Mike Peck is the President of Outside Source Design and the chief marketing strategist. This is the final of four articles by Mike offering a few helpful hints toward making your email communications more effective.
Signing off with conviction
Emotional intent can easily be overlooked when creating an email message. However, be assured an emotion is registered with the recipient. Every person you send a message to will find information as well and read emotional intent within your message. Today, let’s focus on the art of signing off.
In every letter or email, it is usually understood that a valediction will be part of the message. A valediction is a complimentary close to a message. In years past, when formality was routine, messages might be closed as follows:
I remain, your humble servant
(Insert name here)
Today, a closing such as this one would not resonate and might create the wrong impression.
To illustrate, here are a few common valedictions today. Which ones do you find as courteous or collaborative and which ones might contain a formality that seems neutral, demanding or even curt?
Yours sincerely,
Please advise,
Yours truly
Take care
Best,
Kind regards,
For me, ‘please advise’ is the sign off that poses the most risk of sending the wrong emotional intent. When I get an email closed in this way it seems to say, “I don’t expect you to respond, so I need to remind you to do so.” How do you emotionally connect with the signatures of messages you receive? Perhaps there are others that rub you the wrong way.
Be sure to consider your audience and your intent before you put yourself out there. Don’t simply sign off an email without considering how it might be received. Sign off with conviction that you will be heard and correctly understood.
All the best,
Mike
