How to Write a Friendly Reminder Email (Using Best Practices)

3. Email Reminder Body Text · First Sentences - Since this is a friendly reminder, it's a good idea to start the message on a positive note. 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Fortunately, therearewaystowriteafriendlyreminderemailthatarebotheffectiveand professional.Inthistutorial,weexplainhowtowriteafriendlyreminder emailthatgetsbetterresults.Wealsosharesomeemailbestpracticesandprovideaneffective reminderemailsampleyoucanworkfrom.  Getmoreeffectiveemailtipsandbestpracticesinourfreeebook, TheUltimateGuidetoInboxZeroMastery: 6SituationsThatRequirea ReminderEmail Hereare justsomeoftheinstanceswhenyoumayneedtosendanemailreminder: LatePayment -Noonewantstowaittobepaid.If someoneowesyoumoneyandit'slate,youneedtofindoutwhenyoucanexpect payment. LateWork - Teamworkisacommonscenarioin businessorschoolsituations.Ifyouworkonateamandsomeonehasn'tdone theirpart,itcanaffectthewholeproject.Youneedtotactfullyletthemknowthey're behind. FollowUponaJobApplication - Ifyouarejobhunting,you'llwant tofollowuponinterviewsandapplications.Atthesametime,youdon'twantto alienateyourcontactatapotentialemployer. LateShipment - Whenyou'veorderedsomethingandit hasn'tarrived.Youneedtoletthevendorknowthattheirshipmentislate.If theitemisoutofstockorunavailable,youneedtorequestarefund. InactiononthePartoftheRecipient - Anytimesomeonepromisestodo somethingforyouandfailstofollowthroughinatimelyfashion,youwantto encouragethemtoact.Afriendlyreminderemailcanhelp. AnImportantMilestoneisNear - Sometimesyouwanttoremindyour contactnottomissanupcomingevent.Sendingagentlereminderbeforea requiredmeetingorimportantdeadlinemightbehelpful. Thekeyto writinganeffectivereminderemailistoremainprofessionalandfriendly.Thisis particularlytrueforafirstreminder,sinceyourcontact'slackofactionmay betheresultofanoversight.Youdon'twanttodamageyourrelationshipwith thatperson. AtEnvatoTuts+wehaveseveraltutorialsthatexplainemail bestpracticesforwritingaprofessionalemailandprovideexamples.Tolearn more,study: Email HowtoMasterProperBusinessEmailFormat-andAvoidProfessionalDisaster LauraSpencer Writing HowtoWriteClearandProfessionalEmails DavidMasters Thefirsttutorialclearlyexplainshowtodecidewhether towriteaformalorinformalemail.Thesecondexplainshowtomakeyour emailsclearandconcise. WhenShouldYouSenda ReminderEmail? Youmay wonderhowlongtowaitbeforeyousendoutareminderemail.Shouldyouwaita day,aweek,longer? Theanswer partlydependsonyouragreementwiththeotherparty. Ifthe actionyouarewaitingforisdueonaspecificdate,sendagentlereminder emailonthefirstdaythattheactionisactuallylate.Usually,thisisthe firstbusinessdateafteritwasdue.Examplesinclude: Late payments Unmet deadlines Late shipments Generally speaking,ifasetdatewasagreeduponandthatdateisn'tmet—extra waitingdoesn'thelp.Waitingcouldevenhurtyourchancesofgettinga responsesincethedetailsofyouragreementmaybeforgottenovertime.The longeryouwait,thelesslikelyitisthatyourcontactwillrememberwhat theyaresupposedtodo. Incontrast, iftheactionyouarewaitingfordoesnothaveaspecificduedate,youcan giveyourcontactalittleextratime.Thisisparticularlytruewhenyouask anacquaintanceforafavor.Forexample,youaskanacquaintancetodeliver yourresumetotheircompany'sHRdepartmentandyoudon'thearbackfromthem rightaway.Youmaybeanxiousaboutapossiblejobandwanttocontactthemon thefirstbusinessdayaftertheyagreedtohelp.But,it'sbettertowaita weekorsobeforeyoucheckbackwiththem. Onewayto makesurethatyousendremindersinatimelyfashionistoschedulethe reminderinadvance.ToolslikeBoomerangcanbesettoautomaticallysenda followupmessageifyoudon'treceiveanemailreply. TolearnmoreaboutusingBoomerangtoautomate reminders,review: Gmail HowtoSendanEmailLaterWithBoomerangforGmail(AttheBestTime) LauraSpencer HowtoWriteanEffectiveEmailReminder Nowthat we'vediscussedsomeofthecircumstancesofwritingareminderemail,it's timetolookatamorespecificexampleof whattowriteinareminderemail. Forthe purposesofthistutorial,I'lltakealookatonecommontypeofreminder—a misseddeadline. Beforewe getstarted,however,Iwanttoletyouinonabigtimesaverwhenitcomesto writingemailsthatyouarelikelytosendmorethanonce—usetemplates.By creatingemailtemplatesforvarioussituations,youavoidstartingfresheach timeyousendaparticulartypeofmessage.Plus,templatescaneasilybe customizedtoincludespecificdetails. Gmailhasafeature,CannedResponses,thatcan helpyousetupdraftsofemailstoreuse.HereisourCannedResponses tutorial: Gmail HowtoCreateEmailTemplatesinGmail:WithCannedResponses LauraSpencer Anothergood pointaboutusingaCannedResponseisthatyouarelesslikelytoaddemotion intoyourreminderemail,whichkeepsitfriendlyandhelpful. Now,let'sgetstartedwithourfriendly reminderexampleandanalyzeeachcomponentofhowtowriteareminderemail. 1.EmailReminderSubjectLine Afteryou've chosenyourmessagerecipients,thefirstpartofyourremindermessageto consideristhesubjectline.Ifyou'retemptedtoskipthesubjectline, don't.EmailmessageswithoutasubjectlineoftengodirectlytoSpam. Thesubject lineisalsoimportantbecauseit'sthefirstthingtherecipientsees.If theyreceivelotsofemails,thesubjectlinemaydeterminewhethertheyopen theemailmessageyousend. Togetthe recipient'sattention,Iusethephrase"ResponseRequired"inthe subjectline.Ialsoincludetheprojectname,sincetheymaybeinvolvedwith morethanoneproject. Sofar,ourmessagelookslikethis: Besuretoincludeasubjectlinewithyourreminderemail.After decidingonasubjectline,you'rereadytomoveontothenextstepin creatingyourfriendlyreminderemail.Let'slookat howtowriteareminderemailsalutation. 2.EmailReminderSalutation Whileyoumaybetemptedtojumprightintothebodyof yourreminderemailandnotincludeasalutation,avoidthetemptation.Your emailwillbemuchbetterreceivedifyouaddressyourrecipientbyname. Inourexample,weknowthattheprojectteammember's nameisJoanPerez,sowe'lladdressthisemailremindermessagetoher.Since weknowJoanwell,it'sokaytostartwithaninformalsalutationusingthe word"Hi"followedbyafirstname,asintheexamplebelow: Ifyouknowtherecipient,it'sokaytouseaninformalgreeting.Ifwedidn'tknowJoanwell,wecouldstartwithamore formalgreetingsuchas"DearJoan."Ifwedidn'tknowJoan'sname, wecouldaddressherbyposition.Forexample,"DearProjectABCTeam Member." Formorespecificexamplesonhowtostartandenda professionalemail,takealookatthistutorial: Email HowtoStartandEndaProfessionalBusinessEmail LauraSpencer 3.EmailReminderBodyText Nowthat we'vechosenanemailsubjectlineandsalutation,we'rereadytomoveonto thebodyoftheemailremindermessage,andcoverthemainpartofwhattowriteinyourreminderemail. Thisiswhereyouactuallycommunicate yourmainmessage. Youcan dividethebodyofyouremailremindermessageintoseveralparts: FirstSentences -Sincethisisafriendlyreminder, it'sagoodideatostartthemessageonapositivenote.Thiskeepsyour messagefromseemingtooharsh.Ifyoucan'tthinkofanythingspecific,state somethingfriendlylike"Ihopeyouaredoingwell." MainMessage- Thisiswhereyouneedtocommunicate thepurposeofthemessage.Thinkcarefullyaboutwhatyouwanttosayhere.Be asclearaspossible.Explainexactlywhatisoverdue(work,payment,shipment, etc.)andwhenitwassupposedtohavebeendelivered. CalltoAction-Finally,tellthemessagerecipient whatyou'dlikethemtodo.Usually,thisisarequestforthemtoperforma desiredaction—butinsomeinstances,suchasalateshipment,youmaywantto askforarefundinstead.It'salsoagoodideatoofferhelpinthebodyof yourmessage,suchasanoffertoanswerquestions. Inthereminderemailsamplewearewritingto JoanPerezforProjectABC,weincorporatedtheseelementsasfollows: Thebodyoftheemailreminderiswhereyoucommunicateyourmessage.Notethatthe bodyoftheremindermessagestartsonapositivenotebycomplimentingJoan's earlierwork.Itmovesontoadirectparagraphaboutthemisseddeadline. Finally,the messagecloseswithacalltoactionaskingJoanforadatewhenthemissed workwillbesubmitted.Theprojectmanageralsoofferstoanswerquestionsand evenprovidestheirphonenumber. 4.ClosingYourFriendlyEmail Reminder Thefinal stepincreatingafriendlyemailreminderistocloseyourmessage.You'lldo thatwithonelastsentenceandyouremailsignature. Yourfinal sentenceshouldreflectthetoneoftherestofyouremail.Ifyouuseda formaltonethroughouttheemail,youshouldcloseonaformalnoteaswell. Likewise,ifyouremailisinformalyourclosingshouldbeinformalaswell. Let'slookmorecloselyatourexample: Closeyouremailreminderwithaclosingsentenceandyoursignature.Forour closingsentence,weendonapositivenotebyassumingthattherecipientis goingtotakeaction.Also,wedidnotincludethecompanynameorfurther contactinformationsincetheemailrecipientiswellknowntous. Foramore formalreminderemail(suchascontactingavendoraboutalateshipment), includemoreofthesender'sinformation,suchas: Name Title Company Address Phone Email Youmayevenwishtoincorporateanemailsignatureintoyourremindermessage.Here'salistofsomeprofessionalemailsignaturetemplatesyoumaywishtoconsider,aswellastipsonhowtobestusethem: How’syouremailsignaturelookrightnow?Isitbasic—orisitbeautiful?Agreatemailsignatureismemorable.Itcatchestheattentionofareaderand... Inthisarticle,welookatemailsignaturesandincludeemailsignaturetemplateexamples.Hereare12tipsforcreatingemailsignaturesthatareboth... WhentoPickUpthePhone Afriendly emailmessagecanbeaneffectivereminder.Often,that'sallittakestogeta matterresolved.Sometimes,though,aphonecallismoreeffectivethanan emailreminder.Thisisespeciallytruewhenyou'vealreadysentanemailandit's beenignored. Ifyoudo decidetomakeaphonecall,herearesomequickguidelinestohelpyoumakea successfulcall: CallDuringBusinessHours -Youaremorelikelytoreachsomeonewhocanhelpyouif youcallatatimewhentheyarelikelytobein. BeFriendlyandCourteous -Aprofessionalattitudecanhelpsmoothover misunderstandings. Don'tThreatenorMakeAccusations -Yourcontactislesslikelytocooperateifthey areupsetorangry. GetRighttothePoint -Youneedtobeclearaboutwhattheproblemisandwhat theycandotoresolveit. MakeItEasyforThemtoComply -Ifyouarecollectingapayment,explainhowthey canpayonlineanddirectthemtothelink. In certaincasesyoumayneedtoresorttoextrememeasures(suchashiringan attorneyorescalationthesituationtoyourmanager).But,thosemeasuresare alastresort.Whenyoucan,it'sbesttotrytoresolvethesituationwitha friendlyreminderemailorafriendlycall.Afriendlyapproachleavesyourprofessionalrelationship intactforfuturetransactions. Getmoreprofessionalemailtipsandregularupdatesonourbestnewbusinesscontent.GrabthefreeInboxZeroeBooknow:  Conclusion Ifyou've everwonderedwhattowriteinareminderemail,younowhavesomeguidelines youcanfollow.Justremembertofollowtheemailbestpractices outlinedinthistutorialandintheresourcesI'veshared. Aboveall, remainfriendlyandprofessionalasyouwriteyourreminderemail.Maintaining therelationshipleavesthedooropenforfuturetransactionswithyour contact. Haveyoueverhadtowriteafriendlyreminder email?Howdidyouhandleit?Shareyourexperiencesinthecommentsbelow. EditorialNote:ThiscontentwasoriginallypublishedinMarchof2017.We'resharingitagainbecauseoureditorshavedeterminedthatthisinformationisstillaccurateandrelevant. AdvertisementEmailWritingCommunicationHow-ToLauraSpencerEnvatoTuts+AssociateEditorBusiness,NorthTexas,USALauraSpencerisourAssociateBusinessEditorhereonTuts+.Sheusesherbusinessknowledgetohelpawidevarietyofaudiences.Bysharingherknowledgeinwell-researchedarticles,shehopestohelpothersdowell.Lauragraduatedwithadegreeinbusiness. BesidesTuts+,Laura'sworkhasbeenpublishedonmanysitesincludingVandelayDesignBlog,FreelanceM.ag,FreelanceFolder,LubbockAvalancheJournal,Woman'sDay,LifeHacker,andmore.She'salsowrittenover40businessstudyguidesforcontinuingeducationcompanies. Laurahasalsomanagedherownwritingbusinesssince2002.Beforethat,sheworkedincorporateAmericaasatechnicalwriterandalsoasamarketingwriter. Asalifelonglearner,Lauracontinuestoseekoutbetterinformationtohelpherreaders.Checkoutherlatestideasonherblog.TXWriter Lookingforsomethingtohelpkickstartyournextproject? EnvatoMarkethasarangeofitemsforsaletohelpgetyoustarted. 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