Good business email writing is no longer a “nice to have” skill—it's something that you absolutely need if you want to be as effective as possible in your business communications.

2. Use Proper Structure & Layout
• Since reading from a screen is more
difficult than reading from paper, the
structure and lay out is very important
for e-mail messages. Use short
paragraphs and blank lines between
each paragraph. When making points,
number them or mark each point as
separate.

3. Use A Meaningful Subject
• Try to use a subject that is
meaningful to the recipient as well
as yourself. For instance, when you
send an email to a company
requesting information about a
product, it is better to mention the
actual name of the product. E.g.;
Product ‘ABC’ description

4. Answer All Questions, And Pre-Empt Further
Questions
• An email reply must answer all questions, and pre-
empt further questions – If you do not answer all the
questions in the original email, you will receive further
e-mails regarding the unanswered questions, which
will not only waste your time and your receiver’s time
but also cause considerable frustration.
• Moreover, if you are able to pre-empt relevant
questions, your receiver will be grateful and impressed
with your efficiency.

5. Do Not Write in CAPITALS
• If you write in capitals it seems as if you are
shouting. This can be highly annoying and might
trigger an unwanted response. Therefore, try
not to send any email text in capitals.

6. Don't Leave Out The Message Thread
• When you reply to an email, you must
include the original mail in your reply, in
other words click 'Reply', instead of 'New
Mail'. Leaving the thread might take a
fraction longer in download time, but it
will save the recipient much more time
and frustration in looking for the related
emails in their inbox.

7. Take Care With Abbreviations and Emoticons
• In business emails, try not to use abbreviations such as
BTW (by the way) and LOL (laugh out loud).
• The recipient might not be aware of the meanings of the
abbreviations and in business emails these are generally
not appropriate.
• The same goes for emoticons, such as the smiley :-). If
you are not sure whether your recipient knows what it
means, it is better not to use it.

8. Complaints/Escalations
• D – Describe
• A – Acknowledge
• S – Specify Alternative
• R – Request action/reaffirm
• E.g.: I would like to bring to your notice that there has been frequent delay in the delivery of
the consignment from the production department. We understand that the department has
shortage of resources. However we suggest the requisition form is sent one day earlier to
ensure adequate time for the production team for packaging. This would avoid delays in
future. We are hopeful that appropriate corrective action would be taken.

9. Saying No:
• A – Apologise
• E – Explain
• A – Alternative
• E.g.: I regret to let you know that
we are not in a position to work
on additional data at this point in
time. This is because the entire
team is currently working on an
emergency assignment. However I
can suggest a freelancer who can
complete the task in 3 days.

10. Apologise:
• M – Message
• D – Details
• A – Action
• E – Ending
• E.g.: Please accept our sincere apologies for the delay in sending the report. Our Data bank
had crashed yesterday. The service engineer who maintains the data bank was unable to
rectify the issue on time due to the prolonged power shut down. We have installed
additional back up to avoid such mishaps in future. We once again are sorry for the delay
and assure that such shortfalls do not occur again.

11. Delivering Bad News:
• M – Message
• E – Empathize
• A – Assure
• T – Take action
• E.g.: It is with regret that we inform you that the transport vehicle that
carriers your consignment met with an accident on GST road last night.
Unfortunately the consignment caught fire and was charred completely. We
understand the impact this delay is going to have on your deliverables to your
client and the possible monetary loss. We assure our complete support in
reducing the delay from our end. In fact we have already allocated an
additional resource to work on your case.

12. MMM TRAINING SOLUTIONS
Landline: +91-44-42317735
Cell: +91 9025523000
Cell: +91 9677040908
Email: admin@mmmts.org
Website: www.mmmts.com
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