In our second part of this series of email tips for real estate professionals, we’ll take a look at the items you should avoid at all cost. These items can make life very difficult for the real estate professional and cause confusion and delays in getting things done. Many of these email tips are based in commonly practiced “netiquette” and apply to personal emails just as much as business emails, but when it comes to real estate related email, some of these items can cause serious delays or misunderstandings between agents and potentially derail a transaction. Remember, always be clear and concise. That is probably the number one email tip that we can give you. Without that one, you might as well not even bother to send an email at all.
Email Tips – Avoid These Items
Chatting – While real estate professionals offer a lot of resources through various websites, they are still a business and as such, cannot just give out all of their knowledge and insights for free. Sending endless emails without any regard to that fact can seem innocent enough, but it is not reasonable to expect them to give their time freely for any lengthy period.
Multiple Sources – These days, most of us have multiple email addresses and various devices to send email from. Make sure you’re replying from the right address when corresponding to an email chain. Switching email addresses mid-discussion can cause confusion and delays. Also be sure your devices include “quoting” so that the previous emails are still attached to the chain – getting an email that says “yes, go ahead with that plan” without any reference can be confusing to say the least.
Who Are You? – Forgetting to address your emails to a specific person or not signing them is unacceptable in business emails. Remember to always specify who you’re talking to and include a signature line so that the recipient knows who sent it to them.
Bombardment – Also known as dumping, this is the act of sending excessive amounts of emails and attachments with unnecessary information – remember to be concise and clear about your purpose in your business emails.
Shouting – NO ONE LIKES TO BE YELLED AT! TURN THE CAPS LOCK OFF! THANK YOU! USE A FEW LESS EXCLAMATION POINTS WHILE YOU’RE AT IT!!!!
Slang and Text Talk – In addition to correct grammar and spelling, avoid “text talk” (ie, ur instead of your) and slang. You are a professional, so your business emails should reflect that at all times.
Religion – Avoid references to your personal religious beliefs. Whether it’s direct quotes from religious texts, blessings, or spiritual advice in the form of quotes or other email sign offs, these religious nods imply that the recipient shares your same beliefs, which they may or may not. In addition to potential Fair Housing violations, these can make some people uncomfortable and do not have a place in business transactions.
Politics – Much like religion, political topics can be a hot button for some. Avoid political talk and remain neutral in your emails.
Rambling – Remember how we mentioned you should be clear and concise in your emails? Avoid rambling on and on about a topic – get to the point. Use bullet points and paragraphs. Avoid meandering from one topic to another. If you’re discussing something rather complicated, break it into small bites and use numbers to codify it.
Center of the Universe – You are not the center of the universe. Real estate professionals and those in the industry receive hundreds of emails a day. Without a clear indication of what the email is referring to or who it is coming from, you are making the assumption that you are the only client in the universe. While you should be made to feel that way, truth is, you are not. Help everyone out by (have we said this somewhere before?) being clear and concise, so that there are no questions about your intent with your email.
It’s All About Bob – This one made us laugh, because we’ve seen it before. Email arrives requesting urgent action and is signed simply “Bob.” We work with a lot of Bobs (as it’s a common name) and without some reference to a transaction, property, negotiation, etc. in the email, it is next to impossible to know what the email is about. No one is that psychic – if they were, there would be no need for email – we could all just magically know what to do next without any communication.
More Email Tips for Real Estate Professionals
If you missed the original article, check out “Email Tips for Real Estate Professionals Part I” where we talk about best practices for writing business emails.
image courtesy of gajman
this post is based off of an article by David J. Willis, a Houston real estate attorney
