Chapter 4 Supplement: Writing Fax and E-mail

1. Chapter 4 Supplement: Writing Fax and E-mail • Faxes: When you send a fax, be sure to include a fax cover sheet like this: • FAX COVER SHEET • Date: October 18,2002 • PLEASE DELIVER THE FOLLOWING PAGE(S) TO: • NAME: Jack Tony • COMPANY/DEPARTMENT:Marketing Dept. • FAX NUMBER: +(86) 27-8754-8040

2. THIS FAX IS BEING SEN BY: • NAME/DEPARTMENT: Tom Smith,Design Dept. • NUMBER OF PAGES: 3 INCLUDING COVER SHEET • TIME SENT: 10:30 AM x PM -----. • IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE ALL PAGES CLEARLY, PLEASE CALL(915)355-8960

3. Fax Guidelines • When you send a fax, observe the following guidelines. • 1. Be careful about sending anything longer than three to four pages. You can tie up the recipient’s phone line. Call before you fax to see whether the recipient will allow you to fax a longer document or would prefer that you send it another way.

4. 2. Make sure your fax is clear,but • Always include your phone and fax numbers in case the recipient needs to verify your message or has questions about it. • 3. Avoid writing any comments in the margins or at the very top or bottom of a fax. Your notes might be cut off or blurred in transmission.

5. 4. It may be permissible to send a fax to a company • After business hours, do not risk sending one after hours to a customer’s home unless they’ve agreed or requested it. • E-Mail • Guidelines for Using E-Mail • Using e-mail technology does not mean you can forget about preparing and organizing your messages carefully with your reader’s needs in mind. Below are several guidelines for writing effective e-mail.

6. Format • 1. Do not send messages in all capital letters. This is the equivalent of shouting at your readers. Moreover , your message will be harder to read.It will not look like professional correspondence. • 2. Always include a return mail address as part of the signature, saving your reader the trouble of looking it up. • 3. Use clear and specific descriptions for your subject line. Avoid vague one-word subjects

7. Such as “Software” or “Conference.” • Better: “Advantages of New Software” or “Conference Is Set.” One e-mail included only the word “Bill” for a subject line, which left readers wondering if the e-mail was about a person , an unpaid account, or a notice just sent. • 4. Keep your subject line short.Use these words:Urgent: ,FYI(For your information only.no reply required),RE:(I am responding to your question.) • Subject:FYI: Your car lights on

8. (Cont.) • Remember that the average screen has only 80 characters to work with, and most e-mailers use 60-80 percent of that for displaying the name and address of the sender, and the time and the date of the message. • 5. Find out how much information your reader needs. Don’t waste his or her time with chatter. Readers of e-mail want only relevant, usable information, not “hype.”

9. 6.Tell your readers what you would like them to do • Such as sending additional data; responding in writing. Maybe you do not need a respond at all. If so, tell them. • 7. When responding to a request, don’t just repeat an e-mail message or question from a sender and give a curt one- or two-word reply. Courtesy dictates that you reply with a message of your own, not simply tack a comment to the original message and send both back. • 8. Let the sender know you received

10. E-mail message even if you cannot answer it until later. • 9. Answer e-mail the same day it arrives, whenever possible. Your readers expect a much quicker reply to e-mail than for conventional mail. • 10. Respect the cultural communication traditions of your readers. E-mails coming from other parts of the world is likely to use different symbols with other meanings.