How to write business emails that get replies and drive action

No one sends emails just for fun. Whether it’s to provide important details, share something relevant or interesting, gather necessary information, or drive a specific action, each email sent has a specific purpose. 

With the rise of asynchronous workplace communication tools, like Slack and Clarityflow, it’s easy to think email isn’t as important as it used to be. But data proves otherwise. More than 92% of organizations still use email as a primary communication tool, and bulging email inboxes and distracted employees make writing effective emails more important than ever.

Why writing an effective email doesn’t guarantee you will receive a response

From your first day on the job until now, you have invested countless hours developing the skill of writing professional emails. If you’re in a leadership position, you have great communication skills and speak and write clearly. Nearly all of your emails get quick responses.

“Nearly,” however, is where you start to notice problems.

Some team members respond to emails right away and jump into action. Others take significantly longer to respond, and when they finally do, their email messages are unclear or half-baked.

If your language, tone of voice, and call to action don’t align with what prompts the recipient to respond and move into action, it doesn’t matter how well your email is written, how much time was spent carefully choosing your words, or how clear your message is — you still won’t get a quick reply.

Most of the time, their lack of engagement isn’t purposeful or malicious and they’re not actively ignoring your messages. They likely see your email, read it, and procrastinate, intending to respond later. But then they get distracted and forget until you email them again. 

Procrastination is common when how you communicate by email and how a recipient is wired to engage don’t line up.

So yes, you need to write effective business emails and avoid typos, use proper formatting, and ensure your message and call to action are clear. Below you’ll find tips to write professional emails and communicate effectively. 

Beyond those basics, you also need to understand the “who” on the other end of your emails. You need to know who you’re writing an email to and what makes them tick — what sparks their interest and drives them to engage.

The secret to writing email messages that get results

When leaders look at an individual’s underlying motivations, they can harness that innate drive in their email messaging to not only compel faster, higher-quality responses but also drive meaningful action. And because anyone can tap into motivation with MCode, this is a skill everyone can learn and apply to become better communicators and get better results.

As you can see, one-size-fits-all emails might be faster to write, but the time initially saved is minuscule compared to the time lost to response procrastination, added follow-up, and delayed action. By spending a few extra minutes to write separate emails and personalize your message for each person, the chances of getting the responses and actions you want skyrocket. 

It sounds difficult; personalization always does. But it doesn’t have to be. 

When you know the MCodes of each individual on your team, you have everything you need to pitch every email to each person’s sweet spot, give them an advantage, and set them up for success. With MCode Premium results, we even give you the action words and descriptors they will best respond to, along with examples of how to tailor your pitch or ask.

Tips for writing business emails that get replies and drive action

Check out the following tips for writing emails that get opened, replied to, and acted upon, and discover how motivation levels up the impact of your business communications.

1. Understand the recipient

Before writing an email, pause and consider who you’re communicating with and what moves them to engage and respond. This brief step helps you shape the tone and wording of your email message to fit the recipient and the type of work they find interesting and fulfilling.

When writing an email to an Achiever, someone who is fulfilled by creating an impact through achievements and high performance:

• Emphasize how their contributions are critical to the team’s success.
• Highlight the impact of their work. 
• Use language that acknowledges their need for achievement.

Understanding and using language that resonates with the motivational drivers of your team members will enhance email effectiveness and produce better outcomes while also improving professional relationships.

2. Define the intended purpose

Every email sent should have a purpose. Once you know who you need to email, define why the email must be sent and what you want to happen as a result. With that clarity, you can not only become more efficient at managing your inbox and writing emails but also become more effective at driving results.

Defining the purpose of an email:

• Ensures your emails are worth reading. 
• Shows respect for other people’s inboxes.
• Prevents you from wasting people’s time.

Plus, with more and more professionals reading and responding to emails from their mobile devices, it’s important to make sure your emails are short, direct, and clear.

3. Write a helpful subject line

Beyond your name, which captures attention on its own, especially if you’re in a leadership position, the first thing others notice in their inboxes are email subject lines. This simple line of text can mean the difference between an email being ignored and an email being prioritized and opened quickly.

Good email subject lines are clear, concise, and relevant. In a handful of words, they communicate what an email is about and provide context for why it matters.

• Skip too short, unclear, lazy subject lines like, “following up” and “check this out,” and avoid nonspecific, general subject lines like, “project update” and “upcoming changes.”
• Instead, state the topic of the email and explain its purpose or provide some context. Aim for short and clear; something like: “March sales goals: Put your numbers on the board.”

Although some debate surrounds emoji use in professional email, they can boost email engagement. Use emojis strategically and only when communicating with people who may prefer them — these people are typically Relators, Influencers, and Visionaries. 

4. Be personal yet professional

When it comes to business email, personal, personable, and casual don’t mean the same things. Knowing the difference will impact your tone of voice, how others perceive your communications, and how they respond to your emails.

Personal: 

The quality of your professional relationships impacts your ability to collaborate with team members, your effectiveness as a leader, and your success within an organization. While you may frequently begin emails with a personal note:

• Keep emotion out of your email communications unless it is celebratory. Be wary of using a tone that can be perceived as angry, disrespectful, or condescending.
• Be careful not to let the purpose of your email message get buried or lost in extraneous details about your personal life or non-work-related topics.

Personable:

Being personable means being friendly, approachable, pleasant, and easy to work with. Writing personable emails also means acknowledging rapport, being respectful of other people’s inboxes, and not wasting time. When coaching business owners and agencies, I always encourage a firm, fair, and friendly approach:

• Be firm about what you need someone to do.
• Be fair in your approach and ask.
• Be friendly in your tone and how you make an ask.

Casual: 

Emails are not text messages. Emails are not Slack messages. They are not social media direct messages. They are professional business communications. Never forget that when writing work emails, you’re at work (even if you work from home).

• Messages that are too laid back or relaxed can be seen as unimportant and lacking professionalism. 
• Casual language, slang, and off-handed email remarks can be easily misunderstood and create friction. 
• Being too informal can downplay the significance of your email message and slow down necessary progress.

The culture of your workplace will determine how formal your email communications need to be and what tone is acceptable. Take your cues from the leaders and executives in your organization and always remain polite and professional.

5. Include a call to action

Twice now I’ve mentioned that every business email you write should have a clear and specific purpose. That purpose often requires the person receiving your email to do something. This means every professional email is likely to include a call to action — a statement that asks and spurs someone into action, and tells them what to do next.

Examples include:

• Brainstorm creative ways we can rally support for our upcoming product launch.
• Take the Motivation Code assessment before next Tuesday’s team training.
• Collaborate with the designer to get our brochure to print by the end of the day tomorrow.

The quality of an email call to action determines the response quality and how quickly others do what you ask of them. When adding a call to action to your emails:

• Start with a strong action verb.
• Provide specific details.
• Use power descriptors — powerful words that stir up emotions.
• Include any time constraints or deadlines.

If writing an email asking Josh, the Learner from earlier examples, to look into software options for a new productized service, you would get the fastest response and best results by tailoring your email message and call to action to align with how he is motivated as a Learner. And with access to his MCode Premium report, it’s easy! Included in his results are 20 action verbs and 20 power descriptors that fit him perfectly.

6. Prioritize readability

To succeed in a professional environment, you must think about perception. The quality of your communication affects how others perceive you.

• Clunky, poorly worded emails that lack proper structure and formatting are hard to read and perceived to be unprofessional and low quality.
• Straightforward, well-written emails with good structure and formatting are easy to read and perceived to be more professional and of higher quality.

When writing work emails, pay attention to how you open and close your message, the flow of the message itself, and how the content is formatted. Remember, many people quickly scan an email to decide if and when they’ll read it and respond, and many read emails on their phones, which means they may also be distracted.

If an email feels hard to read or too long, people might delay their response and put it off until later. Make your emails easy to read by presenting information in a logical order and making time to improve readability.

• Keep your emails short and to the point. According to Hubspot, that means limiting email length to 70-125 words.
• Use simple, plain language. Avoid buzzwords, jargon, and big complicated words.
• Use short paragraphs of 1-3 sentences with spaces between each paragraph.
• Use bullet lists or number lists rather than comma-separated lists to make your message more scannable.
• Use the standard system typefaces and stick to one.
• Use bold styling to focus attention on important deadlines or specific calls to action.

7. Proofread every email

Even if you get every part of writing a professional business email right, it’s not a good look if your message has spelling and grammatical errors or the wrong tone. While a few typos may not prevent someone from opening, reading, and replying to an email, they can shape their perception of your abilities and professionalism.

Before clicking send, always proofread your email:

1. Check for spelling and grammatical errors. Try using tools like Grammarly, Hemingway App, Google Docs, and any other word processor that checks these details for you.
2. Read your email out aloud from the first word to the last to check the feel and flow. If you get tripped up anywhere, you know it needs a bit of editing.
3. While reading your email aloud, peek between the lines to make sure your tone of voice is represented accurately. If your message feels or sounds curt or harsh, chances are the person receiving it will feel the same way.

Write effective emails with Motivation Code

If there’s one thing you take away from this article, make it the importance of understanding who you’re communicating with. 

Organizations, agencies, leaders and teams that invest in truly seeing and understanding their people — who they are, what value they are naturally wired to contribute, and what drives them to engage, go all in, persevere, and achieve amazing results — can leverage that understanding to set their teams and every individual in their workforce up for success. 

And yes, they can also write better, more effective emails that get responses and drive results.Learn more about how Motivation Code can advance your people and your business, and book a conversation with our team to talk about empowering your team.