2009 Distinguished Scholar at Elon, having been lauded for research that has earned peer commendation and respect and who has made significant contributions to his field of study.

Learn More in This Course: Email Essentials: Productivity and Impact

Business Writing Grammar Error: Hunt and Correct

This one paragraph contains an error. Find and correct it:

The partners will all be in agreement that we need to make a comparison of our vendors by next month.
 
The answer is here.

 

 

Business Email Conclusion Tips

(Issue 12: November, 2008) by Mary Cullen

In continuation of last month's issue addressing current economic challenges, let's look business writing techniques which promote business. One of the most overlooked opportunities is the conclusion. We want to leverage them - always.

 

Too often, business writers use a boiler-plate phrase to conclude a letter, memo or email. For example, "Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me." Blah, blah, blah. Of course, every business reader knows they can contact you with a question! There is no value added by this statement, it adds meaningless length, and worse, it does not drive the reader to action.
 
To increase business, put meaning into a conclusion. Write directly to your reader, and guide them specifically to the action you want.

Let's examine conclusions that would drive business for an insurance company, a CPA firm, a package shipping company and a property management firm, as examples:

If you work in sales for a freight transfer company, and are responding to a fare inquiry:

The fare to ship a 3 pound box from Atlanta to Duluth, with guaranteed overnight delivery, is $23. You can schedule pick up at your office on this website (provide link) or drop your package off at (provide address).

If you are a claims manager for an insurance company, and are responding to a coverage addition inquiry:

The premium to add flood insurance to your homeowner's policy is $100. To enact this very important insurance, sign the enclosed policy amendment where I have highlighted in yellow, and date the document. Mail this form to our office at (state address).

If you are a CPA firm, arranging a client meeting in preparation for an IRS audit:

We will meet three weeks ahead of your scheduled audit date, on November 19, 2008 at 2:00 pm in our conference room. Please be certain to bring your tax returns, with all schedules, for tax years 2005, 2006 and 2007 to this meeting.

If you are a Property Management Company, confirming contractor work:

Please see Susan Archady in the main office at 246 Downington Lane when you arrive. She is expecting you and has a key to all units. Susan will arrive at work by 8:00am.

Conclusions are a powerful opportunity to drive business, and so often are overlooked as a business opportunity.

Your readers are buried in information, so make certain you have included in your conclusion all of the action-eliciting information your reader needs to act. This is typically just an extra sentence or phrase, but it should enable your reader to move decisively to your business objective.

Business Writing Grammar Error: Hunt and Correct

This one paragraph contains an error. Find and correct it:

Stashed away in the bank vault for the past twenty years, the owner of the Certificate of Deposit has decided to auction it off.
 
The answer is here.

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