If you are a professional and want to be perceived as a professional, you need to have a professional email address. It makes sense, doesn’t it?
Just imagine finding the service you need and then realizing their business email was [email protected]. If you were a customer, a custom email address like that would definitely not help to earn your trust.
It is as simple as that; all you have to do is put yourself in customers’ shoes and create a professional email address that will not make your business seem completely unprofessional or even a scam.
Amelia, our WordPress appointment booking plugin, knows exactly how to set up and handle professional emails that are intended to be sent to your clients. Whatever this might be – an appointment email or a reminder, you can get help.
How to Create a Professional Email Address
Let’s quickly go through some things you should do when creating professional email addresses (and some you should avoid whenever possible).
Use Your Brand Name
When creating business emails, you should never just use an email name generator and be done with it. You need to put some thought into it.
One of the best things to do is use your brand name to make your brand easily recognizable. This way, there is a better chance your clients will actually read your cold emails when it comes to sending out promotions and similar instead of marking them as spam
Customer Service
Once you launch your website and provide people with all basic contact info, you can expect your customer service to get contacted the most.
For that reason, you should actually use the words “customer service” as a part of your email. If you do that, the clients will understand immediately whom they are talking to.
Use Your Own Custom Domain
Buying your own domain is a great idea if you want your business to seem more professional.
Custom domains are cheaper than ever and they will help establish trust between you and your clients. Your clients will immediately feel more confident in your work if they believe you take what you do seriously.
Use Names Rather than Nicknames and Numbers
Whenever possible, you should try to avoid using nicknames, numbers, and similar for professional emails. Using your name is always better.
Here are some examples of how to make a professional email address with your first and last name:
Full name + Your Domain Name = [email protected]
You can also implement special characters if your name is already taken but that should not be an issue if you use your own domain. However, if that does happen, you could create a custom email like this – [email protected]
First Name + Your Domain Name = [email protected]
Using the first name only is a good idea because even though it is professional, it also leaves a personal connection with the client. However, this might become an issue if you have more employees of the same name in which case, you should use one of the following 2 formats:
First Name and Last Initial + Your Domain Name = [email protected]
First Initial and Last Name + Your Domain Name = [email protected]
Use Generic Names for Special Services
While using personal names is great for establishing relationships on a more personal level with the clients, there are some cases where you should choose generic names.
In some cases, the customers will want to contact a specific department or branch of your company. They will not know that [email protected] is the company email that belongs to the head of sales. Instead, you will need to make it clear by choosing the generic name.
Here are some professional email address examples with generic names:
This is a business email address format to use for providing general information and answering general questions. People will immediately know what it means or, in the case they receive an email, they will know who it is from.
We talked about this a bit earlier but having a separate email address for your customer service is always a good idea. This will probably be the most used company email address.
Remember the example of Liam Smith, the head of sales? If Liam uses [email protected] email address, that might not be the best professional email address for business. The customers don’t know that Liam is your head of sales, they don’t know they need to contact him if they have sales-related questions.
You probably get the point by now so you understand when and why to use generic names instead of personal names.
Things to Avoid
Now that we’ve talked about the things you should do when choosing good email names, let’s mention also the things you should avoid.
Numbers and Nicknames
Not that numbers and nicknames are in any way offensive or bad but a simple email account will always be more professional.
You can check again the email address ideas listed above to see the different variations of a business email address that you can use if more people in your company share the same name.
Titles, Positions, and Miscellaneous Regalia
So you have worked hard on getting your degree in engineering and now you want everybody to know that you are, indeed qualified to do the job you do.
After all, if the people see email names such as [email protected], they will know you are a professional. Or will they?
It turns out that – NO. The customers actually don’t care about that at all. With that in mind, you should always avoid using titles, positions, and miscellaneous regalia.
Sexual Character or Gender Marks
There are names that are commonly used by both men and women. For example, if you receive an email from [email protected], you cannot be 100% sure that Avery is a man.
However, that doesn’t mean that you should use gender marks when you decide to get a professional email address. Instead, you can easily explain it in the email signature.
Personal Beliefs, Race, Religion, etc.
Your race, religion, personal beliefs, and similar have nothing to do with your capability to do the job. Reflecting on them in email addresses is not professional at all.
Now that we know how to create a professional email address, let’s focus on how to write professional emails.
How to Send a Professional Email
Now that we’ve seen professional email address ideas, let’s talk about some other important elements of the best business email.
Professional Response
You can have the greatest email domain name in the world but it will do you little to no good if your response isn’t professional as well. Respond to customer inquiries in a timely manner and always keep the communication professional.
Security
If you are running a business, you have to make sure that your email account is as secure as they can get. Consider using additional security options such as those provided by your hosting service… or just use G-Suite. When it comes to blocking hacking attempts and similar, you can never be too careful.
Spam
If you want your emails to actually get read instead of being automatically flagged for spam, you need to think about it even before you set up an email address.
You need to make sure that the customers recognize your brand name and they know whom the emails are coming from. For that reason, use your brand name as a part of your email address. Preferably, use it for your custom domain name.
Having cool email names is… Well, cool, but it is not always the best way to go. You need your email name to reflect a certain level of professionalism and you need it to match your website, products, social profiles, etc. If it does not, you will just be filling people’s spam folders once you start sending out promotions.
Ending thoughts on creating a professional email address
In the article above, we explained how to create a business email and professional email names. The tips we mentioned are not supposed to limit your creativity in any way. However, if you want creative email names, you should always keep them professional and avoid going over the top.
It depends from business to business and not every company needs to go with the same approach when creating a professional email. With that in mind, consider the advice we gave you and then see for yourself which way to go is the right way for you and your business.
Here are also some tips on creating business emails for free with your existing domain.
If you enjoyed reading this article on professional email address, you should check out this one on contact management software.
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