Industry digest: is business politeness becoming too cliché?

Hello, I hope you’re well.

A colleague of mine used to use this at the opening of every email she sent. Even to people sitting in the same room as her. It had become her standard opening, just as the old faithful Kind Regards had been her standard sign-off.

We would tease her gently about it. Her defence was: “I’m just being polite.”

Politeness and etiquette is, of course, very important in business. She definitely had the right attitude. But these email cliches have become so over-used that they can now make the sender appear like an inexperienced communicator.

If you’re anything like me, you will receive hundreds of emails every week, many from unsolicited sources with generic content. Although I’ve mentioned before that I like to try to reply to everybody, the effort put in to my reply will equal the effort put in by the sender.

Let’s assume that everyone deep down is a nice person and does actually hope you’re well. But we’re all wise to platitudes and small talk these days, and it doesn’t impress anyone. You wouldn’t put it in a marketing email, unless you were trying to be ironic.

You really do only get one chance to make that first impression. This goes for client introductions and job applications as much as it does for sales and cold marketing outreach.

You don’t have to just jump straight into your topic if that makes you feel uncomfortable. But it’s time to get creative. Use your knowledge of the person you are emailing if it is someone you know. Begin with “How’s the kitchen renovation going?” Or ,if you want to keep it professional: “I’ve seen the work your team has been doing on xxx and it’s looking really good.”

If it’s someone you don’t know, and you’re introducing yourself, how about dropping in a little anecdote? Or make it topical: “Now that Easter is out of the way, it’s time to start thinking about all those spring and summer projects.”

Just make sure you don’t bloat your emails with unnecessary chatter. If you’ve got a point to make, get to it quickly.

This will make you stand out from the crowd, make you memorable and secure you that meeting or interview.

Incidentally, I really do hope you are well.