Image: Marie Maerz – stock.adobe.com
You recently gave a virtual TEDx talk. Subject: How to write the perfect email. How did you come up with that?
Guy Katz: Because sometimes the most important things are neglected. Small things with a big impact. I do a lot of training courses for well-known brands like BMW or Rolex. Employee training on how to best negotiate and deal with customers. So I'm kind of a professor of persuasion and negotiation. Some training courses last at least three days and at some point during those three days, we talk for half an hour via email. In the end, however, the participants kept telling me that these tips were the most important to them. Yes, all sellers want is an answer.
Should mail writing be taught in school?
Yes, mostly because it takes no more than an hour or two to teach someone. We write an average of 40 emails a day, but no one has ever shown us how to do it best.
For example, how quickly should you reply to emails?
You should answer immediately, even if you have no answer at all. A short “Ok, I'll take care of it” or “I don't have an answer yet”, because then the other person knows – ok, the mail has arrived and has been read.
Many people switch back and forth between cell phones and laptops, quickly forgetting to reply to important emails because they are marked as “read”. Even the most organized lose track of things. How can you bring order to your inbox?
I have a simple method that very few know. The pin function in the mail program, which has a red flag as a symbol. It is the best and, above all, the least known function and helps you to mark unfinished mail. It is extremely important to use this little help. Then you have a much better overview and no longer miss any important email.
Is it even more difficult to read the electronic mail at the moment because more of it is digital?
I think a lot more emails are being sent now. But I also think that they are better because you have less time. It is automatically the case that if you have to write a lot, you get shorter and get to the point faster. Maybe it also helped make emails better.
How do you decide whether mail or phone calls are more suitable?
I always tell the story of my boss in a large German corporation who sent me goodbye ten years ago because he didn't have time to meet. That is not how it works. There are emails that cannot be emails. I find that as soon as it becomes more complex than a yes / no question, the call is almost always better. Unless it is pure information like “here are yesterday's notes”.
