Business Email Format

By Batul Nafisa Baxamusa
Taken from : http://www.buzzle.com/articles/business-email-format.html

The business email format is similar to the business memo and therefore, it won't be difficult to understand the basic rules. It is very important to follow a correct format of a business email, as it directly describes your personality. In case you write business email in a haphazard way, the reader will understand that you lack proper email etiquette. In order to reflect professionalism in your personality, you need to sharpen your skills.

The business email is a very important piece of communication and needs some formatting elements similar to a business letter. Let us see some business letter writing tips for an email.

Format of a Business Email

When writing the subject, it is important to use a shorter title in the email subject line. The title should aptly describe the content and the aim of your email. You should not unnecessarily state the email as urgent or high priority as the reader may not pay immediate attention the next time it really is a priority letter.

When you begin to type the body of the letter, it is not necessary to begin with a heading like return address, the readers address and the date. The business email format should be simple with left margin. Do not use special formatting and tabs unnecessarily. The tone of the letter should be kept formal and see that you use proper grammar and run spell check.

The letter should be brief and to the point. The letter should be at least less than 80 characters. Also, do not attach attachments until and unless expected by the recipient. If you do not know the person, you should address the recipient as Dear Production Manager:. For formal emails, one should use a colon, after the salutation. There should be no space before the colon and one space to be given after it. In case of British English, you can use a comma (,) instead of the colon (:) used in American English. Use the correct name of the person, if you know him/her. In case you are addressing a client, you can use To Whom it May Concern: or the usual Dear Sir or Madam:. If using just Dear as the salutation, there is no need to type a colon or comma after it.

Next comes the body of the letter. Make sure you write the 'what, who, when, where, why and how much' in less than 80 words. Do not keep fill the email with unnecessary details. People do not have time to read a long story and find the actual purpose of the business email received. Once you complete the body, you need to end the letter.

Choose the correct closing statement. You can write Sincerely, in case you don't know the person or write Yours truly, if you know the person well, like your boss. Type the closing salutation after the body, skipping one line. This means, you need to add one enter before typing the salutation. Make sure you do not miss the comma after the salutation. Then, in the next line type your full name. Do not add any punctuation after the name and on the next line give details about yourself. This means Director, Department of Botany, Alexis University. You could follow this with your address, telephone number, fax number, email address as well as link of any website related to your company or you. Let us now see a simple business letter template.

 

Business Email Template

Formatting a Business Email

Subject: ___________ Dear Sir, Reference to your _______ dated ______ regarding ____, I would like to intimate that ___________. You will soon receive a detailed hard copy regarding the same. For any further queries, please feel free to contact me on my email address or phone number xxx-xxxx. Thanks and best regards, Sender information Sender Designation Company Name Contact number PS: This is a computer generated message and thus bears no signatures.

 

Business Email Examples

Before we have a look at the correct format, let us have a look at an email that you should completely AVOID when writing a business email letter. This will give you an idea in differentiating between an excepted and correct business email letter and an unprofessional letter.
 

Example of a Bad Business Email

Subject: Some points to discuss Hey people, We were thinking of changing a few things around the office. These things have bothered most of us and the management thinks it is time we take notice of these aspects. I know that we are all real busy but we should speak about these points in our next meeting. Also, many have not yet submitted the reports and the deadline is coming up in the next couple of days. So, make sure we all concentrate. Thanks, Benny Markson.

The above example is totally unprofessional and unexpected form of formal conversation. Although, you may have an informal atmosphere at your workplace, but when it comes to official written communication, one should follow certain rules. The above mail could have been better, if written in the following way:

Example of a Good Business Email

Subject: Discussion related to management policy and reminder for deadline due. Dear Staff, It has come to the notice of the management, there are certain policies that are not expectable by most of the employees. These policies are bothering most of the employees and this is affecting their general performance. Although, most of us have a busy schedule, we shall bring up the policy plans during our next weekly meeting. It has also been found, the project is nearing its deadline and many have not yet completed their tasks at hand. Your problems and queries will be addressed in the next meeting as stated above. Thus, it will be better if we start concentrating on our project and give no opportunity to the client to complain. The management has full trust on its employees and we hope you will not disappoint us. Thanks, Benny Markson HR Manager Jackson Consultants

The above example is a correct way of addressing your employees. Apart from the above example, another sample of business email is discussed below:

Business Email Sample

To: "Anna Jones" <annajones@buzzle.com> Cc: All Staff From: "James Brown" jamesbrown@abcd.com Subject: Welcome to our Hive! Dear Anna, Welcome to our Hive! It is a pleasure to welcome you to the team of ___________. We are excited to have you join our team, and we hope that you will enjoy working with our company. On the last Saturday of each month we hold a special staff party to welcome any new employees. Please be sure to come next week to meet all of our senior staff and any other new staff members who have joined ___________ this month. You will receive an e-mail regarding the same with further details. If you have any questions during your training period, please do not hesitate to contact me. You can reach me at my email address or on my office line at 000-0001. Warm regards, James Jackie Brown, Manager, Staff jamesbrown@abcd.com Tel: 000-0001

This was some information related to business email format that will help you draft business emails. Make sure the email is short and to the point. Leave out the smileys and fancy formatting as it does not suit a business email. I hope the letter writing tips related to a business email are useful to you.