How to Start an Email Opening with Examples & Templates

 

 

2020 saw the rise of work from home and increasing use of communicating online.

Video meetings, team messaging apps like Slack ruled the roost.

One way people still communicate through is with email.

Email marketing

As a literature student, I have always been smitten by the written word. And it is a lesser-known and even lesser-acknowledged fact that people who love to read want to write. They want to be heard and seen, and felt through writing.

If you do not agree with me, just look at the captions and posts people put up on social media. Who would have thought there were poets and writers among us had we not been exposed to social media platforms!

So, when I did not get to be a writer but got into the strange world of online projects and eventually into management, I thought my only chance to prove my flair for writing is through email. 

I was wrong, but I was right.

 

I’ll explain the paradox, but let me first state what went wrong with my concept of email writing. 

An email is

• Not a letter like we used to send in the good old postal days.
• Not anything closely related to the formal letter writing they taught us at school.
• Definitely not as simple and straightforward as a telephone call to get your message through the first time.

What Is A Proper Professional Email?

A professional email is an electronic medium where we send formal letters electronically to our clients, team members, seniors, and other professionals associated with our work.

We use formal emails to communicate with vendors and virtual teams of our clients and sometimes of our client’s clients. 

A professional email comes in good format, in tone and is short and to the point. 

1. Proper Format: A professional email follows salutation, introduction, content and then signoff with the help of a signature.
3. Formal tone: A professional email comes with formal tone. A formal tone doesn’t mean it has to be overly strict. A formal tone is something you choose when talking with someone elderly.
4. Brevity: A good professional email is  short and conveys points. You shold avoid stressing over things again and again.

Writing an email is an art. You can teach writing yourselves great emails.

• Your email has a subject line. The email should have a subject line. This is a turn off when you don’t have a subject line
• Your email is addressed to the recipient properly. Choose the first or last name. Use hi hello/
• Your email has a good start. Email should begin well. A good opening helps you unravel most of the mystery

There are 19 ways to fool proof your email.

19 Ways To Start An Email

Before we dive into the ways to start an email, let us understand why the start of an email is so important.

 

The sender’s name and a small snippet of the information around the email is visible. The snippets on Google search give us idea regarding what the page is about and it should interest the recipient to draw him in.

For sales emails these snippets are key. Advertisers target your interest in 5 seconds flat and make you interested in the offer they have. Each snippet only has a few words that can target user interest, so use them wisely.

On YouTube there are both visual content and audio content to help the viewer understand. On Google search a search snippet is the only thing present that gives clues on what’s going on.

EMAIL STARTING NO. 1

Hi name

My name is George, and I got your contact details from ……..

Where to use this opening line?

• A sales email where you reach out to a client
• A client where your team worked with before and you’re following up for the first time

Why does this opening line work

1. This simple line because your name is what catches their attention
2. The snippet is enough for the recipient to get them to open the email to see where they got the contact details of them

EMAIL STARTING NO. 2

Hi name,

Can we meet on Zoom this week? Let me know

Where to use this opening line?

• A prospect with who you had a few email exchanges before
• A prospect client who you are following up after a week’s time
• A client who you want to explain project details
• A team member who doesn’t explain about work on emails

Why does this opening line work

1. It’s to the point. The recipient knows what you want
2. Can get them excited about the next project
3. The recipient is relieved no more back and forth emails.

EMAIL STARTING NO. 3

Hello name,

Apologies! I wasnn’t able to quite catch your last email as it was lot in my inbox.

Are you still interested?

Where to use this opening line?

 

• When you haven’t followed up with the client for long.
• When you forget to respond to an email

his opening line work

1. The opening line is honest and this is something we often face.
2. It’s to the point and explains why you weren’t able to reach out earlier.

EMAIL STARTING NO. 4

Dear Ashley,

Thanks for your response

|Wheree this opening line :

• You acknowledge getting the response
• The general opening statement goes well with any email exchange

his opening line work

1. It starts by simply thanking and going straight to the point

EMAIL STARTING NO. 5

Hi name,

Hope you’re doing well

Scenarios where you can use this opening line :

• This is great for anything you can think of. This is particularly an all season email.

 

Why does this opening line work

1. Wishing good health is particularly good for times like Covid.

 

EMAIL STARTING NO. 6

Dear name

I have attached the invoice for the 2nd payment of the project with this email.

If you have any questions please reach out to me about this.

This opening line is great in the following cases:

• When you’re sending an invoice
• When resending an invoice that wasn’t paid yet

Why does this opening line work

1. The word invoice in the snippet is the call to action for payment.
2. This is a polite way of saying it’s time to pay up.

EMAIL STARTING NO. 7

Hello name,

I am starting to wonder if you got the last few emails I sent you. If not here’s a copy of what I sent

=This email is perfect when you don’t get a response from a client for some time around a subject.

This is a polite way of following up with someone who isn’t responding

Because it sounds better than being desperate sounding by saying Please respond to my last email.

EMAIL starRTING NO. 8

Hi name,

Hope you had a great weekend

Where you can use this line

Monday emails

Why does this opening line work

1. I have had emails answered when I ask others how their weekend went. It’s a simple line that can open up personal conversations.
2. It’s also generic and sweet

EMAIl STARTING NO. 9

Hi name,

Sorry to disturb you during a busy day or week. But i need this from you to get this project started.,

Scenarios where you can use this opening line :

• To a client who’s busy and not so frequent when responding to emails
• When you sent three follow up emails and there’s no response

his opening line work

1. The line is great because we all have busy days or weeks and there’s no email that looks like will take up our time

EMAIL StarRTING NO. 10

Hi name,

I loved the way in which you explained x topic on your blog. 

Speaking about that.

Where to use this opening line

• A client with who you started working recently
• A blogger client
• A client active on social media

Why does this work?

It’s genuine and is great to know the client better

Reading about blog posts or social media posts educate you faster than other things about client business

EMAIL STARTING NO. 11

Hi name,

I am glad to write to you. How have you been all this while

• This opening line is perfect when you’re connecting with a client after some period
• You’re connecting with a team member after sometime

his opening line work

1. Simple way to reconnect after a gap.

EMAIL STARTING NO. 12

Hi name,

Sorry for the bad introduction But I think our services is what you want.

• Outreach emails to people who are total strangers

1. The line worked when doing email outreach You get 50 % response rate
2. Polite so that people don’t mark it off as spam

RTING NO. 13

Hi name,

Thanks so much for reaching out to us.

Scenarios where you can use this opening line :

• Emails to clients you reached out to at first
• Emails to anyone who reached out to you with an inquiry
• iry. 

Why does this opening line work

1. The email acknIt acknowledges the effort of reaching out proactively. 
2. The simple, unassuming line to respond to an inquiry. 

EMAIL STARTING NO. 14

Hi name,

Thanks for the email reminder. We appreciate it a lot.

Where to use this opening line

• When you as the client are reminded of something you need to send to others
• To some team member who reminds you of a deadline.
• It’s a good way to appreciate the other person who reminded you of something.

1. Polite response but saves time.

EMAIL STARTING NO. 15

Hi name

This is a gentle way to remind you that we await confirmation on the template design with the development.

Where to use this opening line

• When you are holding out on confirmation for the next phase of work. Replace templates and development with industry terms

his opening line work

1. It is polite and has great success rate and gets a response.

EMAIL STARTING NO. 16

Hi name,

How are you and hope you are well

• Any and each email work updates and payment reminders when writing after some time

RTING NO. 17

Hi there,

I would love to talk to you about ways we can work togehter. Please let me know how we can collaborate together.

Where to use this opening line. 

Exploring company services

Zreaching out for collaboration fo0r sales tasks.

1. The line can show interest in the company’s offerings
2. You can open up space for social media collaboration, partnerships and way for expresising interest.
3. This is a great line to show your interest in the services of the company. 
4. For social media collaborations, paid partnerships, this is a great way to express interest. 

 

EMAIL STARTING NO. 18

Hi,

Can I ask you something.

Are you accepting guest posts.

Where to use this opening line?

• Asking for information that’s helpful to both parties but with little chance of going unanswered.
• =This is great for sales emails. Replace the content after quick question with what you want to say.
• Fopr product or servie queries

Why does this opening line work

1. The email’s core content has great snippet visiblity.
2. It’s short and can be responded with a quick yes or no.

EMAIL STARTING NO. 19

Hi name,

Hope this emails find you well and it has been a great week for you.

You can use this opening line when sending an email in the middle of the week say a wednesday or a thursday.

It’s great one liner for both regular and not regular email exchanges.

The opening line works because it’s similar to instances like how are you and hope you are well

Bonus: EMAIL STARTING NO. 20

Hi name,

Hope your day is going well

You can use this line for regularupdates

For all emails ranging from payment, sales to reminder emails

The opening line is well meaning is great for regular kind of communication.

How to use Salutations

Should I write Hi or Hello? 

If people are fussy of whether you write a hello or hi then it’s likely they don’t want to hear them calling dear.

Is writing Dear [Name] alright in professional emails? 

Dear name is a professional salutation. It’s endearing and perhaps some affection can go a long way.

Is writing Hey [Name] too casual? 

Hey name is a bit more casual than saying a hello. That said most people are alright with salutations with the correct spelling of the names.

Should I address by First Name or something like Mr. and Last Name? 

Both first name and Mr followed by last name work well. Though there are some cultural differences in countries. And there are ways of saying Mr/Mrs/Ms They sound polite.

 

Should I use Hi there or something more formal like ‘To Whom It May Concern” where I do not know the name to address?

‘Hi there sounds better.

There are also a few red flags to be aware of when it comes to opening lines.

 

• Please reply to my last mail
• Instead could you get time to go through the last email I sent?
• Direct questions like Did you check my last email. When will you repl;y and so on.
• Hope you’re well is a robotic introduction and doesn’t make your email sound real.
• If you’re trying too hard then too much custimatuinb kills the effort.