Email and Business

Telephoning Etiquette
Short Training, February 24, 2023
Email Etiquette: Important Rules

● These guidelines help you avoid miscommunications and mistakes

which can reflect poorly on you and the organization you represent.

● Following these guidelines, you can make sure your goals are clearly
communicated over email. You’ll be able to get work done more
efficiently and keep a healthy record of emails for your team to refer
back to.
General Customary Email Structure
1. Keep your tone professional.

● keep your subject line descriptive and your greeting formal

● reminded them of your earlier conversation and kept things
friendly (if you already met)
● Write your message briefly (the body of your email)
● sign off formally
2. Avoid vague subject lines
● Keep your subject lines descriptive, clear, and actionable, especially
if the email is for marketing purposes.
Eg. PHONE AND EMAIL ETIQUETTE TRAINING ANNOUNCEMENT!!
(Amanuel)

● subject line that gets straight to the point

Eg. 002-2-23-53-TSF-2-23-236 Eng-Afar translation request (Tesfaye)
Bad example
3. Use proper email punctuation
● Terminal Punctuation
● Use question marks sparingly. If you use too many question marks in one
email, you’ll sound like you’re interrogating the recipient.
● Salutation Punctuation
Very formal, Dear Mr. Mathou: ( use a colon.)
Less formal: Dear Aja, (use a comma)
● Use exclamation marks as sparingly as you use question marks.
Incorrect: "Thanks again for a productive conversation yesterday! Good news, I
talked to Finance and we’re good to go! Can’t wait to work together!"
4. Practice good grammar
5. Resist emojis in emails.
6. Choose your email salutation carefully.
7. Keep subject lines descriptive and short.
 8. Choose your email salutation carefully.

Casual email greetings include: Hi, Hey, Hey/hi there, Good [morning, afternoon] [Name],
Formal email greetings: Dear [first name]: , Dear Mr./Ms. [last name]:
What to Avoid:
Yo: Too informal
Hey!: Too intimate and eager
[Name]!: Too off-putting
To whom it may concern: Too impersonal
Dear sir or madam: Too stiff
Hi friend: Too intimate
Gentlemen: Too old-fashioned
All: Too cold
Leave the right impression with your email sign-off. Informal sign-offs:

Thanks

The right sign-off will Thanks again

complement the tone and Best

content of your email. Since Cheers
it’s the last thing your Happy [day of the week]
recipient reads, this line
Enjoy the weekend
influences their lasting
Talk soon
impression.
Talk to you [tomorrow, on Wednesday, when
you get back]
Looking forward to working together
Looking forward to our next conversation
Excited to hear your thoughts
Formal Sign-offs
If your tone is more reserved, your sign-off should be as well.

Formal sign-offs:

Thank you
Thank you for your time
Have a wonderful [day, weekend]
Regards
And here are the closing lines you shouldn’t be using:

Sincerely: Too outdated

Kind regards: Too unnatural

Warmly: Too relaxed

Respectfully: Too random

Xoxo: Too intimate

Cordially: Too stilted

- [Your name]: Too abrupt

9. Triple-check your recipient's name.

● Triple-check that you’ve spelled your recipient’s name

correctly.

● Don’t shorten their name unless they’ve signed their

email accordingly.
10. Use sentence case and Capitalization

Capitalize the first letter of the first word in a sentence and all proper
nouns.

Eg. Hi Dani,
How are you doing? Are you coming to the Ethiostar Annual Festival this
coming Saturday? It will be celebrated at Sheraton Addis.
 11. Consider your email's tone
First, avoid negative phrases. They can make you seem more anxious, irritated, or worried than you truly are.
Examples: Mistakes, issues, failure, delay, problem, crisis, trouble, unfortunate, consequence.
Second, don’t be sarcastic. There’s a good chance your recipient won’t get the joke. Example: “I’d ask my team to
review it tomorrow, but as you probably know, no one actually gets work done on Friday.”
Third, cut out adjectives. They can make you sound overly emotional — you’re shooting for calm and professional.
Examples: Very, really, extremely, highly, grave, serious, deeply.
Fourth, copy your recipient. Following their lead ensures you won’t accidentally offend them. If they write short,
straightforward messages, make yours concise too. If they usually include a rapport-building line (like “I saw you were
in Bermuda; hope you had a great time"), do the same.
Fifth, when in doubt, pick up the phone. Whenever you’re having a potentially fraught conversation, it’s always a
good idea to call, Zoom, or meet face-to-face with the person.
12. Always use standard fonts and formatting.
13. Shorten your URLs.
14. Call out attachments. ( A simple “I’ve attached a
[document, spreadsheet] for X” will do the trick.)
15. Fill out your email fields properly. (TO: CC: BCC:)
16. Use 'Reply all' sparingly.
17. Respond in a timely manner.
18. Set informative out-of-office replies

An automated “OOO” reply — or out-of-office reply

DO: Include how long you’ll be unavailable.

DON’T: Create an OOO response for one day.

DO: Include another person to contact for more urgent matters.

DON’T: Include a colleague to contact without letting that colleague know they’re in your
OOO reply.

DO: Include “OOO” in your subject line so people can easily identify the automated
19. Be careful with humor.
20. Structure the email properly.
21. Don't add that 'Sent from my phone' caveat.
22. Reply to all your emails.
23. Get in the habit of addressing that person appropriately. A good rule of thumb is
to address this person as you would in conversation, whether by first name or more
formally.
24. Always check before clicking "send."
25. Keep messages short (get straight to the point)
26. Keep your inbox clean
27. Don’t use: abbreviations (“thx,” “lol,” or “c u @ wrk l8r,” ), overuse of exclamation
points (!!!!!!!!!), Send the one-word “okay” or “thanks” response.
Customer Service 101
Phone Etiquette
Phone etiquette

● Phone etiquette is essential to maintaining customer satisfaction

and representing your brand professionally.
● Customer service requires etiquette that is often unspoken but
always expected by your customers.
● Whether you’re talking to clients or business partners, correct
etiquette is the key to leaving a positive impression on everyone
you interact with and letting them know you’re a professional.
Proper phone etiquette
● Proper phone etiquette is your use of greetings, word choice, tone
of voice, active listening, greetings and general manners on the
phone.
● A potential client’s first impression of you is often over the phone,
and how you communicate with them might decide whether you
gain or lose them as a customer.
Benefits of maintaining great phone etiquette

● Making great, long-lasting first impressions

● Compensating for the lack of nonverbal cues
● Developing a great reputation (72% of your customers
tell at least six people about their best customer service experiences)
● Retaining customers
● Identifying new customer needs

Key takeaway: Your phone etiquette could be the difference between

turning a lead into a customer or losing a prospect for good.
General Phone Etiquette

● Immediately introduce yourself and your business

● Speaking clearly and calmly
● Listening and taking notes
● Remaining cheerful
● Don’t cold call
● Remain polite and use magic words properly
● Answer the phone at the third call
● Don’t hung up before the client
● Smile when you talk
8 phone etiquette tips for businesses
1. Be consistent. Monitor Your Tone of Voice
2. Never interrupt.
3. Keep customers informed. (Tell customers clearly what actions
you are going to take, why you are calling etc)
4. Learn how to handle angry people
5. Answer after the first few rings
6. Eliminate background noise
7. Ask questions and take notes
8. Use The 7 Ps (prepared, present, polite, patient, personable,
professional, and proactive)
Mistakes to avoid on the phone with customers
1. Don’t interrupt your customers
2. Don’t give answers you don’t have
3. Don’t transfer the customer too often
4. Don’t Rush the Caller (the receiver)
5. Don’t Engage in Other Activities
6. Only use speakerphone when necessary
7. Never Eat Or Drink
8. Ditch The Chewing Gum
9. Don't Whisper to someone else
10. Answer Anonymously