7 Tips on Ending E-mails Professionally (With Samples)

The closing of your business email may be the last part of the email but it is one of the most important parts as it gets many people confused- I used to be confused too.

So, let me show you how I got through my confusion.

There are so many ways to end business e-mails and it’s quite easy to get confused on which closing remark to use for what e-mail. You want your closing remark to sound appropriate but how do you choose the appropriate closing remark?

Guidelines to Help You Choose Appropriate Closing Remark

Here are some guidelines to help you choose the appropriate closing remark for your business emails.

1. Consider the Type of Letter You Are Writing

As you already know, there are three types of letters; the formal letter, the informal letter and the semi-formal letter.

Now, in business, the best types of letters for communicating with clients are the formal and semi-formal letters. While you may use the formal approach for communicating with business associates, investors, bankers and prospective clients, you could use the semi-formal approach when communicating with existing clients and associates that you are familiar with.

So, the first step to choosing an appropriate closing remark is deciding on the type of letter you want to write.

2. Consider Your Relationship With the Recipient

How close are you to this person? For how long have you known him/her?

Some closing remarks are reserved for people you already know and have a ‘relationship’ with on a personal level. It would seem rather rude and absolutely inappropriate to use some types of closing remarks for people you are not quite close to.

Now, imagine that you sent me an email to inquire about some services which my company offers and then I replied your mail, supplying you with the information you needed and I decided to end my mail with a closing remark like ‘Love always’. Won’t that make you feel somewhat uncomfortable?

3. Punctuate Correctly

A closing remark must always be followed by a comma and then space before you sign your name. This is the professional way to end a business email.

You can only break this rule when you are writing informal emails where it doesn’t really matter how you close your letter but for any professional emails you are writing, you should stick to this format.

4. Include Your Full Name

When ending professional e-mails, you should always write your full names after the closing remark. Avoid using nicknames or initials only as this may be considered rude and unprofessional.

5. Include Your Corporate Information

If you are writing your mail on a letterhead, you can choose to skip this part as there are possibilities that your contact information would already be included in your letterhead.

When ending professional emails, you could write your job role and company name after your name followed by your company’s website address.

6. Use a Professional Email address

I have seen this countless times; it’s always quite puzzling. Someone decides to send you a supposed professional email with a very unprofessional email address like ‘[email protected]’ or ‘[email protected]’.

Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a little bit but please, if you are going to be sending out professional emails, create a professional email address with a respectable name for that.

A professional email address should include your first name and last name or at least one of them.

7. Don’t Be Over Familiar

I already mentioned this but because of how important it is, let me reiterate.

It is important that you don’t get too familiar with your clients with the kind of closing remark you choose. You may feel that it’s no harm to use any kind of closing remark you choose but it actually is.

You can put your client in an uncomfortable position by using inappropriate closing remarks and worse still; you may put yourself in a position where people start to see you as unprofessional.

To help you choose the right closing remarks for your business letters, I have decided to group the various types of closing remarks into formal and informal categories so that anytime you need to write letters, you can always choose an appropriate closing remark.

Many thanks,

Formal Letters Informal Letters
Yours sincerely Cheers
Yours truly Hugs and kisses
Yours faithfully Forever yours
Warm regards Regards
Kind regards Love always
Best regards Yours lovingly
Your brother/father/mother/(Insert relationship with recipient)
Sincerely With affection
With regards Love and happiness
Many thanks Love you
With appreciation Have fun
Yours obediently Keep smiling
With best wishes Cheers
Most heartily Goodbye
With anticipation Adieu

 

Here’s the Basic Standard for Ending E-mails Professionally

Yours faithfully,

(Leave a space. Normally, that space is supposed to be reserved for your signature. If you have a digital signature, you can insert it here but if you do not, just leave the space and move on to the next step)

(Insert your full name)

(Insert your designation)

(Insert contact details and email address)

That’s the simple format for writing a professional email so let’s go practical-:

Sample 1: Ending Emails Professionally

Yours sincerely,

 

John Atamora Smith

Chairman, Penthouse Group

08155555555/ [email protected]

Sample 2: Ending Emails Professionally

Yours faithfully,

 

Peter Piper Faniroti

Managing Director, Faxyron Ltd.

0813464321/ [email protected]

Sample 3: Ending Emails Professionally

Yours respectfully,

 

Jumoke DaSilva

Globalvex Telecoms

01-045123

Sample 4: Ending Business Emails for Old Professional Contacts

Kind regards,

 

Chief Ikoko Gbomi

CEO, Ikoko Group of Companies

[email protected]

Sample 5: Ending Business Emails for Old Professional Contacts

Many thanks.

 

Bisi Lawal

Accountant, Penthouse Group

[email protected]

Sample 6: Ending Business Emails for Old Professional Contacts

Thank you for your time.

 

Doyin Adewale

Secretary, Likas Bookshop

If you look closely, you would see that the punctuation has changed. Instead of a comma, you now have a full stop. This is because unlike the previous samples, you are making full statements here.

You can also use situational closing remarks like:

  • I apologize for the inconvenience.
  • Please accept my deepest sympathy.
  • I look forward to seeing you again.

Now, go ahead and write your own samples and like I always say, make sure it is better than mine.

To learn more about “writing emails professionally“, read our series of articles on Email Writing Tips.

2 thoughts on “7 Tips on Ending E-mails Professionally (With Samples)”

  1. I always have certain problems with mailing. I always reply quickly and when I’m in a hurry people often don’t understand what I mean. Your article helps me improve my mailing skills. Author gives a great piece of advice about familiarity. First impressions are a good start for constructive conversation, especially in business, don’t forget about it.

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