How to End an Email Professionally

Is ending an email different from signing a letter?

How do you properly end an email? A simple question, yet so many people are not sure about what is proper email etiquette. In the business world, ending an email professionally is just as important as perfecting the rest of the message. If you do it sloppily, you might lose some precious business opportunities. Avoid this by following a few basic rules of professional email conduct.

Instructions

1. If you want to be absolutely safe etiquette-wise, end your email with:

   Sincerely,
   Your Full Name

   This is commonly accepted practice when writing professional emails as of the date of publication.

2. If you feel uncomfortable with the previous choice, however, there are plenty of other acceptable choices, such as:

   Yours sincerely,
   Your Full Name

   This is slightly more formal, and to be used when you know the recipient's name. Another option is to use:

   Yours faithfully,
   Your Full Name

   This is generally used when you don't know the recipient's name and start the email with "Dear Sir/Madam." Still another option to consider is:

   Best regards/Best wishes,
   Your Full Name or First Name

   This style is less formal, and generally used when writing to a good friend or colleague.

3. After signing your name, include your job title and your full contact information, complete with phone/fax numbers, street address and website. This will make your email look more professional than just signing your name, and will save the recipient time in case they want to contact you.

4. Finally, make sure you don't have an automatic email signature with a huge advertisement banner or a wall of text. For a professional-looking email, you might want to turn it off or tone it down.

Resources

• Englishforums.com: Best regards, Kind regards, or Yours sincerely - Which is Correct?
• The Executive Guide to E-mail Correspondence