Page 45 - GS161201

Education

1. Leave the address blank until ample, forgetting to type the word "not" when it's appropriate
you're ready to send the email: Emails could result in you agreeing to something when you don't.
sent in anger, with spelling errors, You may also have spelling errors that should be corrected.
or to the wrong person, can easily be Never trust auto correct either. How many times have you re-
avoided. If you have to think about ceived a marketing email and the one thing you noticed was a
who you are sending the email to af- misspelled word? You may also find that you are not giving the
ter you compose it, you will also think impression you wish to portray. Use this simple rule: if an email
about these other steps. sounds rude, mean or abrupt, rewrite it.
Email is an important tool that when used correctly can build
2. Eliminate words that invoke emo- relationships, address issues, encourage cooperation and generate
tion, as well as sarcasm: When com- more business. However, if you fail to treat the medium with respect
posing an email it's all too easy to treat and care, it can do just the opposite.
it as a monologue. You can quickly Don't be like that careless carpenter. You could lose something just as
get into the practice of using phrases valuable as a finger: your income and your reputation.
that can be misinterpreted such as "as Jeff Fortney is Vice President, ISO Channel Management with Clearent LLC. He has more
I have said in the past" instead of care- than 17 years' experience in the payments industry. Contact him at jeff@clearent.com
fully weighing what you would say. or 972-618-7340. To learn about how Clearent can help you grow faster and go further,
Intention and tone is not as easy to per- visit www.clearent.com.
ceive in email as it is in telephone and
in-person conversations. 45

This applies to sarcasm as well. A jok-
ing, sarcastic response may seem witty
to you, but if read solely on its own,
and not in the same context you in-
tend, it often leads to either confusion
or a negative response.

3. Do not compose an email in an-
ger, no matter how warranted: Unless
your purpose is to end or damage a re-
lationship, anger should not be a com-
ponent of any email. It will not solve
the problem, and could actually make
it worse – much worse – as it will most
likely escalate the situation.

Remember, anger will pass but an
email lives forever. If you feel the need
to vent, hold your response until you
can calmly address your concerns. An
angry email may feel cathartic, but the
aftermath may be catastrophic.

4. Use emails as letters, not as con-
versations or texts: Yes, we live in a
text-filled world. Texts have become a
means of holding conversations, with
abbreviations and emojis. Emails are
not texts. Treat them as letters. Keep
them respectful and use complete sen-
tences and proper grammar.

5. Always proofread an email be-
fore you send it: Read what you have
typed before adding the recipient's ad-
dress and hitting the send button. You
may have left a word out of a sentence,
which changes its meaning. For ex-