Here’s a fun exercise: look at your sent emails from yesterday. How many were there? 20? 30? Even more?
Email is still one of the fastest, most effective methods of communicating with our clients and our suppliers. So why not make your email signature work hard for you by ensuring it is professional, effective and reflects your brand. Here are some ideas for an email signature makeover!
- Your email should be a snapshot of what you do and are. So it should include your name, title, what your do (e.g. ‘Cruise specialist’), accreditations (e.g. CTC), and a link to your website and social medias. Including your home city will give readers an idea of what time zone – and country! – you are in.
- Having said that, you don’t want a dense paragraph at the end of every email. You can get around it by combining two or more elements on the same line (see example below). Experts say four lines is the sweet spot.
- Remember that many clients will be reading your email on their phones: another great reason to keep the verbiage to the minimum.
- Some agents like to include a headshot and host agency logo.
- Adding your social medias can be a game changer. They don’t take up much room and are a great way for people to get to know you better (and build traffic). Feature two or three max. to reduce the clutter and complexity of choice.
- When updating your signature, avoid the temptation to USE ALL CAPS WHICH CAN BE VERY SHOUTY or use fancy fonts which can be very hard to read.
- Lastly, be sure to send a test email to yourself to check out on your phone and laptop to see how it looks.
Here’s a sample:
Mary Smith, CTC
Travel Advisor | Adventure Travel Expert
Toronto, Canada
(m) 222-333-4444 | marysmithtravels.com |
Have fun!
Joelle Goldman is the Vice President of Host Services & Luxury Hotel Programs for Direct Travel in North America. She can be reached at jgoldman@dt.com.