Opening Lines in Emails

Ildar’s question: “I have been noticing emails from some of my colleagues and clients that start with ‘Hope all is good and you are doing well.’ Is this an appropriate start of a business inquiry?”

BizWritingTip response: Thank you for bringing this up. I dislike this opening and so do many of the people who attend my email classes. It reminds me of those annoying calls you get from telemarketers during dinner. “Hello. How are you? I hope you are doing well. We are in your neighbourhood cleaning ducts this week.”

There are other reasons why this is not a good opening for business emails.

First, although some writers think it will make their emails sound warm and friendly, it often backfires. If the writer is not close to the reader, it comes across as insincere. Does the writer truly care or is the writer just lazy and using it as a start to all emails?

Second, business people are busy. They prioritize when they will read their correspondence. In fact, they often have their messages set up in preview mode so they can read the first few lines without opening the email. The hope-you-are-well opening does nothing to help the reader decide whether they actually need to read the message.

The best business emails start with the action request and then “the why” the request was made. Any social niceties, such as “hope you are well” or “hope you had a good weekend” should be left to the last paragraph. Personal emails can be handled any way you wish.