Email Marketing solutions

Reaching Buyers With Effective e-Mail Communication

Buyers do not respond' is a common refrain of many exporters using e-commerce portals. Some of them even go on to brand concerned buyer 'non-serious’ or even 'fake'. Little do they realize that the reason lies more with themselves than the other way round.

There may be many reasons why an e-mail goes unanswered, such as server down, spam filter or recipient’s mailbox full - but mostly the reason lies in its format, content and style. Chances of an e-mail eliciting any kind of response is indeed poor when recipient thinks the e-mail as 'waste of time' or 'there's nothing more to write about'. Obvious destination for such e-mails is the trash folder.

To be successful in e-business and saving your e-mails from trash folder - its extremely important to understand what's acceptable in business e-mails in terms of writing style, format and content.

You may have high quality product at competitive price - but that may not be enough to reach buyers unless your communication style is as good. Your communication must be able to attract recipient's attention through such acceptable style and content.

1. Acceptable Format

A business e-mail must have a business address as its sender. A mail from sales@rama-exports.com is far more effective and acceptable than rama_exports@hotmail.com This is an extremely important requirement in any business e-mail format for obvious reasons. We are talking here of business not inviting friends for birthday party! If your business can not afford a business e-mail but offers million dollar products - you really can not blame the recipient cynicism. After all, you do not visit up-market automobile showroom in shorts and slippers as sales people may not take you seriously. In the anonymous world of Internet - establishing trust is the bedrock of any business relationship. Anonymous e-mails do not convey a positive image about your company – and possibly harms your cause.

Business e-mails come from web-sites at no extra cost. So, the natural corollary of this point - to be successful in e-business, your business should have a professional web-site.

Other important requirement of any business e-mail is a meaningful signature line that contains your company name, address, tel, fax, internet home etc. All e-mail clients (such as Netscape, Outlook etc.) offers facility for creating signature files that gets attached to every outgoing mail.

2. Acceptable Style

Politeness, readability and easy comprehension are cornerstone of effective business communication. Politeness demands that you first write about you and your business before requesting the same from your recipient. Avoid words which may be construed as pushy, impolite or even rude such as ASAP, prompt, at your earliest etc.

3. Readability

Readability demands that you write in short sentences in direct conversational mode. Avoid using cumbersome sentences that so many businessmen in Indian sub-continent are so fond of (perhaps colonial legacy). Examples of such sentences - 'Would you be so kind of as to..', 'please find enclosed' etc. Instead, use direct conversation mode such as 'I have attached below copy of my last mail'. Never use abbreviations such as "pls", BTW, "u" for you etc as you would normally do in a telex or telegram. Such abbreviations and acronyms not only make your letter difficult to read but may even lead the recipient to think you are lazy. You may be quite conversant with cryptic abbreviations and enjoy SMS lingo - certainly not everyone!

4. Professional Style

Professional style demands that your mail is precise, to the point and free from spelling errors and grammatical mistakes. Your content should run coherently from beginning to end, neatly organized into paragraphs and ideally should not exceed 3-4 paragraphs. Instead of writing about your product or company in details - touch important points and direct the reader to concerned sections in your web-site through links

5. Persistence

Writing effective e-mail is not sufficient unless you are prepared to follow them up. There may be many reasons why the buyer has not responded and the best person to answer the question is - obviously, the buyer! So go ahead, pick up the phone and politely enquire about your offer. You will be surprised to know the reason - which may be as simple as the buyer not in town or the e-mail never reached him/her or as complex as your negotiation style, product quality, pricing, payment terms etc. In any case, you will get valuable feedback which can be used to sharpen your business process.

Conclusion - Why Communication is So Important in E-Commerce?

In the anonymous world of Internet, often the only way your customer can evaluate you or your business is your communication - your language, presentation and style. Your e-mail, web-site, presentation etc. are your faces to the world - and these must inspire sufficient confidence in your buyer to transact business with you or at least take you seriously. This is a marked difference from traditional business and you should be aware of this feature of e-commerce.

You may be well known in your own country but the overseas customer has no way of knowing how true your claims are. The only touchstone he/she has is your communication - you must make sure they are really professional looking. The professional visitors must immediately know from your offer that it has been written by another professional.