How to Answer Emails Professionally (With 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 to 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:

• PEM 101 (Part 1): How to Contact your Clients Effectively Using Business Emails
• PEM 101 (Part 2): 9 Tips You Need to Write and Respond to Emails Professionally
• PEM 101 (Part 3): 12 Rules of Writing Emails Professionally and Effectively
• PEM 101 (Part 4): How to Write Professional Emails: 7 Critical Ingredients
• PEM 101 (Part 5): How to Answer Emails Professionally (With Examples)

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

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

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 professional email; that’s the best way to minimize mistakes.

Learn more about responding to emails professionally here.