How to Write a Professional Email (10 Examples Included)

What Is a Professional Email?

A professional email is any email you send in a professional setting. Under the umbrella of professional emails, enter daily emails exchanged between coworkers, emails for your manager or supervisor, job applications, meeting requests, proposal submissions, business inquiries, emailing clients, and many others. A professional email may have many topics, from tasks and projects to showing appreciation, providing feedback or explanations, sending a reminder, and celebrating a milestone (e.g., a work anniversary congratulation card).

Although the term is mainly used in a business environment, professional emails also refer to emails sent to a company to request information about a product or order and to a government department to request documents. They are often used in educational settings to communicate between students and teachers.

The Importance of a Well-Written Professional Email

Professional emails refer to a rather formal type of communication. You address a company, government entity, superior, or coworker with a professional-related inquiry. The tone and language matter because they say a lot about you. For example, at first glance, the receiver may know how serious, determined, and organized you are. They may deduct from your email how much they can trust you, whether you are a good match for a particular job, or how good you are at time management and communication.

The structure of a professional email is not just about delivering the right message; it's about how you want to be perceived. It brings clarity and helps the reader understand your position, request, or complaint. A well-written professional email's tone, language, and structure can establish a good reputation for you or your company, demonstrate your competency, and improve communication.

How to Write a Professional Email Step-by-Step?

Adopting a consistent format can make your communication more efficient regardless of the purpose or recipient of your professional email. The 6-step structure we'll discuss is not only easy to manage and less prone to errors, but it also ensures your message is clear and concise, regardless of the complexity of the topic.

Tip: Use a professional email address when sending professional emails. A professional email address includes your full name (e.g., your-name@domain.com) and a company domain (e.g., your-name@business-name.com). You verify this address daily or several times a day and use it only for business purposes.

Step 1: Subject Line

The subject line of your email is not just a formality. This part of the email will determine whether your email gets opened or ignored. Use this limited space to provide a clear and concise summary of your email's content. If your email is a follow-up, maintaining the same subject line can help you and the recipient quickly recall the context of your previous communication.

Subject line examples:

• Information request on project [project-name]
• Meeting scheduled for Friday
• Product presentation
• Feedback request on [material]
• Order [no] inquiry

Step 2: Greeting

It isn’t polite to meet with someone and don’t offer a proper salutation. It’s equally rude to start a professional email, skipping the salutation. This opening statement sets the tone of the email and should be appropriate for your relationship with the receiver. If you know the receiver’s name and title, include them in the greeting to show your commitment to the communication.

Greeting examples:

• Dear Mr./Mrs. [Recipient’s last name],
• Hello [Recipient’s first name],
• To Whom It May Concern:
• Dear all,

Step 3: Message Body

The message body provides all the information you want to convey. It often doesn’t have more than one or two paragraphs, but you may refer to documents that support it, such as bills, reports, and website links. Include all relevant data, such as your full name and relation to the company, dates and times of events, document numbers, amounts of many or products, etc. Keep the text on point, respectful, and clear. Avoid flowery language, metaphors, and colloquialisms.

Message body examples:

• My name is [full name], and I would like to apply for the position [position title]. I have attached my CV and contact details. I am available to set an interview date.
• I hope you are well. As we discussed at [event], I’m coming back to you with more information about our product line. [Our product details are a. b. c.] I also attached our reports about the essential use cases that the product handles.
• Thank you for attending our product presentation today. We would appreciate it if you could take a few moments to let us know your feedback and whether this is a good fit for your organization. I value your expert opinion, as I know you’ve worked with similar products before.

Step 4: Closing

The closing of a professional email reiterates a request, calls to action, or opens the door for future communication. It usually has one or two sentences, one of which is often a thank-you note. Don't skip the closing sentence if you don’t need any action on the recipient's part. A small token of appreciation, gratitude, or support goes a long way.

Closing examples:

• I look forward to hearing from you.
• I hope we’ll come to an agreement and start working together soon.
• Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.
• Thank you for taking the time to respond to my request.

Step 5: Sign-off Greeting

Similar to the salutation formula at the beginning of your professional email, it is polite to include a sign-off greeting. It may be the same farewell you use for all your emails, the one that you told your email provider to add automatically at the end of your emails. But it may also be something more personal, such as wishing a colleague a nice weekend or getting well soon.

Sign-off greeting examples:

• Best wishes,
• Have a nice weekend,
• All the best,
• Best regards,

Step 6: Signature

The last step of writing a professional email is your signature. If necessary, include contact details, such as physical address and telephone number. If you use a business email address, create a default signature that includes your name and position within the company, the department you work for, and the company’s website and social media accounts.

Signature examples:

• John Johnson, Senior Marketing Researcher at Company
• John, Technical Support Team, Company
• John Johnson, customer ID [no], address [address], phone [number]

Professional Email Templates

Although using the same template for all your professional emails is good practice, you don’t have to write it from scratch. Check out our examples and use them as inspiration. They match every situation, help you organize information, choose the tone, and enrich your professional language.

FAQ

When should you send a professional email?

Send a professional email in any business and job-related context, such as when emailing coworkers, managers, clients, and business partners. Also, use a professional email when you address a company or institution. It’s also common practice to send a professional email when communicating with a professor, mentor, or legal adviser.

When should you use the CC or BCC fields?

CC means you send a copy of the email to all recipients in the CC field, and everyone can see the recipients’ email addresses. BCC means you send a copy of the email to all recipients in the BCC field, and no one can see other people’s email addresses. You should use the CC field when addressing people who know each other and work together, such as a team or department. You should use the BCC field when you address people who don’t know each other, such as when sending a newsletter. When the privacy of the email addresses matters, use the BCC field.