How to craft an email that gets a reply

(MoneyWatch) It's frustrating to send someone an email -- especially the person who happens to be the gatekeeper blocking your project -- and never get a response. One, two... five days might go by. You send a follow-up. Crickets. Eventually you have no choice but make an uncomfortable phone call to move things along, knowing that the person has almost certainly been ignoring you.

But sometimes you can avoid such situations by better crafting your email messages to begin with. Think about it from the recipient's perspective: Maybe they got a poorly worded email that was more trouble than it was worth to parse and respond to. If you put some thought into the original email, you might get the reply and move your project along. To that end, here are the top five things you can do to create an actionable, easy-to-read email that is easy to reply to:

1. Make it clear who the message is addressed to. If the email is a request for information or an action item, addressing it to six people is almost certainly not going to work. When you address it to a bunch of people and don't identify anyone by name in the body of the mail, you've diffused responsibility for the action, and no one is likely to take the initiative. The remedy is to address it to a single person (put everyone else in the CC line) or call out action items by name in the body.

2. Put the bottom line up front. Don't write a long preamble and expect the recipient to read 500 words before getting to the action -- in the news business, this is called "burying the lede." Instead, put the request at the top of the mail and then provide as much context as your heart desires afterwards.

3. Formatting matters. Almost as bad as butting the request at the end of a long email is embedding details of the request in a densely worded paragraph. I like to break longer mails into lots of small paragraphs and use formatting, such as bold text, to help "pull" the eyes through the email to the important bits.

4. Be clear and specific. This should go without saying, but it needs saying. Be specific and clear about what you need, when you need it, and who should provide it. You might be inclined to be vague out of a misguided sense of politeness, but in reality it's infuriating at worst and confusing at best to not see all the details in the email. If you don't set a date, for example, the tasking is likely to get lost or forgotten.

5. Be as brief as possible. Mark Twain is said to have written, "I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead." Take the time to cull your mail down to the essential facts and details -- if it's too long, it simply won't be read. Or, at the very least, it won't be read thoroughly.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user William Arthur Fine Stationery

[MarkVaughan100]

Great article and comments!

My advice to my sales team is this... first and foremost, make sure the subject line is relevant and makes the recipient want to read that message (if it's an important message, makes them want to read it right now..!), then tell them (succinctly) what you want (specifically), before telling them "why".

If you struggle to provide a business case for your request, you need to step back and re-evaluate the message and/or request from the start.

BTW... this also applies to voice messages.

https://twitter.com/Mark_Vaughan

[WilSuthers]

Does your email pass the smartphone scroll test? Which is how many scrolls/swipes does it take before you are thinking of something else and not reading the email.

Do yours ass the test?

[JasonChristensen100]

Great advice. Very similar to what I read from David Silverman in "How to Succeed in Business Writing: Don't Be Dickens" last year
on Havard Business Review. http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/03/how_to_succeed_in_business_wri.html?cm_mmc=email-_-newsletter-_-management_tip-_-tip061411&referral=00203&utm_source=newsletter_management_tip&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tip061411

[telemedicine4you]

Perfect. Why this occurred I do not know but if possible -- I will not read a message where the text is a long paragraph.

All of this seems obvious but Dave reminds us -- write what you want to communicate, get to the point, and what is expected.

Dave....idea for subsequent article. How to respond to an e-mail. How many times have you written a thoughtful e-mail and here are the responses:

Fine, sounds good to me, thanks with the e-mail, appreciate you taking the time to write the e-mail, and other comments which does not respond to the e-mail sent.

A thoughtful response with more then a mono or poly syllable would be helpful, thoughtful, and considerate.

[HolyCackle]

I would perhaps add "check for typos," such as the one in item #3, where "butting" should be "putting." These tips are all spot on!

[Draxxin]

Dave, I am surprised that an experienced writer such as yourself would not adequately proof read your email. In addition to the "butting" error you have "burying the lede" instead of "burying the lead". Typos and bad grammar also significantly detract from the message. When I read an email with typos and bad grammar, I think about the sender's capability and attention to detail - if they make these types of errors in an email, what errors are they making in their work?

[jckelly]

This reply is actually to in regard to DRAXXIN's comment below... "burying the lede" is correct. When writing for public consumption, it is usually recommended that one write at a Grade 8 level. Writing at a higher level is not wrong but it can lead to misunderstanding by those with limited vocabularies such as has been the case here.

[stevie_kravitz]

If you have to put this much time and effort into an email, you should pick up the phone and call.

[ambrking]

Good tips Dave. These days emails go directly to spam but if you know how to do it right, you will b able to get replies.

[johngarvey]

Keeping e-mails short and to the point is wise advice.

[ssensat]

Very well stated! I'll be using this in a few meeting next week.