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How to Answer Emails Professionally (With Examples)

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By Dr. Ayoade Oyedotun
Updated:
Business EmailsBasic Guidelines & TipsWorkplace ExperienceProfessional E-mail ResponsesProfessional Email Examples
PEM 101 (Part 5): Examples of Responding to Emails Professionally

Emails are the major means for professional business communication. If written poorly, you can lose a major prospect. If written excellently, you will easily turn prospects into clients. Personally, I have noticed that the quality of my responses usually determines if a client will hire my services and how much the client will spend.

Basically, your answers to professional emails should be well-thought-out and carefully crafted. Most times, it is not advisable to reply to emails instantly.

This post is part of a series of posts on Professional Emailing. We recommend that you also read the other posts in the series below:

After reading a professional email, allow time for your mind to completely digest the email and come up with good responses.

In answering business emails, pay careful attention to the tone in your emails. This is normally reflected in the words you use to express yourself.

For example, instead of saying,

Please send all the shipping documents for the next batch of drugs.

… it is more amiable to say,

Kindly send the shipping documents for the next batch of drugs

In addition, always make sure your emails are straightforward and clear. From the beginning of the email, state the most important information. Written information generates more meaning than spoken words. So avoid using unnecessarily big words. Instead, focus on the information you want to pass in your replies and ensure the information is complete.

Different Ways to Answer Emails Professionally

ways to write emails

There are different ways to respond to emails professionally, depending on your intention in the email. Email for acknowledging the receipt of an email is usually straightforward and direct, but most other replies require carefully crafted responses.

Basically, email replies usually follow the normal pattern of writing professional emails. You may have to begin with an acknowledgment of the last email before replying to the questions in the email. Each question should be answered in a separate paragraph. This will help you cover all questions and also help your recipient easily grasp your answers. Importantly, learn to always acknowledge the emails you receive if you cannot reply within 24 hours of receiving them. You can store templates for acknowledging emails professionally in your “canned responses” if you are using Gmail.

Writing Professional Email Responses – Examples

A simple letter of acknowledgment could read:

Dear Mr. Williams,

Thank you for inquiring about our new email marketing enterprise application. A team member will contact you tomorrow with a detailed explanation of the product that fits your business need.

Thanks again for your inquiry.

Sincerely,

James Burton

Here’s a more detailed letter of acknowledgment:

Dear Mr. Gate,

Thank you for your order of 25 DVDs. We will send them within the next 3 days.

Before we send them, however, we need to know the package you prefer. Kindly visit your order page and select your preference. If you have any question, call us at +2348035290896. You will be promptly attended to by the customer service team.

Thanks again for your order. We look forward to your final instructions.

Sincerely,

James Noah

Here’s a professional response to email inquiries for Information

Dear Ms. Abike,

Thank you for inquiring about the email software advertised on my blog. Each of the listed software functions uniquely on different platforms. Before I recommend a particular one, I would like to know a bit more about you and your needs:

1. What kind of business do you handle? Are you self-employed, a manager or a business owner?

2. Will you be using the software on a mobile device or computer? Is your computer a Mac or PC?

3. What kind of emails do you send most often? Are they replies to customer questions, business-to-business information, or just emails for team members?

Once again, thank you for your interest in purchasing some of the email software advertised on my site. I hope you will find them suitable for your business needs.

Cordially,

Ayo

Here’s a professional email response to Request for Materials

Dear Mr. Kinkar,

Find attached the email marketing course you requested. As I said on my website, I’ll keep sending updated versions of the course from time to time. Ensure you carefully study the first chapter of the course. It will provide a solid base on which every other information in the course anchors.

I hope your email campaigns are already bringing good results. Let me know if I can be of assistance in any way possible.

Yours truly,

James Blunt

Conclusion

Always maintain a cordial tone in your emails if you want favorable responses. Like I said earlier, allow some time to pass before replying to a professional email; that’s the best way to minimize mistakes.

Take a look at the top tools you need to write emails like a professional here.

By the way, if you would like to get rid of poor grammar, punctuation, spelling mistakes, and lousy sentences in your emails, reports, and other written content, try this automated proofreader that we use at Woculus to keep our contents professional.

See how it works here.

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Dr. Ayoade Oyedotunhttps://woculus.com/
Dr. Ayoade Oyedotun is the co-founder of Afrimash - An Online Shopping Site for Agricultural Items. His daily work encompasses customer service, sales and marketing, human capital management, and business operations management. He is passionate about working smarter using the Internet technology.

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26 COMMENTS

  4. Good stuff! I’m using GetResponse and I’m glad that you showed us examples of professional emails.

  12. Dear Mr Shishuranjan,

    As discussed telephonically, please clarify that you will provide 4 water resistant security posts and one water resistant tent for a monthly rental not exceeding Rs 6000/- per month, for the project period.
    Please also you will be in position to initially deploy 1 supervisor and 4 security guards w.e.f. 8th Aug 2016, and increase the strength at a short notice subsequently.

    The letter of intent shall be issued based on your reply.

    Regards

    Capt Ashok Bajpai (Retd.)

  13. This is very helpful.

    With the tips and the samples given, It will be a great help especially to most of us beginners.

  18. Greetings from xyz company!!
    I am a Recruiter in xyz currently hiring for resources.
    Viewing your profile in the job board I felt you would be interested to apply for a career with us for the below opportunities.
    1. Senior analyst
    2. Team Manager

    How could we reply this mail

  21. Dear Sir.

    thank you further more information I’m really appreciated your effort and can help also to improve my English poor grammar.

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