How To Get A Busy Person To Reply To Your E-mail?

Yes, it’s that time of the year, the summer break is approaching and the grad students are frantic, sending over hundreds of e-mails awaiting responses.

But of course, writing e-mails isn’t just a task to get oneself an internship or a job.

You might be sending someone an e-mail asking for an internship, job opportunities, scholarships or it can just be an inquiry or a complaint or for simply communicating with your professors and guides. However, the problem arises when you’re not getting any responses to them.

What’s common with all these people you’re sending e-mails to?

THEY’RE ALL VERY BUSY.

And, they get hundreds of emails daily. It is then not very difficult that your e-mail wasn’t read at the first place forget about not replying to it owing to the unappealing content it might have had.

What is happening to these e-mails? Well, another one bites the dust. If you’re spending a lot of time and still not getting any response then you might want to reconsider the way you’re sending them.

‘Very busy people’ as I’d like to address them; are like you and me, sans the time, sans a lot of time actually. Keep yourself in such a person’s position and think how would you function or you can simply follow these steps.

If you want your e-mail read and replied (yes even from the busiest person) here is what you need to follow:

1. The Subject is the key

As pointed out earlier ‘there lies a heavy chance your e-mail won’t be read’, and the only thing that’ll make that click happen is, of course, a clickbaity subject.

It should be clear, short and crisp. Avoid too many a’s and the’s and very long subject lines. Make your point clear in a few words.

TIP# AVOID FANCY WORDS IN THE SUBJECT.

2. Say what you want to say just don’t say it too much.

Do you want to inquire regarding something? Or request being a researcher? Then frame the body of the e-mail accordingly. Make your point but don’t repeat it.

If there’s repetition the reader will lose interest and will probably perceive that you really don’t have anything to say while you might be just stressing your point by saying the same thing again.

TIP# IN CASE YOU’RE ASKING FOR MULTIPLE THINGS FROM THE SENDER THEN DON’T BOMBARD HIM WITH WHAT YOU WANT, ASK IT SLOWLY, BUILD A RAPPORT FIRST.

Also read: Is It Ever Okay To Share Passwords With Your Near And Dear Ones?

3. Be specific

Don’t be too generic, that just makes the e-mail very un-inviting. In case you’re applying for an internship, then just don’t plainly ask for one.

Make it clear why serving the particular firm or place is most suited for you, why you are different than any other candidate and how you’d be able to serve them the best. Your interest in applying should be apparent in the e-mail.

TIP # IN CASE YOU’RE MAKING A COMPLAINT, MAKE IT VERY CLEAR AS TO WHAT SPECIFICALLY IT IS ABOUT AND IN WHAT WAY IT AFFECTS YOU.

4. Format, make points

Which mail would you prefer reading? The last one? That is because it is easy to comprehend and grabs the eye.

The last tip for getting a response to your emails is to make sure you ping them again. Also, don’t just follow up by asking if they received or read the mail or not. Just send them the e-mail all over again.

Happy e-mailing!

Image Credits: Google

Sources: Huffington Post, Forbes, LinkedIn

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