How to write a good email

Writing a good, effective email is an art. Unfortunately, it's an art that many people fail to appreciate. If you ever need to contact a customer service or technical support department, then taking some care over your communication will make it much more likely that you'll get a satisfactory response.

Let's start by showing what not to do. Here's an example of the type of email that is received all too often:

From: missy_bird3654@example.com
To: support@omebigcdsupplier.com
Subject: CD

wrz the cd i ordered last wk? yu took my money and it hasnt cum yetJ

So, what's wrong with it? Well, almost everything! It's badly written, the author can't (or, more likely, won't) spell correctly, and it gives no useful information at all that will help the support rep track down the missing item. Oh, and why is it in big blue text? This is the kind of email that gives support reps nightmares. And it usually leads to the customer becoming even more dissatisfied with the service, as they probably won't get a helpful answer to their query.

Let's try it again, but this time we'll do it properly.

From: missy_bird3654@example.com
To: support@omebigcdsupplier.com
Subject: Order WB-865477-2 not yet received

Hi,

I ordered a CD from you last week, but it still hasn't arrived. 

The CD I ordered was "Splurge" by The Flirble Sisters, 
product code KD64856434. I ordered it on 15th April, and
paid by Visa.

The order reference number (from your confirmation email) is
WB-865477-2, and the payment reference (from my credit card
statement) is 114433554452.

Please could you let me know what is causing the delay. You
can email me by replying to this email, or phone me on
01234 567890.

Thanks

Jenny Wren

This is a lot better, and the chances are that the customer will get a useful response from the support rep. Let's go through it bit by bit, and see what's been done right here:

It has a meaningful subject line, which will make it easier for the support rep to find the email in among all the others.
The email itself starts by summarising the problem: "I ordered a CD from you last week, but it still hasn't arrived". That's nice and simple, and the support rep knows what he (or she) is investigating.
It gives the full details of the item ordered. So we not only know that something is missing, we know what is missing.
It gives details of the order. This is very important, and the most crucial part of the email. Almost all online transactions will have some kind of transaction ID associated with them, and if you ever need to chase up the transaction then you must be able to quote it. In order to do this, you need to have actually made a note of it at the time you placed the order - it's surprising (or maybe not surprising, really) how many people don't keep a note of things like order numbers, account codes, etc.
It isn't illustrated here, but the same principle applies if you are emailing about some kind of fault or problem - for example, being unable to complete a transaction on a website because it always fails. If this is the case, always include the exact wording of any error messages that you see (not your summary of them!) - this is usually essential information that needs to be passed to the system administrators so that they can debug the problem. Also, make sure that you include full details of what you were doing when the problem happened, which page you were on, how you got there, etc.
It gives contact details that can be used for a response. You can usually assume that anyone you send an email to will be able to reply to it, but it's often helpful to give an alternative method of contact such as a phone number.
It's signed off with the person's name. This is another thing that makes it easier to track down the order on the supplier's system. Don't assume that your email address will tell people who you are!
The whole email is written in normal, grammatical English. While no-one is going to get upset about the odd typo or misspelling, deliberate use of "txtspk" or excessive carelessness is likely to end up with your email at the bottom of the pile.
Plus, notice that it's in plain, unformatted text. Quite apart from being easier to read, this also makes it a lot more likely that the email will get past any spam filters and make it into a human being's inbox.

If you can make your emails look more like the second, and less like the first, then you will significantly improve your chances of getting a sensible answer to your query. To summarise the key points again:

Give your email a meaningful subject line
Write in ordinary, grammatical English
Use plain text instead of HTML
Summarise the problem in the first paragraph
Include all the relevent details, including any order ID, transaction ID, tracking number, etc.
If reporting a fault, include the text of any error messages as well as a description of the error
Include alternative contact details
Say who you are!

If you can't manage this, then don't use email to contact customer service or technical support departments! Use the phone, or a web form, instead.