The end of an email, or the closing, is your final opportunity to make a good impression on your recipient. Here are different ways you can end your email based on your audience and desired response.
Most people can identify with the following situation: you finish writing an email and are ready to send it off but can’t quite figure out the best way to end it. The way you sign off an email is your final opportunity to leave a positive impression on the recipient and to hopefully receive the response you are looking for.
The closing section of an email varies based on the context of the email, whether it is a professional or business email, a cold email, or personal correspondence. To learn more about the best practices for writing the closing section of an email, check out the following tips.
Ending Business Emails
When writing a business email, making sure the end of your email comes across as polite and professional is critical. It’s your final opportunity to leave a good impression on the recipient, whether that recipient is a coworker, a potential client, or even your boss.
Ending a business email will be different than ending a casual email. The tone in the closing section of a professional email should be respectful and err on the side of formal rather than overly familiar. You wouldn’t speak to your boss in the same way you would speak to a close friend, and you should follow the same social guidelines when writing your business emails.
Common closing phrases to use when signing off on a business email include:
- “Thanks”
- “Best”
- “All my best”
- “Sincerely”
- “Regards”
- “Respectfully”
Each of these phrases is simple and polite, which is what the end of a business email should ideally look like.
If you have a good relationship with the person you are sending the email to (typically within your company) you can use a more casual reply such as “cheers.”
Additionally, you should include your full name and contact information when writing the end of a professional email, as this can function as a sort of digital business card.
Cold Business Emails
When writing a cold email to someone you don’t have a relationship with, you are emailing a stranger with the goal of generating a response or starting some sort of business relationship. And because you don’t know this person, you should be extra polite in both your email content and the end of your email.
Since the goal of a cold email is generating a response, consider using a call to action just ahead of your final close. A call to action helps facilitate conversation and can be as simple as “If you are interested, what time would be the most convenient for you to set up a phone call next week?” Including this type of phrase in the ending of your email gives the recipient a concrete question to reply to, which increases the chances of that recipient responding to the cold email. Then you can close your cold email with something simple and polite.
Some phrases to use to sign off a cold email include the following:
- “Best”
- “Thank you”
- “Thank you for your time”
- “I appreciate your time”
As with other business emails, it is in your best interest to include your full name and contact information at the end of the message, as this makes it as easy as possible for the recipient of the email to reach out to you.
Personal Emails
Personal emails going to a friend, family member, or close coworker can take on a different tone than emails written in a more professional context.
When considering how to sign an email that is going to a personal contact, you obviously do not need to put as much weight on the ability of the message to generate a response or spend too much time worrying about choosing the perfect closing phrase that is both polite and professional. For personal emails, the closing you choose depends more on your own preference and knowledge of the person you are emailing.
Typically, the closing section of a personal email might contain something along the lines of, “Looking forward to hearing from you,” or “I hope that you are well, talk soon.” The final part of the closing statement can be a variety of phrases, including but not limited to:
- “Cheers”
- “Thanks”
- “Warm wishes”
- “Best wishes”
- “Talk to you soon”
The ending of your emails isn’t as important as the subject line or the words in the email itself, however, it is important. You can ruin a great email if you don’t know how to end an email properly. So take the extra few seconds and make sure you are closing your email with the right words for the situation and the recipient – it will make your emails more effective.
