Tips for Business Emails: Sending the Email

Be prompt.

Many of us are connected most of the time. We check emails on our phone when we're not attached to the computer. We want fast results. And with the volume of email everyone gets, issues can sometimes get buried under the pile. For all these reasons, it's a good idea to reply to emails (that have you in the "To" box) promptly. If you will take some time to work on the issue mentioned in the email, say so, so that the other person knows when to expect a resolution.

Proofread before sending.

How basic, right? Yet you'd be surprised at how often people ignore this rule. I do too, sometimes, when I'm in a hurry—and almost always, when I've hit send before reading through what I've written, I look at that email later and cringe. Even when it's a basic one-line email to your co-workers, it helps to spend a few seconds to read it through. And if it's a message to a new client—read it over twice, and then ask your colleague who sits next to you to come over and take a look too.

Did I say spell-check? Now check the names of the people you're writing to as well. Nothing's as embarrassing as writing to "Tim" when your email is going to "Jim".

Insert addresses last.

This is one of the tips that a boss had once given me: and it's so simple yet effective I considered putting it first. Suppose you've got an important email from your supervisor's boss, copying a bunch of senior people in your company. You hit "reply to all" and start composing your answer. At some point, while you're hitting Enter to go to the next paragraph your left thumb rests on the Ctrl button and . . . your email goes out, half-written. (No, this has never happened to me.)