What Should Your Email Signature Look Like?

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  1

  WisemanNZ

  08/16/07 | Report as spam

  Adjust your signature block before leaving the email

  I think the signature block gives you one final chance to leave a lasting impression, but one signature block for all emails does not cut mustard. The signature should fit the email.
  
  Ending salutation: personalise,
  Name: use appropriate form,
  Designation: if needed,
  Telephone number: usually,
  Web link: to relevant page - may be useful,
  Street address: adds credibility,
  Images and flashing gizmos: never
  
  Mark

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  2

  WYlinda

  08/17/07 | Report as spam

  Email Signatures

  If you are in business, communicating to do business, then the email should be treated the same as a letterhead complete with company name, address, phones and email. A website link is helpful if the receiver is in need of additional corporate information, pictures, etc.
  
  A brief additional comment - it seems many people throw all manners and formality out the window when communicating by email, i.e. lack of punctuation, spelling errors and incomplete sentences, to name a few. Possibly abbreviated communications should be left to very casual relationships, but one needs to still hit the "spell check" button.

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  rhcamis

  08/17/07 | Report as spam

  Enough for Contacts

  The Signature should have enough information to add your details to their contacts.

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  peterkarahalios

  08/17/07 | Report as spam

  Disagree!

  The premise common to most suggestions in this article is that of the image the ?signer? wants to project of himself. But the main premise, which has not been mentioned, is the image the reader will have of the company regardless of how the signer comes across. For this, there is a standard: name, position, telephone, fax, website and email; logo optional. Enough with pseudo-minimalism posing as intelligence, efficiency and innovation!
  
  Peter Karahalios

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  5

  rkpanchal@...

  08/19/07 | Report as spam

  Signature is a must for each email.

  Signature is a must for each email.
  At the end of email you must include signature so that reader of an email knows who are you, from which organization, how to contact you back if there is a need etc. etc. Without this information in the email itself the reader need to search for the information may be either in his address book or other mediums.
  Also you must keep different signature for your personnel and business communications.

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  6

  rgray36

  08/20/07 | Report as spam

  I agree with Disagree!

  Very important to provide contact information as well as company logo to clients. Because I work with 150 accounts and many are new account development customers in the Hospitality industry, I feel it very important that I include my corporate logo showing the 9 brands I represent. Not only does this provide the client information on the products, it also educates those potential clients who weren't aware of our global product.

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  JRice1514

  08/21/07 | Report as spam

  you are trying to sell

  more product

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  sc95356

  08/21/07 | Report as spam

  Disagree

  I regularly correspond with 200+ administrators in our school district. My sig includes all the professional basics, name, phone, title, etc. but it also always includes an uplifting quote that I regularly change. It is by far the most commented on area of any e-mail, but current quote is: "No kind action ever stops with itself. One kind action leads to another. Good example is followed. A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees. The greatest work that kindness does to others is that it makes them kind themselves." --Amelia Earhart, U.S. pilot

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  JRice1514

  08/21/07 | Report as spam

  you are trying to

  impose your way of thinking on others

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  jlrobins

  08/21/07 | Report as spam

  Influence? Yes. Impose, no. Besides...

  ...if you know any educators that have been in the occupation for years, positive thoughts and feedback are worth their weight in gold. They definitely aren't getting enough pay to do the job they have. A few inspiring words can NEVER hurt.

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  11

  lauraq8

  08/21/07 | Report as spam

  Strongly disagree

  This type of uplifting message is the thing that definitely makes me cringe. I put enough detail on the bottom of my emails to allow the recipient to contact me or my company. Keep the uplifting messages for your fridge magnets and away from the office.

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  12

  slr51

  08/22/07 | Report as spam

  ugh

  This is exactly the kind of unprofessional pap that makes me immediately discount the sender as a lightweight.

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  13

  josephagonzales

  08/21/07 | Report as spam

  not required - e-mail address

  your e-mail address is at the top of your correspondence for others to add to their favorites

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  tgraw1

  08/22/07 | Report as spam

  respectfully disagree

  You do need to include your email address, in case your message is forwarded. Some email programs do not include the header on forwarded messages, in which case your email address would be lost.

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  dmoorehead@...

  08/21/07 | Report as spam

  Email Sig

  I get frustrated w/ folks who do not include their title, company/org, email, address and phone number. I even like to see their web address if they have one.
  
  It makes it much easier to respond in an appropriate way. I can look them and/or their org/company up on the web for context if I don't know them already. And sometimes I prefer another method of response to email -- so give me one!

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  16

  dennis0711.1@...

  08/21/07 | Report as spam

  It all depends

  It all depends on the purpose and the relationship of the emailer. If it is to a potential new customer you need a certain amount of identification and professionalism. If it is to someone within your organization, you need to be professional, especially since it may be seen by others. If it is to a personal friend it may be more informal. The situation and relationship dictates the style to be followed. One size does not fit all.
  This article appears to be aimed at an audience that would be sending emails within their own organization. I think that the author may have a different take if the target audience were sales reps.

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  stephani.j@...

  08/22/07 | Report as spam

  A voice of reason....

  I agree completely. I do not have an e-mail signature. However, I include all pertinent information in the e-mails I send depending on the person to whom I'm e-mailing.
  Stephanie Jentgen, Communication Director, SCAN, Inc.

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  bojan@...

  08/21/07 | Report as spam

  No one formats emails properly anymore

  When Internet was only for us geeks and people didn't send 200k of useless letterhead-like images in their awfully formatted HTML business emails, that you need to jump through hoops not to get trashed by spam filters, there used to be a standard that:
  
  - Serious correspondence was done with plain text only, no HTML mail, if you needed formating you'd (scarcely an carefully) use *bold* and _underline_, if you wanted graphic-rich promo stuff sent you'd attach a Word, Excel or (nowadays) a PDF document to your email.
  
  - You'd start your reply AFTER the other person's quoted original text and not before (as Microsoft has wrongfully taught all it's Outlook(Express) users), and you'd carefully chose the really significant part of the original text (if lengthly) that should be quoted.
  
  - You'd keep your signature below everything else, keep it shorter than 8 lines, you'd enter only important contact info about you and your company (you're not on the Usenet), no ASCII art or "uplifting" messages, and you'd properly format it, dividing the signature block from the rest of the message with a line containing only "-- " (there is a space after the two minus signs), and this last bit you'd do on Usenet as well.
  
  Nowadays my organization seems to be the one of very rare ones in all of my correspondence to abide by these simple rules. Sadly, we are in the IT business and 95% of the people we communicate to are also computer experts and other IT people, which means that Netiquette was slain by the same people that should have upheld and preach it. The funny thing is that I just received a properly formatted mail, with a properly formatted sig from a facade decoration company (from a sales rep whose job is to sell colourful bells'n'whistles).

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  19

  paul@...

  09/05/07 | Report as spam

  RE: What Should Your Email Signature Look Like?

  Include in your message what you need to communicate--nothing more, nothing less.

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  Yturria

  07/20/09 | Report as spam

  RE: What Should Your Email Signature Look Like?

  If this is a business correspondense then treat it as such. Keep your "uplifting " comments to social messages. If you want to preach, convert or generally do social work then become a preacher or social worker. If I get another "awesome" "blessed" or otherwise "spiritual" tag on a business email I will lose it. It has the complete opposite effect than originally intended.