Every day, we routinely send many professional emails. The practice has become so commonplace that we hardly pay any attention to it, but there are nevertheless rules and customs that everyone respects. And if you don’t, it shows right away.
To see more clearly, Preply, a Ukrainian online language learning platform, conducted a survey of 1005 Americans. We consulted this survey, and here are the 4 main ideas that we retain.
Take care of the introduction
It can be seen right away that 46% of people questioned are able to determine the mood of their colleague from the greeting. Some formulas are particularly frowned upon.
This is the case for people who put the first name of their interlocutor followed by “:”. This shows a lack of respect and a message where reproaches will be addressed. Moreover, 42% of respondents believe that it should never be used. The finding is the same for e-mails that start without the slightest greeting.
Also note that once the conversation is engaged, the greeting is no longer necessary. 32% of survey participants would like to see it disappear immediately, and 27% gradually.
Know how to conclude
When you conclude your message, it is always best to sign it. Respondents also believe that the formula “thank you in advance” should be avoided at all costs, because it implies that you expect your interlocutor to perform an action, without waiting for their agreement. Respondents therefore consider it a little too presumptuous.
Emojis
The case of emojis is very difficult to decide. Internet users are more and more open about these. Thus, only 42% of respondents think that emojis are never appropriate in professional emails. Clearly, it is important to gauge the relationship you have with your interlocutor before you start.
Exclamation marks
Again, exclamation marks should be used sparingly. Thus, 48% of participants in the Preply survey say they reread their messages to remove these punctuation marks, but they are also 25% to add them after proofreading.
“Sent from my iPhone”
Finally, we can note that certain unspoken rules are much more accepted. For example, 65% of Americans hope not to see “Sent from my phone, please excuse typos” in the future. And 51% of respondents want to put an end to the expression “Sent from the iPhone” but also from another smartphone.
