Email writing is regulated by numerous rules that ensure the potency of your message. Since emails are a direct representation of your brand image and your relationship with the recipient, you want the content to be immaculate, relevant, and convincing.
According to email statistics, more than 333 billion emails are sent out daily, and an average person receives more than 100 emails daily.
Around 80% of these emails are either ignored, sent to the spam folder or deleted. Hence, if you are amongst the lucky ones whose email the recipient read, you want the message to leave a lasting impression.
This is where the email ending comes into play!
You can intrigue the recipient to click on the email with an attention-grabbing subject line, and you can compel them to keep reading with a strong opening line, but if your sign-off is weak, all your efforts are wasted.
It is similar to dashing across the football field with the ball nestled in your arms, thwarting the opponents’ tackling efforts, and dropping the ball just before the finish line.
So, what do you do to ensure that you score the email-writing touchdown? You keep reading this article on the best ways how to end an email!
- Importance Of Professional Solid Email Closings
- Best Ways How To End An Email
- 1. Be polite by expressing gratitude
- 2. Incorporate a call-to-action to get results
- 3. Use appropriate sign-off relevant to the recipient
- 4. Professional emails
- 5. Semi-professional or friendly emails
- 6. Convey eagerness for the next chapter
- 7. Add a post scriptum to reiterate the message
- 8. Create good vibes with a cool ending
- Worst Ways To End An Email
- Tips For Creating The Perfect Email Ending
- Over To You!
Importance Of Professional Solid Email Closings
Before diving into "how" to end an email ideally, let’s talk about “why” email closings are crucial.
The email is divided into the opening segment, the main content or body of text, and then sign-off. All of these sections are equally essential to make your email convert.
However, the last few lines of your email can decide whether you receive a reply or not. Since the email closing is the last thing the audience reads before taking the desired action, it needs to be clear, respectable, and impressive.
If the parting sentences are ambiguous or inappropriate, you may appear unprofessional or inconsiderate for sending out a rushed sign-off.
Therefore, just as you would end a verbal communication on a definitive note, approach your email ending similarly to boost your response rate.
Best Ways How To End An Email
There are numerous ways to end an email, whether professional correspondence, a business email, or an informal exchange. Below I have outlined the proper signs offs that follow the email writing etiquettes and email closing that yield results:
1. Be polite by expressing gratitude
Email writing is all about being expedient and concise, but politeness goes a long way in creating a sustainable professional relationship based on mutual respect. Therefore, exhibit your impeccable mannerism but extend gratitude at the end of your emails.
Moreover, “Thanks“ and “Thank you” are amongst the most common and appropriate sign-offs that still hold relevance in the era of expedited communications where pleasantries are often foregone.
According to a study by Adam Grant and Francesca Gino, the cover letter ending with an expression of appreciation had double the compliance rate compared to one without the phrase, “Thank you so much! I am grateful.”
Another study by Boomerang, the email marketing company, analyzed 350,000 email threads to determine the correlation between the eight most popular email closings and their response rates. The study deduced that expressing gratitude had a higher response rate compared to other sign-offs.
“Thanks in advance” was most effective with a 65.7% response rate, followed by "Thanks" at 63% and "Thank you" at 57.9%.
Thus, while saying any variation of "thanks" is a basic courtesy, it is also a powerful sentiment that humanizes and personalizes your digital communication. It also ensures a more effectual approach to end an email that garners better engagement results.
2. Incorporate a call-to-action to get results
If you are writing to someone, you probably want the email recipient to respond to your query or implement the requested action. Including a call-to-action (CTA) can help you fulfill the purpose of your email.
While CTAs are often associated with marketing emails, they are also relevant and useful in business communications. They bring attention to the topic at hand and prompt the reader to take necessary actions. They tell the audience their next course of action and take the guesswork out of the equation.
The closing sentence is an ideal place to embed a CTA. Since it is most often the last thing the recipient reads (unless you add a post scriptum), the information will remain fresh in their minds. In fact, if you do not end an email with a CTA, you are committing an email faux pas.
Your CTA can be anything from booking a meeting, arranging a call, or asking for an opinion on something. Just make sure to use clear, actionable, and striking text that states precisely what you want.
3. Use appropriate sign-off relevant to the recipient
Your relationship with your recipient determines the tone and quality of your email content. Everything from the salutation and the opening lines to the email closing phrases and sign-offs should be according to the person receiving the email to ensure the convertibility of your content.
4. Professional emails
A professional email is written to someone you do not know well. It is also an acceptable form of communication with the executive of a company or a prospective client. Therefore, you have to employ a professional tone throughout the content and use a sign-off that is appropriate for formal emails.
Following are the common professional email sign-offs:
Sincerely
Use “Sincerely” when you write to someone you do not correspond with regularly. While it is archaic, it is also the perfect sign-off when sending professional emails with cover letters. You can also say "Yours sincerely" or keep it simple; both are polite and respectful.
Respectfully
“Respectfully” is one of the most, if not the most, formal email endings. Close your emails with this sign-off when you are dispatching an email to a person of authority at a company or government officials.
Cordially
"Cordially" has the same undertone as "Respectfully," but I find it a bit outdated. You can use the professional closing in your business emails where you want to end on a cheerful note or establish further communications with a new contact.
(Best) Regards
“Best regards” or “Regards” imply a slight warmth and a hint of formality, without the stiffness or pretension of other professional sign-offs. Thus, they are appropriate for initial communications.
The sign-off has quite a few variations, including "Kind regards,” “Fond regards," and "Warm regards,” where “Kind regards” is the most commonly used professional closing.
Yours faithfully
“Yours faithfully” is incredibly stiff and should only be used when contacting people who are not your regular contacts. Hence, this email sign-off pairs well with the salutation, "Dear."
Best wishes
One of the most versatile email endings, you can use “Best wishes” for a professional email or a business email. It is a friendly and polite sign-off, so you can incorporate it to take the edge off an awkward conversation or elicit a positive response.
"Warm wishes" is another acceptable variation of this sign-off.
5. Semi-professional or friendly emails
Most emails that you send out daily land somewhere in the middle of the casual to formal spectrum. It would be best if you were professional and courteous yet still come across as friendly and approachable in your emails. Therefore, your email closing should reflect your professional manner, without the stuffiness.
Following are the best semi-professional email closing examples:
Warmly
"Warmly" is a slightly less formal variation of "Cordially," which borders on the realms of a professional sign-off. You can use it as an email closing for a colleague with whom you are not very close but who share a good working relationship.
Have a great day
A simple yet effective way to end your email is by wishing the recipient a great day. It does not have any deep connotations that can be misunderstood and lie squarely in the middle of safe email closing realms. You can also replace it with “Have a great weekend” if you are emailing someone on a Friday.
Take care
"Take care" is another acceptable and widely used email closing. You can incorporate it in exchanges with well-acquainted colleagues, close friends, and family members, but never use it for a professional email, as it is too intimate.
Best
If you want to play it safe with a ubiquitous sign-off, opt for "Best," followed by your name. While some people term it bland or cold, I highly recommend it in scenarios where you do not want any miscommunication about the nature of the email.
Later
One of the most casual email closings, "Later," is best suited for a friend or a close acquaintance. It foregoes the norms of formal email writing and is akin to ending a verbal conversation with a close pal. However, practice caution when using this sign-off at work, as it can be misinterpreted.
Cheers
Another one of the informal email closings is "Cheers." It is a simple, fun, and friendly way to end an email to an incredibly close collaborator or a friendly colleague. However, do not use it after criticizing the said acquaintance about something work-related. Then the same sign-off can come across as insensitive.
6. Convey eagerness for the next chapter
Most emails you send out are either a part of a conversation or a starter for future email exchanges. Thus, it makes sense to incorporate a closing line that translates your enthusiasm for what is coming next into words.
Moreover, when you end an email on an eager note, the recipient feels obliged to reflect your warmth and ardor with a response, which is exactly what you want. However, there is a proper way to exhibit your eagerness.
According to Forbes, using words like “excited” or “thrilled” is a great way to show your keenness. Contrarily, excessive use of exciting language or exclamation points can be distracting and make you appear unprofessional.
Thus, a well-written closing phrase is a perfect way to express yourself in a composed manner. You can say something like “looking forward to hearing from you,” “excited to be working with you,” or “looking forward to hearing your thoughts/opinions on the matter.”
7. Add a post scriptum to reiterate the message
One of the foremost rules of writing a professional email is to be succinct and pertinent. On the other hand, you want the recipient to realize the importance of your email and make it a priority amongst the dozens of messages they receive every day.
You can achieve both goals by adding a concise post scriptum at the end of your email.
Post scriptum is amongst the suitable professional email closings. It summarizes your entire email content, so the reader will still register the parting sentence even if they scan through the text. These closing words also drive your point home and highlight the response or action expected from the reader.
8. Create good vibes with a cool ending
This advice is highly situational since it will not work every time you write an email professionally. However, if you can pull it off, it can help you stand out from the run-of-the-mill sign-offs and generate a reply.
You can use a movie quote:
· “May the force be with you.” -Star Wars
· “I’ll be right here.” -ET
· “After all, tomorrow is another day.” -Gone with the wind
You can use an inspirational quote:
· “It is never too late to be what you might have been.” -George Eliot
· “The secret of getting ahead is getting started." -Mark Twain
You can also end with a joke but just evaluate it to ensure that it is not insulting or inappropriate. Scrap the idea immediately if you have any inkling that might not sit well with the recipient.
Worst Ways To End An Email
While professional communications have evolved from robotic-sounding, painstakingly formal messages to casual, conversational emails, there is still a fine line that is best respected when composing business letters.
You want the audience to take your emails seriously and not dismiss them due to an amateurish, awkward, or inappropriate closing. Therefore, I have compiled a list of practices to avoid when you end an email:
1. Failing to add a closing line
Imagine you are on a phone call with a colleague, and they hang up the phone without the customary parting words and a goodbye. How would that make you feel?
My first thought would be, “How rude!”
If you end an email abruptly without a closing line, you will evoke similar feelings, which is the last thing you want.
Apart from not coming across as rude or nonchalant, email closing also provides you with the ripe opportunity to reel in the reader and solidify your relationship. It makes your message wholesome and more impactful.
Thus, always add a closing email even if you have an email signature.
2. Adding an inappropriate sign-off
Despite the age of emoticons and abbreviations, there are a few sign-offs that you had better steer clear off if you want to create or maintain a good impression. These include:
XOXO
No matter how well you know the recipient, this sign-off has no place in a professional email ending.
Have a blessed day
This email sign-off has religious connotations that harbor certain assumptions about the recipient's beliefs. Therefore, avoid using it even if it comes from a well-meaning place.
Peace
This can come across as political and rattle the readers. It is also quite unprofessional to end an email this way.
Yours truly
While it is not as inappropriate compared to others on the list, it is still redundant. There are far better options that are more suitable to create a positive impression.
3. Neglecting to check for typos
Typos are common and a part of being human. However, failing to reread your content to get rid of these errors is a grave mistake that can compromise the integrity of your email.
An email riddled with spelling or grammatical mistakes entails that you composed it without investing any time or effort. It conveys that you are not dedicated or focused on curating productive and lasting professional correspondence.
Consequently, the reader can feel disrespected and dismiss your efforts to reach out. If you did not feel motivated enough to ensure the correctness of your email before you hit send, why should the recipient waste their time reading it?
Therefore, invest in a tool that checks for typos and ensures that your content is potent and compelling.
Tips For Creating The Perfect Email Ending
There are so many email sign-offs and closings that you can embed at the end of your email to maintain its relevancy in a saturated inbox. However, there are a few fixed rules that govern a formal closing to establish the credibility of your email. These are as follows:
Include the relevant personal info
The email signature identifies the sender and highlights all the relevant information that can help the reader move the conversation forward. Thus, your email signature includes your:
Full name
Adding your first and last name is incredibly important in the first few emails, as it helps the recipient remember who you are. Once you start having regular email communication, you can drop the last name.
Job title and company name
Another tip when approaching someone for the first time via email is to add your current job title and company name. A prominent and current job title can impact the response rate and improve the relevancy of the reply. It also helps you come across as professional and competent.
Contact information
Effective email signatures incorporate all the relevant contact information to provide the reader with multiple communication channels. It ensures that all your basis are covered if the recipient needs to reach out through a faster and alternative communication route.
Thus, include all your phone numbers, another email address, and a link to your website if applicable.
Social media accounts
Finally, round off the email signature with links to your social media accounts. Connecting with someone on social media can help you exhibit your achievements to create a solid first impression and nurture a lasting professional relationship.
Ideally, you should include a link to your Facebook account and LinkedIn profile, but you can also add a Twitter button.
Keep your company branding subtle and tasteful
It is pretty common and acceptable to include your company logo or a graphic in the brand colors at the end of an email. In fact, it is a great branding opportunity that can make your email easily recognizable and memorable for the recipient.
However, you do not want to appear garnished with a giant logo that looks like a blatant advertisement and overshadows the purpose of your email. Stick to modest and minimal graphics that drive the point across without being too flashy.
Don’t let your phone have the last word
I have sent out too many emails from my phone while I am on the go. While there is nothing wrong with it, it can look unprofessional if your email has the telltale “sent from my iPhone” tag.
Therefore, spend some time deactivating these automated sign-off features from your devices and include a unique email signature with all the bells and whistles I have mentioned above.
Over To You!
In a nutshell, your professional email closing should be cordial, pertinent, and brief. It should prompt the reader to consider your message and generate a relevant response. Additionally, your sign-off should reflect the nature of your acquaintance level with the recipient.
When you end your correspondence on a respectful and powerful note, it sets the right tone for all your future communications with the recipient.
