Sending emails probably takes up a decent portion of your day—get the most out of your efforts.
Be concise. There is nothing worse than receiving a four-paragraph email that contains two thoughts and one question that needs a reply. Sending concise emails will generate faster responses (along with guaranteeing the other person will actually respond).
Send emails during normal business hours. If you send an email when you know someone is there, you are likely to get a faster response. Emails that pile up during the night many times get neglected or forgotten about. Granted, it is a pain to save drafts and remember to send them the next day—but it is more likely to get a reply, and a much faster one.
QuietSpacing has a few more tips, including sticking to one subject per email. Goes hand in hand with being concise. Make it easy for your reader to respond by keeping it simple.
(photo: Mzelle Biscotte)
Randall Ryder practices consumer rights law in Minnesota and is a publisher of Elder Parent Help. Follow him @randallryder.
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Instead of saving a draft and trying to remember, those using Outlook can delay delivery and specify when the messages will be sent (e.g., If sending at 5 p.m., “delay 14 hours”).
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HP052427901033.aspx
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/04/07/delay-sending-of-email-message-in-microsoft-outlook-supports-gmail-hotmail-yahoo-aol-and-all-pop3imap-mail/
Nice! I had no idea. That’s a great tip.
I did some quick research:
You can add an Applescript to Mac’s Mail program to do the same thing.
Gmail does not allow delayed emails.