Useful Stock Phrases for Your Business Emails
When I wrote a post on email etiquette, one reader, Juan, left a comment to ask for some advice (I’ve changed his punctuation a bit for clarity’s sake):
I just discovered your page and I love it. Please teach me before we sign off the mail with “warm regards” etc ,we also always using some phrasal sentences such as “please look into this matter” or “thank you in advance”, “I would be very appreciate on your help in this matter”, etc. Could you please write some more like those in different contents of mails?
What Juan’s describing here are stock phrases. If you write a lot of emails, you’ll often find yourself facing the same sorts of situations again and again, and you’ll often see stock phrases used in business emails to convey a professional, helpful and friendly tone. I agree with Juan that it can definitely help to have some ready-crafted sentences on hand for including in your emails – either just keeping them in mind, or creating a document on your computer to hold them ready for copy-and-pasting.
The trick is to make them heart-felt rather than copied-and-pasted. There are a few phrases which I see constantly in emails from huge technical support firms, government offices and similar organisations: used carelessly, they can feel distancing or insincere.
I’ve listed some options below for different types of email situations, such as:
- When you’re initiating email contact with someone new
- When you’ve answered someone’s question
- When you’re asking the recipient to take some action
- When you need a response (but not necessarily any action taking)
- When you’ve heard nothing back and want to chase up a reply
Unless your boss is particularly uptight, why not try going with the more informal ones? I work in a small technical support team who have a great reputation for being friendly, helpful and accessible – in part, because we use everyday language and remember that we’re writing to people, not just trying to knock another email out of the queue. Here’s some examples you might want to use, or modify, for your own email messages … feel free to bookmark the page, or print it out for easy reference.
When you’re initiating email contact with someone new
Very formal
“Might I take a moment of your time…” (to begin the email)
“Please may I introduce myself…” (to begin the email)
“Many thanks again for your time.” (to end the email)
More informal/friendly
“I’m just emailing to ask…” (to begin the email)
“I’m a friend of Bob’s…” (to begin the email)
“Just let me know if you have any questions.” (to end the email)
“Drop me an email, or give me a ring, if you want any more information.” (to end the email)
When you’ve answered someone’s question(s)
Very formal
“I trust the above resolves your queries. Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.”
More informal/friendly
“I know that’s a lot to take in, so let me know if anything I’ve said doesn’t make sense.”
“Hope the above helps, but email again if you’re still having any difficulties.”
When you’re asking the recipient to take some action
Very formal
“I would appreciate your help in this matter.”
More informal/friendly
“Could you look into this?”
“Would you mind checking it out for me?”
“Thanks in advance.”
“Can you get back to me once you’ve had a chance to investigate?”
“I’d love to hear your advice on this one.”
When you need a response (but not necessarily any action taking)
Very formal
“I await a response at your earliest convenience.”
More informal/friendly
“Can you drop me a quick word so I know you’ve received this?”
“Look forward to hearing from you.”
When you’ve heard nothing back and want to chase up a reply
Very formal
“In reference to my email of June 20th …”
More informal/friendly
“Just wondered if you got my email (June 20th)?”
“When you get a moment, could you drop me a line about my last email?”
Do you have any favourite stock phrases that you use in your work emails? Add yours in the comments!
Ali on June 30, 2008 
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One phrase I see a lot in emails is: “Please advice”. But this is incorrect. “Advice” is a noun. “Advise” is a verb. So the correct usage is “Please advise”.
When I send out an email in reference to a user issue I normally try to include:
“Sorry for the inconvenience.”
“Thanks for your patience.”
…or some combination of the two.
When I send emails that amount to permission marketing about new features I usually include, “As always, please feel free to send your comments and issues to me.”
Great additions, Dan, I find myself using “Sorry for the inconvenience” quite a bit — especially if the problem’s been ongoing.
I don’t like “Thanks in advance” or anything of that ilk. It feels presumptuous and insincere. I wouldn’t mind so much for small tasks, but it’s inappropriate for large tasks which require numerous follow up questions and clarifications. It’s as if the person sending the message can’t be bothered to send another message that says “Thanks! I appreciate your help.”
One thing that I used to teach people in email classes was to ALWAYS sign your name! Even if it’s a simple “Joe” or something more formal, always take the time to sign your name at the bottom of the email. It makes you look a hundred times more professional to do so.
Great tips on email.
I like to start my emails with Hi Joe .. Hello Dave .. etc.
Cause to me that makes the email much more friendly and you respect the person.
What do you think? Is this necessary? Thanks !
A friend and I were having a conversation about email sign-offs.
Warm regards, kind regards, cheers, all the best, many thanks…
You can see why ‘your’s sincerely’ and ‘yours faithfully’ worked so well.
I’d be interested to hear your thoughts about this aspect too!
please ignore the rogue apostrophe…
I have bookmarked this. Whole lot of useful tips.
Very interesting topic.
Many of our business e-mails ask for attention to a matter or for some response. We typically close these with “Thank you. I look forward to hearing from you.”
Most of our business e-mails begin simply with the recipient’s name, followed by a colon, as in “Mr. Thomas:” Using “Dear” seems a bit too familiar for business communications and for the impartial tone of formal e-mails.
After we have established a relationship with a client, we may begin with some version of “I’m pleased to hear from you, and I hope that you are doing well.”
We also carry a set of stock phrases for many occasions, such as “Thank you for inquiring about Precise Edit’s services” and “In response to your request, I have attached the following items to this message:” Using a consistent set of stock phrases helps us to communicate clearly, professionally, and consistently, especially when initiating services with a new client, sending billing information, or returning completed work.
These are all quite formal. However, once we have established a relationship with a client, we take shortcuts and adopt a more familiar tone. With every e-mail we send, we ask ourselves, “What is the image we wish to convey?” Our word and phrase choices should reflect the answer to that question.
Great work all. I like this post very much as this helps to understand the manner in which we need to start and end the emails. Like this can we have some stock phrases which are helpful to reject/say no to something which we can not do due to tight timeframes/not suited to our profile likewise.. IN short how to say no politley to someone.
All this is great stuff!! i am looking for some tips and phrases for technical troubleshooting for a call center. could u help??