Electronic Mail (email or e mail) is a method of exchange of messages (mail) between people using electronic devices… Email was thus conceived as the electronic (digital version of or counterpart to mail (hence e + mail).
Email was invented by Mr. Raymond Samuel Tomlinson in 1971 while he was working on early version of internet & today it is widely accepted as important means of communication. It got introduced to India in 1982.
Email has advantage of quick, timely & flexible mode of communication… It is used as the most important tool for written communication with people, share business or any other information
- Email software package is easily available & virtually free of cost
- Email is quick & Instant
- Email is very simple
- Email allows for easy reference & traceability
- Email is accessible from anywhere – as long as you have internet connection
- Email is paperless and thus favorable to environment & planet
Email has some disadvantages as well, but they are quite insignificant…. But we must know about it to be careful about it
- Lacks personal touch
- Information overload
- Can cause misunderstanding if not written well
- You must be prompt in reply, you cannot ignore it for a long time
- Email can be disruptive & irritating if it is too frequent
No matter which email service you choose, you’ll need to learn how to interact with an email interface, including the inbox, the Message pane, and the Compose pane. Depending on the email provider, the interfaces may look and feel different, but they all function in essentially the same way
The Emails are of different types but important ones that help us in our work, we will try to learn, are as below:
- Business Introduction or Promotions emails
- Leads nurturing emails
- Progress & update emails
- Follow up emails
- Information sharing email
Basics of effective Email writing:
- Your email address… we call it email id
- Subject Line
- Email Opening
- Email Body
- Email Ending
- Email Sign off
- Email Signature/Footer
Best way to write an email, the golden rules are as under:
- Address your recipient appropriately, double check that email id is correct
- Use clear, professional subject line
- Begin with Positive Greetings
- Use proper words for email – have a positive tone in your email
- Keep it Sweet & Short – KISS principle
- Format it appropriately in terms of paragraphs
- State the background
- Provide the purpose in a crux
- The closing remarks & the expectation from the other side
- Avoid all CAPS it is quite irritating for the recipient
- Use Bold & italic sparingly
- Proofread every email you send it across
- Don’t forget to attach a file if you have mentioned in the email
- Include digital signature before sending
Email Etiquettes:
- Be Original & Authentic in your email communication
- Don’t use email in place of phone call or personal meeting to have immediate answers
- Frequently save your email as you are writing so that you don’t end up losing any work done
- Read the mail twice before sending
- Use CC selectively & to relevant recipients
- You don’t always have to reply all
- Don’t write anything in your mail which you wouldn’t say in face-to-face meeting
- Reply to your emails
Email Process:
Emails are routed to user accounts via several Computer servers. They route the message to its destination & store/save them so that user can pick & use it effectively