For affiliate marketers and anyone working on the web a large percentage of your business comes through email. Can you afford to throw valuable business away because of something as simple as your email correspondence?
For some, that scenario is all too real, with side effects that can stall or even completely derail your opportunities for success.
Real life illustration
The best way to illustrate this is to use an example, using an unintentional pun of working with a freelance illustrator.
We were in need of some specific graphic elements for one of our web properties, graphics that we wouldn’t be able to create in-house. As it turns out, I had the perfect person in mind for the job. My friend (let’s call him John), is a great graphic illustrator whose work comes naturally, with real style in his designs.
John works full time at a bank because he can’t seem to secure long-term consistent relationships with clients for his illustration business. If you’re serious about moving into an industry like affiliate marketing or freelance illustration, consistent long-term profits require long-term relationships with clients and/or partners.
Wanting to establish such a relationship with John, I gave John the first look at my project brief, asking him if he would be interested in doing work for us. The response that I received was shocking, and I dare say it was a telling sign as to why his illustration business hasn’t taken off.
Your email needs to be professional
Part 1: Spelling errors and emoticons? Really?
What immediately caught my eye was the lack of professionalism in his emails. Grammatical errors, misspellings, and unfamiliar emoticons flooded my senses, making it difficult to interpret the hieroglyphics of his email.
In this era of spell-check, spelling errors are unnecessary, if not unforgivable. Emoticons, save the more familiar smiley face, should be saved for your MySpace messages, not for your business correspondence.
Part 2: Attitude and tone
What really was the worst part of the email was the tone and attitude. Simple requests were met with an almost scornful response, as if the world revolved around his work. It was as if he were lowering himself to even be dealing with me at all, the artisté in him balking at even low level negotiations.
As marketers, or business people in general, our job is to smooth out the pathways to negotiation, not place hurdles in the way for others to jump over.
Business correspondence may be about business, but human beings are the ones doing the reading, with emotions and feelings that must be accounted for in your emails.
Conclusion
With upwards of 90% of your business’ communications coming via email, can you afford to throw away valuable relationships?
My friend John didn’t get the job, even though I know he’s perfect for it.
Who pulled the plug?
I did. My disgust at the informal, unprofessional email responses was stronger than my desire to have him work with me.
Because of that, he has thrown away a potential long-term relationship that might have proven to be both fulfilling as an artist and rewarding financially.
If you really care about your business, you’ll spend the extra time needed on your emails to ensure that the net result will be a positive one, and not a negative deal-breaker.
Discussion of Are you losing business because of your email correspondence?