How to Get People to Really Read your Messages – and Take Action   

Have you ever been in a situation where you sent an important email but did not receive a reply?  Was your request for a meeting with a client or a report from your colleagues “not heard,” so to speak? And did it leave you wondering why so many of your emails go into “a black hole” never to be answered again? If your answer is yes, you might want to take a closer look at the way you write and send emails.

Here are techniques that will definitely get people to read your emails – and likely either reply or take further action:

Have a Specific Subject Line 
Your subject line is the first thing that people will read. And it will also decide whether people will open your email or not. Especially when you are writing to someone who is ‘not required’ to answer. Is it compelling enough to get the reader to keep reading?

Vague words like ‘hello’, ‘meeting’, ‘great idea’, ‘feedback’, ‘thank you’ etc. hardly inspire anyone. Besides, it can easily land your message in the spam folder. Whereas specific subject lines give a clear understanding of the matter and make it easier to follow up. For example, consider the following: 

• • • “Meeting to discuss digital marketing plan for Q3”
    • “Request your feedback on our new brochure”,
    • “Query about Learning & Development requirements at…”

Mention a clear “Call to Action” question
Your email should clearly state what you would like the reader to do. Separate your “call to action” from the rest of the text, and put it in a new paragraph. Don’t let it blend in with the rest of the text.

Another thing to remember is you shouldn’t let the conclusion be an open-ended request. Why? Because it seldom gets answered. Instead, make it more compelling by getting the other person to respond to your question – ending of course with a question mark.

For example, the following is a weak statement — it may not get answered because it is not persuasive:

“Please let me know if it is convenient for you to meet next week so that we can discuss the project further. 

But consider this:

“It would be great to discuss the project details further. Would it be possible for you to have a brief meeting next week?” 

This requires an answer – yes or no. In most cases, the person reading this would let you know their reply, meaning that you met your goal of receiving some sort of response.

Follow Economy of Words

“I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”

The above quote from Mark Twain stands so true for business writing today. Writing effectively in a concise manner requires effort, but it is well worth it. In the increasingly busy world that we live, attention spans of our readers are certainly diminishing. Here are few techniques to keep your message short and simple:

1. Get to the point, quickly. Start with the core objective of the email.

For example: “I am writing today to request a short testimonial from you for our recent training programme.”

2. Avoid unnecessary jargon or “fluffy” words.

Here is the message:

“Hi John,

Thank you for extending me an opportunity to work with your team. I am looking forward to leverage our collective synergies, use innovative interactions and exercises and enhance the team’s presentation skills.

Looking forward to a very productive engagement tomorrow.”

Next time you write anything, re-read and ask yourself, can I remove any word or replace it with a simpler word?

3. Have only one ‘idea’/‘action’ per email 

• • • Include only one main idea/subject per email.
    • Also, even if you have multiple requests for the same person, do not mention them all in one place. This way you can make sure that the receiver does not miss any important point.

Emails have become ubiquitous. Let your message stand out from the ocean of lengthy and sometimes poorly written notes that we all receive. It will save time and add energy for everyone. So the next time you are about to hit send, ask if your email will motivate the receiver to take action. If not, let’s write it again!