Which of the following is the best example of a goodwill ending in a positive business email?

Lesson 9: How to Write an Effective Business Email

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How to write an effective business email

Since the professional world embraced the Internet, email has been a cornerstone of business communication. Over the years, business emails have developed a style and structure that you can use to create more effective messages.

Watch the video below to learn the basics of writing a business email.

The basics of a business email

All business emails should be direct, clear, and easy to read. The tone of a business email, however, can vary from informal to formal. The formality can depend on your company, the intended audience, subject matter, and several other factors. If you’re unsure how formal your email should be, review our lesson on how formal an email should be.

Regardless of the formality, remember to stay professional because you lose control of the email once you click Send. Emails can be copied and forwarded to others indefinitely, and if you’re inappropriate or unprofessional, your poor choice of words could follow you.

Writing a business email

As with any email, a business email should include a brief but descriptive subject line, one or more recipients, and an attachment if needed. If you are including multiple recipients, consider using the CC (carbon copy) field to keep the extra recipients in the loop without requiring them to respond. To learn more about the basic parts of an email, take a look at our lesson on common email features.

When you start writing the main content of the email, there's a simple and effective structure you can follow:

• Greeting: Make it brief and friendly, and address the recipient by name if you know it. For instance, “Hi Jonathan” or “Greetings Ms. Childress” are both reliable introductions. The first name is preferable if you're more familiar with the recipient, while you should use their last name if you want to be more formal.
• Body: Start with your main point so no one has to hunt for it, and keep your writing concise and focused on the concerns of your audience. If you need a response from the recipient, make sure to include a call to action so they know how and why to respond. Also, if you've attached a file, be sure to mention it here.
• Ending: Offer a quick farewell, such as “Thanks” or “Sincerely”, then give your name and contact information in case they have questions.

Revision

Although email is meant to be quick, always take time to revise your writing before you click Send. Review your spelling and grammar, and confirm the accuracy of any facts you present. If you read the email aloud, you may find additional errors or realize that your words are missing a professional tone.

Make sure any attachments you mention are actually attached, and confirm that any included web links are correct. Broken links, missing attachments, and incorrect information only slow things down and force you to send correction emails.

Examples of business emails

To demonstrate the principles of this lesson, let's look at two examples of business emails. First, let's start with a poor example.

The example above is looking rough. The subject line is vague, the body is full of spelling errors and rambling thoughts, and the main point is difficult to find. Plus, the overall tone is unprofessional.

Now let’s take a look at a more polished example.

This example looks good! The subject line grabs your attention, the body is concise and error-free, and there’s a clear call to action. Emails like these help businesses run smoother and more efficiently.

Writing concise emails is a key skill in the professional world, which you can develop through consistent practice. Keep writing and learning, and you'll become a more effective communicator with each email you create.

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Email closings are important, especially for business emails. What you write when you end an email makes a difference. A professional email closing leaves the reader with a good impression of you and of your business. An unprofessional email closing has the opposite effect.

How do you end a business email? There are good ways to end an email and not-so-good ways to end an email. In this tutorial, you'll learn the right way to end a professional email, with some clear examples of professional email endings. You'll also discover why an email signature template can make a real difference in your email closing.

If you need help with more than your email closings, here are some more tutorials to help you write professional emails:

Now let's explore the best ways to end an email professionally. We'll look at what's usually at the end of a business email, along with professional email closing sentences.

Why Your Email Closing Matters

You may think of your email closing as an afterthought, but you couldn't be more wrong. How you end an email makes a difference. A good business email closing can:

• motivate the reader to action
• identify the sender for future reference
• leave the reader with a good final impression
• provide the recipient with your contact information

Here are a couple examples to consider: 

Email Closing Example 1 - With Missing Info

Imagine receiving an email about an exciting new business opportunity. As you read the email you think to yourself, "maybe I should give this a try?" At the same time, you're also wondering "who sent this email to me?" 

So, you skim down to the bottom of the email, only to find that the sender has signed off on the email as "Brian." There's no last name and no contact information. 

"Who on earth is Brian?" You wonder. Not remembering anyone named Brian, you conclude the email is spam and you move it to your trash folder. If the sender had thought about how to end an email with contact information you might have given it a second look.

Email Closing Example 2 - With Proper Closing

Contrast that with the experience of receiving a similar email, but with the proper closing information included. 

You skim down to the end of the email and find that it's signed by "Brian Jones." Brian knows how to close a business email, and also uses a proper signature template with complete contact information. 

"I remember them now," you think. "I met Brian Jones at the meetup last month." You pick up the phone and call Brian's number (using the contact information from the signature template) to find out more about the business opportunity described in the email.

It's Clear Which Email Closing Is More Professional

So, yeah how you end a professional email is important. It can mean the difference between getting a response and getting your email moved to the trash folder.

For instructions on how to close a business email (and how to start one), study this tutorial:

Today, we'll address the topic of email closings in more depth. Let's begin with some important guidelines to follow to figure out how to end a business email: 

7 Guidelines for Closing a Professional Email

You're finishing up an email and you want to be sure to leave a good last impression. Here are some basic guidelines to follow for professional email endings:

1. Don't Skip the Closing

You may feel that this one is obvious, but it happens a lot. Email is a more casual form of communication. It's not uncommon for an email writer to skip formalities like the opening and closing—even in business emails. Don't do it. That email closing sentence is vital to leave the right impression on the recipient.

Monique Arrington of staffing agency Arrington Case by Case comments:

"It is important to close your emails professionally because certain sign offs can lead to higher response rates. No one wants to write an email that sits in anyone's outbox because it lacks a clear call to action.

The purpose of sending an email is to invite the person receiving your email to take some action, show interest in what you’re talking about, and ultimately get back to you. Thus the closing is important because it will lead to the person responding back to your request in a timely manner."

2. Make Sure the Closing Is Appropriate

Your email closing sentence should take your audience into consideration. For example, you wouldn't want to close an email to your boss with the word "love." Although, that's a perfectly appropriate ending for an email to your mother. Arrington adds:

"'I appreciate your feedback' is one of my favorite email closings. It can be used as a closing sentence for an email to a colleague that requires feedback.

I recently saw this closing when helping a client with his recruiting marketing strategy. I emailed him previously a long email with feedback on his marketing strategy with actionable solutions. When I saw his closing I knew my written communication with him was clear, effective and thoughtful."

3. Be Sincere

When thinking about what's usually at the end of a business email, know that your closing should be genuine and realistic. This may require some thought on your part. For example, you wouldn't want to end an email to an out-of-town colleague with the words "See You Soon" unless you really are going to see them in the near future.

4. Check Spelling and Grammar

A closing full of typos and grammar errors leaves the reader with the impression that you're sloppy and unprofessional. It just takes a few minutes to read over your email and use the spell check tool. Take those minutes to make your business email closing error free.

5. Use Your Full Name

Unless you're very well-known to the recipient, you should use your full name in an email rather than just your first name. Even if you do know that recipient well, they could know more than one person with your first name.

6. Include a Call to Action or Next Step

In considering how do you end a professional email, note that the final sentences above your signature are important too. A call to action tells the reader how they should respond to your email. Don't assume that they'll automatically know what the next step is. Executive recruiter Stella Leaburn comments: 

"A call to action is the crescendo of your email: it’s the reason why you sent the email. It’s by all intents and purposes the most important part of an email.

My advice, and how I frame my calls to action, is less about forcing the recipient to make a choice, it’s about setting expectations for the next stage in your relationship.

I’ll give you an example: you will NEVER hear or see me say “contact me as soon as possible” at the end of my email. Why? Because that’s not setting an expectation. That's a demand.

What I do instead is set out a timeline of action, and set my expectation for what I’d like them to do. For example, I’d go “based on the information above I’d like to talk further about your options, here is my calendar for the next week, please let me know when you’re free and I’ll be in touch”. Realistic. Achievable. Not pushy, and sets the right expectation. But it’s still a call to action.

Calls to action are journeys onto the next step or stage in your relationship, not a sales tool."

7. Don't Be Too Casual

So, is it ever okay to be casual in email closings? Leaburn believes that's best avoided, most of the time:

"Context is everything, but I live by 2 rules: stay formal, unless the recipient states otherwise; and never demean your tradecraft with poor language.

I can’t speak for every business, but my business is people - I’ve worked in recruitment for nearly 2 decades and the same basic principles of respect, politeness and business-ready language work for everyone.

Stay professional especially at the early stages of a relationship with a business contact. However, once that relationship opens up, you’ll get a handle on how the other talks; how they “casualise” the conversation. It might happen after one email. It might never happen.

There are a few occasions when the veneer of formality comes away and you can show a little more of “you”, but the golden rule is to let the recipient determine when: this is mirroring in action.

Lastly, everything you say in an email is perceived through the lens of the relationship with the person receiving it - if you over-casualise, and demean your business, you’re demeaning the relationship."

These are just a few important guidelines to use when planning how to end a business email. Now, let's look at how to format the close of your email.

How to Format Your Email Closing Properly

The closing of your business email is like the closing of a business letter. It should look something like this:

Final paragraph of email body (should include a call to action or next steps action in the wording).

Closing phrase,

Signature Template (if used)

First and Last Name, Title and Company Phone, Email, URL (etc)

You may wonder whether you need to include contact information below your name if you're using an electronic signature template. The answer is "yes." It's important to also type the information below your name since some email accounts block images. If you leave contact information out below your name, a recipient whose email account blocks images won't know how to contact you.

But what closing phrase should you use before your signature line? Let's discuss some common business email closing sentences.

15 Common Email Closing Phrases Evaluated

The topic of how do you end a business email is hotly debated. Even the experts don't agree on what works and what doesn't in every situation. One thing is clear. Some email closings are more effective than others.

Generally speaking, formal closings work for business situations where you don't know the recipient well or where the recipient is in a position of authority. Semi-formal closings can work for colleagues you know well or peers. Be careful when using casual closings. Some marketers use them to build a sense of familiarity. If you're not sure, reserve casual closings for friends and family.

The variations of how to close a business email are nearly endless. But, here are 15 common professional email ending phrases (in alphabetical order):

1. Always (Casual). Variations include "Yours always." This closing may seem vague.
2. Best (Semi-formal). A very popular closing. Variations include "Best Wishes" and "Best Regards."
3. Cheers (Casual). This British-sounding closing is best left for personal email.
4. Cordially (Casual). Although this email closing is considered casual, it's got an old-fashioned sound to it.
5. Later (Casual). This is too informal for nearly all business emails.
6. Love (Casual). Variations include "Love Ya." This email ending isn't a good choice for professional emails.
7. Regards (Semi-formal). Variations include "Warm Regards," "Kind Regards," and "Best Regards."
8. Respectfully (Formal). Use for extremely formal professional emails.
9. Sincerely (Formal). Variations include "Sincerely Yours."
10. Take care (Casual). While this is a great email closing for a friend, it's too intimate for most business emails.
11. Thank you (Semi-formal). Variations include "Thanks" and "Thanks in Advance."
12. TTYL (Casual). An abbreviation for "Talk to You Later." It's probably best to save this email closing for friends and family.
13. Warmly (Semi-formal). This can work for a less formal business email.
14. XOXO (Casual). Save this email closing phrase for friends and family.
15. Yours truly (Formal). Variations include "Yours Faithfully" and "Yours."

Note: Even the experts disagree as to whether some greetings are formal, semi-formal, or casual. The comments above are merely suggestions.

So, which closing is the best one to use for a professional email? The experts are mixed. Many experts prefer the use of the closing "Best," or a variation of it. But other experts dislike this closing as being too vague or common.

A recent study from Boomerang found that variations of the email closing, "Thanks" actually got the most responses. But other experts dislike the closing phrase "Thanks," considering it to be fake if the sender isn't really thankful about something.

Also, you should know that using a formal closing phrase for a business email may be considered cold if you know the recipient well. For those cases, a semi-formal closing is the better choice.

How to End (and Not End) a Business Email

It's one thing to read a list of guidelines and closings for professional email, it's another to see some examples of how to end a business email. So, let's examine some sample closings for professional emails. We'll review both the good and the bad.

Here are two examples of professional email closings. Compare the properly formatted example of an email closing with the poor example.

How to End a Business Email Example (Good)

Here's an example of a properly formatted email closing:

Why This Closing Works

In this example, the email author did everything right:  

• They include a call to action: "Call me to set up a time or if you've got any questions." 
• They use a formal business closing phrase: "Sincerely." 
• Finally, they used an attractive and professional email signature template, followed by the email author's name and contact information.

Note: The previous example used an Email Signature template from Envato. GraphicRiver is a good source for professional email templates like the one used in the example above.

How to End a Business Email Example (Not-So-Good)

Here's less than ideal email closing example:

In this example of an email closing, you can see that the author skipped a lot of the elements of an effective closing.

What Went Wrong?

Here are a few problems with this closing: 

• Notice that this example closing does not include a call to action. 
• There's no closing phrase, which may be too casual for a professional business email. 
• Also, the author only included their first name. This could be a problem if the recipient knows more than one Juan. 
• Finally, there's no contact information in the signature.

Note: The information depicted in these examples is intended to be fictitious and doesn't represent any real persons or organizations.

Don't Forget the Template

As you probably noticed, the good example above used a signature template. There's a good reason for that. Templates are a great way to add an extra degree of professionalism to your business email.

Here are some reasons to use pro email signature templates:

1. Saves Time. With a signature template, you don't have to create your own professional looking electronic signature. All you need to do is change the template to include your own information.
2. Saves Money. Using a professional email signature template means you don't have to pay a designer to create a brand-new template for your email signatures.
3. Professional. Since email signature templates are created by design professionals, the template you use will follow design conventions and appear professional.
4. Proven. You can see the number of downloads and ratings to determine how well a particular email signature template has worked for others.

Browse through many professional email signature templates at Envato's GraphicRiver marketplace. For a closer look at some of the best and most popular email signature templates, review these articles:

Conclusion: Close All Your Emails With the Right Impression

Your email endings may be the last part of your email, but they're far from the least important.  You can improve your professional emails by learning the best way to end an email properly.

Important elements that you should pay attention to when you end an email include:

• call to action or next steps statement
• closing phrase
• email signature template
• sender's name
• sender's contact information

Your email closing is the last thing a reader sees, so it can leave a lasting impression. A good, professional email closing will make a positive impression. A sloppy email closing full of mistakes may cause the recipient to view the email sender as less than professional.

For more about using email, check out our eBook on professional email management strategies: The Ultimate Guide to Inbox Zero Mastery. Learn how to manage your email accounts to be more productive. 

Editorial Note: This content was originally published on July 4, 2017. It's been updated to include extra tips and information by Sharon Hurley Hall.