Effective Email Communication For Different Business Relationships
Email makes the business world go round. Talking to clients, coworkers, and employees in a face-to-face setting regularly just isn’t possible anymore. To fill this void, email has become one of the top forms of communication in business operations.
Email communication is becoming especially necessary in a remote work environment, and technology is advancing to where telecommuting is becoming more of an option. In fact, Rutgers University predicts that “telecommuting will approach or even reach 50 percent by 2020.” Many things can go wrong when crafting an email, however, if you don’t possess the necessary skills to get your message across correctly. With the increasing reliance on email as a significant form of communication, how precisely do you communicate digitally?
Below are some tips and tricks on effective email communication for different business relationships.
Client Relationships
Where would your business be without customers? Fostering personal relationships with your clients is critical for sales and revenue for your company. Since face-to-face interaction is time-consuming and often inconvenient for the client and you, you’ll have to confer with them digitally. Email provides a way to pop in and check up on a client to give them new information or inquire about issues such as an unpaid invoice without having to set up a meeting. However, you’ll want to keep a few things in mind as email can be a bit tricky when trying to be personable, yet professional with a client.
Imagine if every email you were sent from a company was trying to get you to buy their product. Your clients would very soon be annoyed, and those emails would quickly be moved to the spam bin or even unsubscribed and deleted. Customers do not respond to this kind of impersonal communication. However, if you take the time to get to know your clients and build a relationship with your email communication, you will gain your client’s trust — a valuable bond between business and customers.
Taking the time to know your clients, sending them emails that aren’t conversion related, and periodically inquiring about a common interest can make a client much more willing to work with you when you have to get professional. QuickBooks advises to “set aside time in each interaction to learn about your client personally.” This could help with developing a personal relationship with a client to make it easier to tend to the more pressing matters, such as following up on an unpaid invoice. Your relationship with this customer will compel them to be more inclined to accommodate you in these matters.
Coworker Relationships
Effective email communications between you and your coworkers are critical, not just for collaboration on projects and cohesiveness around the office, but to also elevate you from coworkers to associates, or even friends. Efficient email communication is also vital for remote workers. It is crucial for clear communication when you can’t physically communicate to coworkers who may be working from home or otherwise. Proper email communication is a must to keep a fluidly functioning office while maintaining a fun work environment.
To build working relationships with your co-workers, actively listen to what they write to you. When emailing, some things can often get misconstrued such as humor, sarcasm, and other subtleties that could be better understood face-to-face. Pay special attention to understand everything your coworker is trying to convey through text to foster proper collaboration.
Addressing the concerns of your coworkers in your return email and being constructive, both when receiving and giving feedback, will help keep you and your coworkers on the same page. Emails that are not necessarily about work should be allowed to build friendly relationships with fellow employees. It is important to remember not to get overly personal, as it can hinder your personal and even working relationship.
Employee/Manager Relationships
Similar to coworker relationships, a manager should strive to build relationships with their employees and vice-versa. Although, this relationship may require you both to maintain a higher level of professionalism when communicating with each other, as opposed to a coworker. As a manager, your ability to communicate effectively through email will be important, as you will most likely have to convey more meaningful, perhaps time-sensitive information.
As a manager, you have the power to set the tone for your daily work environment. Additionally, your job is to inform employees of the many activities of your company operations. Without effective email communication skills, your business will be in disarray. Aside from motivating employees and releasing important information, you can gain valuable feedback from your employees as to how you and your business is doing. A manager with excellent email communication skills can boost morale for a great work environment.
Overall
In the digital world we live in today, email has become a significantly large part of businesses communications and operations. Email communication, or lack thereof, can see your company thrive or tank. It is critical to possess the skills and knowledge of effective and appropriate email communication not only for business operations, but to build the relationships that make a business run. Since face-to-face interaction cannot be feasible at times, email is the next best thing. Strong email communication skills are even a requirement for a large portion of jobs in the workforce today. Make sure you can keep up, and even outperform, in the digital communication world.
