上週一個超認真的學生問我「為什麼我寫英文 email 給客戶,客戶都不回或是只回一半?」,我心裡的想法有兩個:

  1. 客戶很煩都不回 email
  2. 學生寫的 email 讓人不容易讀或不那麼想回

看了學生寫的 email 後,發現原因應該偏向後者,而且最大的問題是 email 的寫作架構。

怎麼辦?我請她去讀其他人同類型的 email 怎麼寫。

舉個例子:如果是要客戶填寫滿意度調查,你會發現大多數的 email 開頭通常是表達「感謝」、「希望客戶有好的體驗」或是「直接說明來意」。像是:

  • Thank you for choosing Trip. com!
  • From all of us here at United, thank you for flying with us!
  • We hope you enjoyed your experience staying at Marriott Boston Cambridge.
  • We’re looking to improve the experience at Boston Logan Airport. (Uber)

接下來通常會說明希望你填滿意度調查的意義。像是:

  • We want to hear your experience traveling with United. Your feedback helps us find ways to make the next experience even better.
  • We would be more than happy if you could take one minute to let us know how we can serve you better in the time ahead.
  • We’re always looking for ways to improve, which is why we’d be grateful if you could fill out this short survey.

好好觀察整理常見的英文 email 寫作架構,就不會一開頭永遠都是 “Sorry to bother you.” 這種通常很奇怪的開頭了。


原文發表於:Noah Liu・Oct 25