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第九章 How to Write Professional Business Emails

Outlines for Email Writing

How to write Professional Business Emails

1. I.                 English Writing  –  an email vs. a letter
2. II.               Be Clear, Concise, and organized
3. III.              Guidelines for Request Emails
   1. 1.     Focus immediately or very soon on the information you need. 
   2. 2.     Tell why you need the information if the reason is not obvious.
   3. 3.     Emphasize due dates.
   4. 4.     Supply any further forms, information, contact names and numbers, or attachments so the reader can respond quickly and easily.

1. IV.             Guidelines for Reply Emails
   1. 1.     Thank the reader for the inquiry.
   2. 2.     Mention immediately or near the beginning the information you are providing.
   3. 3.     Mention anything you can't send and explain why.
   4. 4.     Offer to help the requester in some other way.  What information can you provide?  Can you refer the requester to someone else who may be able to help?
   5. 5.     Express appreciation and invite further inquires if that is appropriate.

1. V.               Email Do's and Don'ts
2. VI.             How to Write a Persuasive Email

I. How to communicate by writing English

When you writing in English for an email or a short article to communicate with others, you should consider what kind of message you want to convey with your counterpart.  Just like you speak with others, you don't want to confuse them, so your English in speaking usually is simple and short. Similarly, you also can make your English in writing short and sweet.

First, you should have a topic, a subject or a theme for the email, the letter you try to write.

Second, try to digest the content of your material in a more organized way; put it this way, you can convey your message by key points, say 1, 2 and 3.  Do not try to cover too many messages in one short article, or making a short speech.  People won't remember what you said or what you wrote if you have too many things to cover. 

Third, respond on a timely basis – it is important to communicate on timely basis especially when there is a due day for reply. 

寫文章四個要領：

1. 1.     立意深刻，取材確當
2. 2.     結構井然，轉承有序
3. 3.     詞意暢達，描摹細膩
4. 4.     遣字正確，標點恰當

寫作訣竅

l  開頭：引起讀者興趣

l  正文：多舉例子

l  結尾：首尾呼應

l  結構：段落術接流暢

l  文句及格式：通順、簡潔

1. 直接切入重點
2. 善用主題欄
3. 清楚告訴對方你的期望
4. 容易閱讀的形式
5. 慎選收件人
6. 檢查郵件語氣
7. 最後總檢查

1. 1.     直接切入重點
   儘可能在第一段就說明主旨，切勿將重要訊息放在郵件第二頁，大部份的人並不喜歡閱讀冗長的電子郵件。
2. 2.     善用主題欄
   主題欄應該寫明電子郵件的主旨，例如，會計部門需要購買新的辦公桌，讓收件人一目了然，並且知道郵件是否具有急迫性。主題欄過於模糊，容易遭到收件人忽略，甚至刪除。
3. 3.     清楚告訴對方你的期望
   不要讓收件人在看完郵件後，仍然不知道你寄發電子郵件的原因。
4. 4.     容易閱讀的形式
   郵件中段落不宜過長，可以採點列方式濃縮資訊，並且適時在郵件中增加空白處，以減少收件者在閱讀時的壓迫感。
5. 5.     慎選收件人
   只寄送郵件給相關者，常常隨意四處散發電子郵件，別人可能會開始忽略你的郵件。
6. 6.     檢查郵件語氣
   寫完電子郵件後，從頭到尾讀一次，注意語氣是否夠專業、郵件中有沒有字句可能引發誤會、用一個溫馨的開頭或結尾，會不會讓對方的感覺更好些等。
7. 7.     最後總檢查
   按下寄送郵件的按鈕前，確定郵件中有無錯字、標點符號使用是否有誤，以及是否將所需附件附上。

II. BE CLEAR, CONCISE, AND ORGANIZED

1. 1.     Organize material exactly as they do

l  When your clients present information in a specific way, follow their lead and organize your response to mirror their structure.

l  Overview first, pricing last – When format is left up to you.  It’s best to include an executive summary up front and save the dollar signs for the end.

l  First thing first – Emphasize critical selling points at the beginning of each section or response.  Don’t make clients wait to get the heart of your sales pitch.

l  In business you get what you want by giving other people what they want.

1. 2.     Use Headlines

l  Be a headliner – Write for readability, and use heads and subheads to keep your clients from drowning in a sea of black and white.

l  Make it easy to find information – Like a Web site, headings and subheadings call out important information and make it easy for your clients to locate.

l  Obvious is oblivious – Heads and subheads have more impact when you go beyond the literal and use them to highlight your key selling points.

1. 3.     Address all sub-questions individually

l  Don’t just answer the question – Answer every question individually, no matter how general.  Try to put a new spin on each response without too much repetition.

l  Use every chance to sell yourself – Look at each response as an opportunity to promote your product or service to your clients and show them how they benefit.

l  Every question we answer leads on to another question.  Be careful.

1. 4.     Answer it each time it comes up

l  Don’t cheat, repeat – Don’t leave your client searching for answers.  Repeat your responses if your client repeats their questions.

l  Avoid a second term – Use consistent terminology throughout the proposal.

1. 5.     Put it in the appendix

l  Appendix items let clients “learn more” – Get your key selling points across in the main proposal, but put supporting documents in the appendix for clients to retrieve additional information.

l  Move it to the back – Detailed documents and lengthy reports such as case studies and annual reports are valuable pieces of information that find a good home in the appendix.

1. 6.     Sound like a well-informed friend

l  Set a friendly tone – Portray yourself as an informed friend who can talk about your product or service in terms of how it benefits the client.

l  Talk (discuss) with the client, not just tell them – Use language that is client-focused, with examples that demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of their goals and objectives.

l  Know it all, but don’t be a know-it-all (萬事通) – Let the clients be the experts and you’ll send a powerful message that facilitates true partnership.

1. 7.     Stick to the point

l  Quick, clear and concise – Get to the point right away and include only the information that supports your initial statements.

l  Be active, not passive – Writing in active voice gets your point across more effectively and uses fewer words.

l  Enhance readability by keeping your sentences short and limiting your paragraphs to just a few sentences.

1. 8.     Get rid of jargon

l  Write your proposal for the average reader, avoiding terms that are highly technical or use only in your organization.

l  Speak their language and avoid your jargon (行話).

1. 9.     Pay your attention on grammar, spelling, and punctuation

l  Show attention to detail – Errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation distract from your message and demonstrate a lapse in the quality and care you’re trying to convey to your client.

l  Make proofreading a priority – No matter how pressed for time you may be, schedule time to make sure your document is comprehensive, consistent, and grammatically correct.

1. 10.  Go to extraordinary lengths to follow instruction

l  Go in the right direction – One of the most common complaints clients have is that proposals don’t follow their directions.  Make sure your proposal is the on that does.

l  Read, learn, do – Make sure that from the very start you’ve read and understood and are prepared to follow the directions.

l  Check and double check – As part of your editing and review process, make sure you’ve followed each and every instruction, to endure your proposal is decisively poised to win the deal.

BE CLEAR, CONCISE, AND ORGANIZED

1. 1.     Organize material exactly as they do
2. 2.     Use Headlines
3. 3.     Address all sub-questions individually
4. 4.     Answer it each time it comes up
5. 5.     Put it in the appendix
6. 6.     Sound like a well-informed friend
7. 7.     Stick to the point
8. 8.     Get rid of jargon
9. 9.     Pay your attention on grammar, spelling, and punctuation
10. 10.  Go to extraordinary lengths to follow instruction

How to write Professional Business Emails

It is important to have good business English writing skill, because

1. Customers see your writing more than they see you.
2. Good writing skills show that you really care.
3. Good writing skills contribute more forcefully to arguments/persuasion/selling.
4. Good writing skills reduce risk of losing a customer or damaging a customer relationship, and foster good relationships with colleagues.

Business writing is different, because (a) business writing is goal-oriented; (b) business writing takes place in real time; (c) the writer is responsible for successful communication and (d) a business message should present the writer, his company, and his department, in a favorable light.

III. Guidelines for Request Emails

A request email is a message asking the receiver to do something.  Write a request email when you think the receiver may already be willing to do as you ask without having to be persuaded. 

l  Focus immediately or very soon on the information you need.  Make your call for action at or near the opening of the email. Be specific about what you need, including dates, amounts, names, approvals, or appropriate format of the information.

l  Tell why you need the information if the reason is not obvious.

l  Emphasize due dates.  Phrases such as "at your earliest convenience" or "as soon as possible" seem polite, but they make it easy for the reader to delay answering; if you have a due date in mind, say so.  For special emphasis you can put the due date in a paragraph by itself.  Avoid a demeaning tone if the reader's response is optional.

l  Supply any further forms, information, contact names and numbers, or attachments so the reader can respond quickly and easily.

IV. Guidelines for Reply Emails

A reply email provides the information that has been requested.

l  Thank the reader for the inquiry.

l  Mention immediately or near the beginning the information you are providing.

l  Mention anything you can't send and explain why.

l  Offer to help the requester in some other way.  What information can you provide?  Can you refer the requester to someone else who may be able to help?

l  Express appreciation and invite further inquires if that is appropriate.

V. Email Do's and Don'ts

• Email often seems to be closer to a telephone conversation than to a formal letter.  Nevertheless, too much informality in terms of the language you use is not a good idea in business situations -- especially when you're writing to people inside your company at higher levels than you, and when you're writing to people outside your company, such as customer or vendors.
• How many times have you sent out an email, and then realized that, once again, you forgot to add the attachment?  When you first open a new email window, add your attachments before you start writing the email.  Make this a habit, and you'll never forget the attachment again.
• Your Subject Heading is very important.  Try to make it specific so that your reader can find it easily.  Subject Headings such as "need your help" or "a special request" don't help.  If you are not sure what to write, then write a longer, more specific Subject Heading, rather than a shorter one.  Your reader will appreciate it if they need to search for your message three months later.
• Be careful about using bold, underlining, or italics.  Even if your system can read them, there's no guarantee that your recipient's system can.
• Use the Urgent / Priority marks (!) in Outlook sparingly.  If you use them too much, people will begin to ignore them – and your emails.
• AVOID TYPING YOUR MESSAGES IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, LIKE THIS.  It's rude – like shouting constantly.  And, like constant shouting, it makes people stop listening.   All caps may be used, IN MODERATION, for emphasis.
• Don't click "send" too fast.  Take a good look at the whole email again.  Spell check won't catch "four" when you mean "for", or "your" when you mean "you're".  Careless emails give the reader the impression that you – and maybe your company – are also careless.

1. VII.        How to write a Persuasive Email

1. 1.     Get agreement up front

l  Address issues early on – Before you begin writing, make sure you have all the information you need to create a proposal that gives your clients what they want.

l  Don’t be shy, clarify – Talk to your clients about any questions you have and gain valuable information in the process.

1. 2.     Involve the experts

l  Don’t work alone—Involve a team of experts who will help you propose the best solution for the client.

l  Delegate to make it great – For content that accurate, detailed and timely, ask the experts for assistance in drafting the proposal or presentation.

l  Pull it all together – Integrate responses from your experts to ensure consistency, comprehension, and focus on client needs.

l  If you wish to succeed, consult three people.

1. 3.     Read between the lines

l  Successful sales efforts often require that you read between the lines 弦外之音to determine a strategy that satisfies clients’ needs that aren’t explicitly stated.

l  Look for hidden messages – A question isn’t just a question.  It’s also a subtle way for clients to obtain specific, revealing information from you.

1. 4.     Write for your audience

l  Write for a specific audience – Understand that every clients is unique, and tailor your content accordingly.

l  Know your client – Learn as much as you can about your client and the organization before you begin creating your proposal.

1. 5.     Focus on a theme

l  Sing your theme song – Determine the one thing your clients want to hear from you and make that your theme throughout your proposal.

l  Be specific – Horn your theme so that it’s directly relevant to the client’s needs, and substantiate any claims you make.

l  To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme. 

1. 6.     Use their questions to frame your benefits

l  Go beyond “just the facts” – answer clients’ questions directly, but also include information that demonstrates the unique benefits of choosing you as their vendor.

l  Exceed expectations – Responses that show you “exceed” rather than just “meet” your clients’ need go a long way toward establishing your organization as the clear winner.

1. 7.     Detail your qualifications

l  Clients won’t “take your word for it” – Give them a detailed description of your experience and qualifications.

l  Be convincing, not vague – Vague assurances aren’t as effective as specific examples and real evidence of your experience and qualifications.

l  We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.  (Henry Longfellow, U.S. poet)

1. 8.     Draw on industry experience

l  Use real-life examples – This is often the best way for clients to see how you’ll work for them.

l  Tell a great story – Know the client’s need and use the experts in your organization to create relevant examples of your work.

1. 9.     Prove your capability

l  Bring in the outsiders – Supporting information from impartial 公正的, outside sources helps your clients see you’re not the only who thinks you’re the greatest.

l  Be an information gatherer – Create a library of internal and external information you can use to make a convincing argument for your achievements and keep it current.

l  Well done is better than well said.  (Benjamin Franklin)

1. 10.  Use endorsements to make your case

l  The past dictates the future – Your client’s best glimpse of how you’ll work for them often comes from taking a look at how you’ve worked for customers in the past.

l  Endorse, of course – Include testimonials and references in your proposal to support key strengths and successes.

l  Obtain permission from your customers before using their testimonials or including them as a reference, and make sure they’re still your number one fans when they talk to your client.

1. 11.  Show them how they benefit

l  Winning proposals are more than a description of what you do – Talk about what you can do for your clients and why you are the superior choice.

l  Customize language to focus on client needs – Understand your client’s business and make sure every feature or benefit is related specifically to solving a problem or fulfilling a need.

l  Write from the client’s point of view – Your proposal should be written and structured from the client’s perspective, giving them information that is customized, persuasive, and relevant to their decision-making process.

1. 12.  Stand out as uniquely qualifies

l  Differentiate yourself – Don’t blend in with the crowd.  Give your clients a reason to choose you over the competition.

l  Be convincing – Talk about your differences, and use persuasive content that is highly relevant to your audience.

l  Everything perfect in its kind has to transcend it own kind, it must become something different and incomparable.  (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 歌德)

1. 13.  Pull the best from old winners

l  Different proposals for different clients – The degree of standard content customization depends on the situation, but always personalize at least one aspect of your proposal.

l  Read it word by word – Use of existing content for a new proposal is wrought with pitfalls, unless you read the proposal carefully and make sure content that has worked in the past is going to win in the present.

How to write a Persuasive Email

1. 2.     Get agreement up front
2. 3.     Involve the experts
3. 4.     Read between the lines
4. 5.     Write for your audience
5. 6.     Focus on a theme
6. 7.     Use their questions to frame your benefits
7. 8.     Detail your qualifications
8. 9.     Draw on industry experience
9. 10.  Prove your capability
10. 11.  Use endorsements to make your case
11. 12.  Show them how they benefit
12. 13.  Stand out as uniquely qualifies
13. 14.  Pull the best from old winners

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劉偉澍，朋友都叫他 David ，昱晶能源科技副總經理，昱鼎能源董事，中華民國企業經理協進會前秘書長、現任理事，商業智庫首席顧問，EMBA班主任，前中鼎工程監察人，

前中美晶監察人，前品爵汽車董事，前福特六和汽車公司財務長兼Mazda汽車與Jaguar汽車副總經理，同時任教于國立臺北大學商學院，教授企業管理、國際貿易等課程，並常受邀在工商企業界作專題演講。曾榮獲中華民國國家傑出經理人，國家管理獎章。著有1.「臺灣汽車工業發展文集」，2. 「Travel 趴趴走 David 帶你環遊世界，行遍天下」，3. 「活得精彩，做好個人管理」，4. 「管理技能實務 - 職場必備的18項核心職能」四書。

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