A Publication of Lighthouse Consulting Services 3130 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 550, Santa Monica, CA 90403 (310) 453-6556
A good training approach when correspond with anyone via e-mail is to imagine you are speaking with them on the telephone. The following list is a guide for training: Always start your e-mail with "Hello", "Hi", or "Dear", and their name, use whatever is appropriate based on your relationship with the recipient. A little chit-chat like asking them how they are? This helps build rapport before you get right to the point. You may think it is trivial or a waste of time for online correspondence however; this is a form of courtesy that you would use on the telephone and assists in making the recipient feel valued.  When an email is straight to the point and direct without any greeting this could be perceived as cold and rude. The subject field should pertain to the information contained in e-mail. Never send a blank subject line as it may be perceived as a spam, not important or accidentally get deleted. Remember e-mail is not a Post-It note and should not be abbreviated. It should be created in the form of a proper business letter. Close your email with Kind Regards, Truly or Sincerely then followed by your name. Always provide a contact telephone number so the recipient has a record without having to look up the information. Words Create Perception: There are some disadvantages of corresponding via email especially when it comes to expressing feelings or compassion. The reasons may be a high volume of work, a quick response is better than none, or it is		hard to express feelings through writing.  This can result in emails being short and to the point which may come across as cold or blunt. It really helps to imagine you are having an actual conversation. Companies are now taking advantage of training on email tone and the quality of responses especially when it comes to customer service.  Email can easily communicate the wrong impression. Therefore, a guide for training could focus on how the e-mail response best serves the customer. This type of training would have been helpful in the next scenario where the sender had the opportunity to apologize and acknowledge the inconvenience in order to make the customer feel valued and appreciated. A customer sent the following e-mail about an invoice for a previous order, "You have sent me three invoices for my previous order and I made the payment on the first invoice. Would you please look into the matter and adjust your records so I don't receive another invoice?" The problem was finally solved but the e-mail received was far from satisfactory from the customer’s perspective.  The company wrote: "We have your payment." Answers Are Key: It is important to be sure that responses to requests actually answer the question. The following example may have happened if the website had an auto-response generated for any general inquiries, or if the email was not read properly.  A business traveler sent an email through a travel website requesting information for an upcoming business trip: "I'd like to book a hotel near the New York Convention Center, how can I find out which hotels are close and can I reserve the hotel on-line?" The response e-mail explained how to make reservations online and referred them back to the website.
Lighthouse Consulting Services  3130 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 550, Santa Monica, CA 90403 (310) 453-6556