Consulting Journal: Style - Replying to email

Style: Replying to email

by David Blakey

There is a style to replying to email, especially when you answer questions.

[Monday 2 February 2004]

Email messages should be neat. You should use the same care that you use in composing printed letters. Here are my recommendations.

Greeting

Include a greeting. If you are writing to me, then write Dear David. You can follow this with a comma or a colon or nothing, depending upon the style that you choose or the style of your printed business letters. Use the form of greeting that you would use in letters.

Replying

There are two ways of doing this. You can quote part of their email message in your reply or your can refer to the message.

I have some questions about your report.

You wrote that you have some questions about my report.

If you do quote from their message, then ‘snip’ it as much as possible.

Always include the quotation above your reply. Do not do this:

Dear Robert,

I have responded to each of your questions as follows.
1. Yes. In fact, doing it in stages will allow you to insert reviews between the stages to check that all is going according to plan.
2. Yes. Indeed, this is one of my areas of expertise, so I would be happy to manage this for you.

Regards,
David

I have some questions about your report.

1. Can we do this in stages?

2. Can you manage this process for us?

If you can give me answers briefly in a return email, I can set this in motion.

Regards,
Robert

Replying to a number of points

If your message is a reply to each of a number of points in their message, quote each point and then add your reply.

Dear Robert,

I have some questions about your report.

I have responded to each of your questions as follows.

1. Can we do this in stages?

Yes. In fact, doing it in stages will allow you to insert reviews between the stages to check that all is going according to plan.

2. Can you manage this process for us?

Yes. Indeed, this is one of my areas of expertise, so I would be happy to manage this for you.

Regards,
David

Closing

Close the email message with Regards and your name on a new line.

Regards,
David

Add a signature block if you want. Keep it simple and keep it down to methods of contacting you. Remember that people tend to communicate mainly by email or mainly by telephone, so you can usually leave out most of your telephone numbers. Giving your mobile number is a good idea, especially if you can send and receive text. You do not need to put your name or email address in your signature block

Do not use graphics composed from characters. They may not display as you wish.

Remember that your signature block is optional. You can leave it out entirely for people you write to regularly. I do not include a signature block on email messages to my clients.

Not replying

There are times when you should not reply to an email message but should compose a new message. Consultants are sometimes invited to offer their services.

Dear David,

If you want the assignment, send me an email applying for it. I need this so that we can go through the proper channels.

Regards,
Robert

If you need to reply to a message like this, then don't. Compose a new one. This will avoid obvious problems such as forgetting to change the header, so that it might be Re: Need a formal application, and any other identifiers that may be sent back with a reply.

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