Earlier this week we started a discussion on the importance of building a solid foundation for your online brand. Your biography, headshot, and website are all critical pieces of that foundation, but have you considered how your email etiquette impacts the impression you have on clients?

Email is most likely the main way that you connect with clients and other business contacts, so every message you send is your chance to make a good impression… or a bad one. Here are some etiquette basics that we encourage you to practice in your client communications:

• Use a professional signature -- even on your phone. As a new agent, we create your default Bean Group email signature and we encourage you to adopt this format. While we understand that you may wish to make changes or revisions to your signature (go ahead and add links to your social media sites!), we advise that you keep your signature simple, engaging, and please -- don’t use comic sans!

• Attempt to write like an editor. While you may not be writing a college paper, that doesn’t mean you’re not being graded. Pay attention to your spelling and grammar, and remember, there are lots of proofreading tools available -- we especially love Grammarly.

• Greet your client. It’s important to start and end a conversation with pleasantries -- a simple hi, hello, and thank you will go a long way.

• Avoid CAPS, exclamation points, and emojis. Do not shout or be over the top in your emails with clients, and be cautious with using emojis -- not everyone’s a fan, especially in a business context.

Bean Group uses enterprise-level Gmail for all communications. As a new agent, you will be given an email address: firstname.lastname@beangroup.com. There are many features in Gmail that we suggest you take advantage of to maximize your efficiency. To familiarize yourself with Gmail and Google Workspace Applications, please CLICK HERE.

Need to set up Gmail on your phone? First, remember that the simplest iPhone/iPad option which most resembles the look and functionality of desktop Gmail is the free Gmail app, which can be downloaded from the App Store. If you prefer to set up your Bean Group Gmail account in the Mail app on your iPhone or iPad, these step-by-step instructions will walk you through the process.

Looking to update your signature graphic? To view available Bean Group branded signature graphics, and for instructions on how to update your email signature graphic, please CLICK HERE.