Ending Your Email

Usually, I don’t give a second thought to how I sign off on emails. They usually come easily to me based on the content of my email. But last week I was stumped! 

I was writing an email to a client requesting they follow up on an issue for me. My email was light enough but I got unstuck when it came to ending it. I needed a line that made it sound like I wasn’t hounding yet communicated that the issue required attention.

My bout of writer’s block had me consulting Google. During my search I came across a lot of articles about email signoffs and what’s acceptable and what people should steer clear of. I actually found it interesting and couldn’t stop reading!

So, I present to you the dos and don’ts of email sign offs.

The most common and professional sign offs

Most people use email as a work tool, so it goes without saying that the sign off needs to be professional. Here are the most commonly used professional email sign offs.

·      Kind Regards

·      All the best

·      Best

·      Best regards

·      Regards

·      With appreciation

·      Many thanks

·      Cheers (if you’re looking for a professional yet friendly tone)

·      Thank you for your assistance in this matter

·      I look forward to hearing from you

·      I look forward to working with you on this project

 

Email sign offs you should avoid

There are some sign offs that should be avoided especially if you are writing your email in a professional capacity. These include: 

·      Love (save it for family and friends!)

·      Thx or rgrds (you’re not texting!)

·      Yours truly

·      Have a blessed day

·      Xoxo

 

Other things people do at the end of their emails but probably shouldn’t

I’m sure, like myself you have probably received an email with a quote at the end. Whether it’s a movie quote, a philosophical quote or an inspirational quote, it can come across as a bit cheesy.

Another thing to potentially avoid is the use of emojis. Yes, they’re cute but unless you’re overly familiar with the person you’re emailing probably not a good idea.

The subject of email sign offs can go on for days. What are some of the best or worst that you’ve seen?

Does It Make What You're Saying More Important?

Tautology is saying the same thing twice. We don’t often realise we are doing it, but we commonly emphasise a word by adding another word with the same meaning either in front or after the word we are using. 

Common examples are:

  • Past history 

  • Near future

  • Completely finished

  • False illusion

  • New innovations

  • 8am in the morning

  • Foreign import

  • True facts

 If you pull the words apart, you see how the words are different yet say the same thing or that common sense says you don’t really need both words!

 

Example: 

Past history – history refers to the past and the past is history so there is no need to use both words. You could use either as: 

History tells us ….

OR 

In the past …

Tautology doesn’t make what we’re saying more important, we’re just using more words to say what we mean. By eliminating tautology, we can make our writing clear and concise.

Are they any examples of tautology that you commonly use?

 

Speak Our Language

Often we forget that we are not the target audience when it comes to what we communicate. While our target audience may require our services, we need to remember that we may be providing them with a service because they do not have the expertise to carry out the function that they hire us to provide. 

When we correspond with our clients we need to remember that we are possibly talking to a lay person when it comes to our field. I am guilty of making marketing and consumer behaviour references that my clients don’t understand. It’s great we know what we are talking about but if your client doesn't know A from B then we need to be mindful and give them the main points in easy to understand terms.

Don’t ever treat your client like an idiot but keep in mind that they may not know what an AB demographic is or what a HDMI cable is. They just need to know that you are developing a campaign targeted at white collar, high income earners or that there is a cable that will give you a great quality image on your TV.

Using easy to understand language can eliminate a multitude of problems down the track. How many times have you thought you were getting one thing but ended up with another simply because you didn’t understand what you were being told. 

So before talking to a client think about what you need to tell them and whether you are using technical terms or if you using terminology that is easy to understand.

Who or Whom?

The use of WHOM is considered a very formal word and is now generally replaced with WHO. WHO is the subjective form while WHOM is the objective form. 

Who (subjective: person doing the action) will mow the grass? 

Whom (objective: person receiving the action) did they pay to do the job? 

The use of WHOM in standard writing is limited to sentences where WHOM follows a proposition. 

The managers to whom you spoke are at the meeting.

Where there is no proposition WHOM can be deleted. 

The following sentence shows how it reads with whom included, then we have re-written the sentence to exclude whom. 

The workers whom the manager met are all going on strike.

The workers the manager met are all going on strike.

As you can see whom becomes unnecessary.

 

 

Are Syndicated Messages Worth the Time They Save?

It’s a given that most businesses are now promoted on social media. The more platforms you use the more time you need to update posts and keep your followers up to date with the goings on in your business. There are programs that make it easy to write one post and broadcast it across the various social networking mediums you use. These are called syndicated messages. This sounds business savvy and time efficient but is it the best move? 

Your followers want to know that you’re thinking of them when you post. Sometimes a syndicated message can in fact contribute to the loss of sincerity in your message. It can also give the impression that your post has been seen before and isn’t worth further investigation. You can promote the same message across different platforms but just change up the wording a little. You may find this will help with customer engagement and your audience will feel that you are personally communicating with them. It may take you a little longer to get the message out but the results will be well worth it.

 

The Importance of Proofreading

Proofreading a document you have written yourself in preparation for publishing seems like a simple task. Unfortunately when we proofread our own work, we often read what a document should say and not what it does say or we miss simple errors. By having a fresh set of eyes look over your work, the tiniest of errors is usually picked up. I often cringe at some of the errors I come across when reading correspondence for other businesses or even mainstream publications. Businesses like Absolute Marketing Communications offer proofreading services. If you don't have the resources to pay someone to proofread your work have someone who hasn't read your document give it a once over.

Does It Make What You’re Saying More Important?

Tautology is saying the same thing twice. We don’t often realise we are doing it but we commonly emphasise a word by adding another word with the same meaning either in front or after the word we are using. By eliminating tautology we can make our writing clear and concise.

Common examples are:

  • Past history
  • Completely finished
  • False illusion
  • New innovations
  • 8am in the morning
  • Foreign import
  • True facts