Five ways to write better emails! Increase your productivity and unclutter your inbox

Emails are without a doubt, one of the most effective ways to communicate and a valuable collaboration tool. And for start ups it’s even more important as improper crafting of emails can lead to an unnecessary confusion and resentment between senders and receivers. A recent survey was done by Sendmail, Inc suggests that while 92% of users said that emails are an important tool, but at the same time 64% of them said that it also more than often generates unintended anger or confusion. Statistics that are even more hysterical are the ones published by Pulp-PR, which suggested that businesses worldwide suffer, a total of $650 billion in losses due to unnecessary emails.

As a founder of start up, you need to devote all of your energy and attention in developing your business and making strategic planning to scale up your business. So here are quick five ways to increase your productivity and prevent the loss of intellect and capital caused by the demon called ‘Clutter of Emails!’

Get the subject right…

The first thing any receiver does when he or she receives an email is seeing the subject of the mail along with sender. It is rhetorical to say that no matter what your subject is the receiver will reply to you based on how your relationship with the receiver is. However, you can increase the chances of getting faster revert by tweaking the subject line with an open-ended title. A simple addition of a verb in your subject line will psychologically influence the receiver to reply. Always try and begin with mentioning what action the receiver needs to take.

For an e.g. Call to discuss, confirm, required, etc.

Need a quick reply, make it simple…

To ensure a quick response, make sure you keep the mail simple and sweet. Any apprehension of not knowing what to respond will surely result in a delayed mail. The receiver will automatically consider it as complicated and will keep it as his or her last task. So, if you need a faster reply, then draft a simple mail.

Use the Bcc to your advantage…

If you are a start up then you are definitely receiving and sending emails in hundreds per day. So much clutter can make you lose focus on the important follow-ups. Bccing yourself in the emails and then moving them to a designated folder will help you keep track of important emails sent by you which deserves your attention. Secondly, Bccing yourself will eliminate the task of ‘scavenger hunting’ for the right mail in your email box.

• Follow the leader’ technique…

As a founder of a start up it is very critical that you save the time and energy, by effectively emailing your team members. Therefore, it’s imperative that you train your team member with shortcut messages that would convey your message promptly. Let's say, if you wish to address a simple message, like asking for a sales report from the team. Then you can just write in the subject line, "Need the sales report on the desk by evening EOM. "

• EOM’ meaning ‘End of Message’ will let the team member know about the requirement without even opening the mail and it will save your valuable time, as there is no need to draft a body for the email.

Emailing is not chatting…

Lastly, it’s very critical for any start up to understand that going back and forth on emails is not in the liberty you have, as more than often you will be racing against time. It should be a mandate for all the start ups to not waste their time when the email discussion leads to more than two emails. Give your number and speak to the concerned person or text to continue the conversation, period!

Devesh Chawla is the author of this article on Business Mentors. Find more information, about Business Startup Ideas