The most important and most common form of communication in the corporate world is without a doubt, emails. Everyone in the workplace deals with emails no matter what work they do. Usually, we tend to email those who are too busy to reach through phone and to give them time to . Hence, it is critical to understand rules to follow when emailing busy people.
1. Give them time to respond
One of the most important things you need to understand when mailing a busy person is that they are very short on time. Their day is filled with things to do with very less amount of time. Hence, we, as those who mail them are required to understand that they will take time to give a response to our email. When sending the email, make sure to be clear that you are not demanding for a quick reply.
2. Make it personal
We should always try to make as close a relationship with the higher-ups that you are mailing. If you are successful in doing so , you have an upper hand on getting them to respond to your mail as you can call them and let them know that you have sent one. Since you treat them in such a close and personal manner, they will feel the need to acknowledge your requests and take necessary actions on it.
3. Follow up, don’t pester
When emailing a busy individual, it is always necessary to email with breaks in between. If you send mail too often, you are most likely to come off as an annoyance and they might not feel the need to respond to you. Now this does not mean you should take around 2 weeks to follow up your last mail. Be persistent, but in the most discreet way possible. Maybe email once a week and mention that you are following up your last one.
4. Write a good subject line
This is an extremely important point to keep in mind. When you receive over 100 mails a day, it is extremely difficult to go through each and every mail. Hence, most busy people simply just go through their inbox and read the subject lines. If you add an attractive subject line, your email would stand out and makes it more likely to be noticed and responded to. Make the subject lines more informative. This will possibly provide you with a good advantage.
5. Include a short, professional signature
Even though this is at the end of the mail, this is just as necessary as a good subject line. This is because the signature usually includes a business card, contact information and designation and such. If they would like to contact you in a different form than mail, this gives them the necessary information that they require. Hence, it is absolutely necessary to add a professional, informative signature at the end of all your mails.
Getting a response from those who are busy and have much to do and little time is definitely no easy task. However, these tips can help in making your email stand out and look more attractive.
