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Today on the podcast, we're going to be looking at how to wrap up your emails, how to sign your e-mail. And in particular, we're going to be looking at one case. I was in a coaching session with a client, Abby. Yeah, let's say a client, but she has a team of four. Yeah, a team of four. And we were going through ideas about how to make emails much more conversational. Because if you've been listening to the podcast for any length of time, you know that I keep saying that there is a communications hierarchy.
Some things are more effective than others. And e-mail is the least effective communications platform for a number of reasons #1 e-mail has the worst open rate, worst open rate. People open emails the least. Also, e-mail is not a good conversational platform. It is very formal, it is very stuffy. People don't open the emails all the time. SMS and WhatsApp text messages and WhatsApp have a better open rates. In the West, North America,
Western Europe, depending on where you check, open rates are between 93 to 97%. So if you're sending an e-mail, people will just fashion you. If you send a text message, most likely people are, you know, more, what would I say, more prone to open text messages or WhatsApp messages. So it kind of makes sense that if you want to communicate, you pick a mode of communications that is high up on the hierarchy. So of course, face to face is king because you're getting all the visual cues.
I can see you, you can see me. I can kind of guess what you're saying based on body language and you can feel me and figure out what I'm saying based on body language, based on tone, based on delivery. After that is voice, phone call, WhatsApp call, Telegram phone call. After that is video, you know, Zoom, what else? You know, Zoom, WhatsApp video, you know, then at the very bottom is e-mail. So I keep preaching all the time, e-mail for the purposes of sales because to close a sale,
what we're trying to do is we're trying to build relationships and we're trying to carry on conversations. You cannot close a deal unless a conversation is flowing, unless we are vibing. And so if you use a channel where people know the vibe from the get go, how do you expect to close deals? But then again, I'm also realistic. And for this client, I know that for them, you know, they like to be professional, the gas to be on point.
And I know that despite me hitting them over the head, I know that once I end that session, they will go back to doing their e-mail. So I say, let me give myself a brain and let me be realistic as OK, when I talk, say you would die on top of this e-mail you no problem. So let's figure out how to use e-mail conversationally. And that was the whole point of the engagement that I had with this client and her team of four.
So as we're talking about how we make e-mail conversation now and we got to the end of the to, to the part of, you know, signing off on the e-mail, one of the guys said something that I've seen a lot in Nigeria emails. So the guy said who wrap up his e-mail by saying kindly confirm receipt. That thing just boasts my brain. The guy said, you end up his e-mail by saying kindly confirm receipt. So I had to stop them there.
I said, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, you will not. You will never, never, ever, ever end your e-mail by saying kindly confirm receipt. So today essentially that's what we're looking at on the podcast. Is it OK to wrap up your e-mail by saying kindly confirm receipt? I know some of you say yes because you see it all the time. After all this is Niger now, everybody does that. Even today you received an e-mail and the person told you kindly confirm receipt.
So that's what we're going to be looking at today. I'm making today's recording at home. This is one of those late night podcast recordings and then the house is full 'cause you know in laws are still here. So there will be some noise in the background. Now, this podcast is not about my family situation. We solve business problems here, including how to use e-mail effectively to move your business forward and to close deals.
So if you're interested in these sorts of things, then this podcast is your jam. Welcome to the podcast. I'm the host, Tamishima Ayede. Now for years, this is all I've been doing, answering these sorts of questions and tackling these sorts of issues. So if you want to move forward, grow your business the Nigerian way, subscribe on Spotify, YouTube, Apple or any player of your choice. And if you'd love to connect, call, text me or send me a WhatsApp message on 08064662140.
Now again, we're talking about how to wrap up your e-mail. Can you end by your e-mail by saying kindly confirm receipt? And I've already given you guys the background. So let's go straight to answer the question. The answer is a capital NO, no, no, no, no, no, no. Kindly confirm receipt. No, that is true formal. We're trying to close a seal here. We're trying to build a relationship with a potential client. We're trying to get a conversation going.
How are you now, Andy? By saying kindly confirm receipt. So I asked the guys because there are three of them on the call. Your guy is a woman. Then four of them they're guys. So I say when you're tosing the babe, will you tell her kindly confirm receipt. No, you don't talk like that when any relationships or in business for the purpose of sales, remember, I'm saying for the purpose of sales, you want to collect money, you want to collect value, you want to collect deposit, you're trying to move things forward.
So for these purposes, we try to keep it as of course, polite and professional, but as conversational as possible. And in Nigeria, kindly confirm receipt is not conversational. Please find hitherto attached in this e-mail as APDF is not conversational. You can say these things if you want but you need to look for a much more conversational way of saying these things. But in my own opinion, all those things find hitherto attached.
Kindly confirm receipt. You're not helping your case. All that is too formal, so kindly confirm receipt is not good for a relationship is not good for a poor building. Worst of all, it is a close ended question. close ended questions are when you tell somebody something and then their response will either be yes or no. The problem with questions that can be answered yes or no is that you can move the conversation forward.
Let's go back to this boyfriend girlfriend thing because like I said, your guy is a woman and then the our team, all of them do our guys. If you're talking to a babe, I ask you a question and the answer is yes, no. How can you carry on the conversation with the babe like that? How you can't the same thing. You're a girl, you're feeling the board, you guys go out for a date, you're trying to get some conversation and the boy is only saying yes, no, how you carry on that conversation.
So we use open-ended conversations. Sorry, I'll be open-ended questions when we're having conversations with people. So if you say kindly confirm receipt, somebody can just respond. Oh, yes, thank you. OK, so what's what's next? What's the next e-mail? You know you're putting yourself on pressure to carry on this conversation. But remember, conversation should be a two way thing. I say A, you say BI, say C, you say D.
Then The thing is flowing. There's opportunity for building relationship, opportunity for building rapport. So when you say things like that, kindly confirm receipt, close. Another question. You cannot push the conversation forward. Things like this like conversation stopper, even if the conversation doesn't stop, you will get tired because it's like you're the one that is pushing this conversation. You they push you, they push you they push and sales is a creative profession.
After a while almost let's face it, you'll be out of ideas. OK, how will I carry this conversation forward? If this is how you'll be ending your e-mail, kindly confirm receipt. Please find hit her to attached at the bottom of this e-mail in PDF format. Now the goal of all these e-mail conversations. OK, let me just stick to kindly confirm receipt. The goal when somebody sends something like that, kindly confirm receipt.
The person is trying to say oh sorry, I didn't even explain. Kindly confirm receipt RECIEPT. Sorry forgive me here. This is one thing my mumsy tried to teach me and my English teacher but I still haven't mastered it. I'm not sure if it is receipt. I'll be his receipt so kindly confirm. Receipt just means please confirm that you have read my e-mail or please confirm that you have received my e-mail. So for those of you who are good in English, I know somebody has corrected me before.
So you let me know what it is. Is it kindly confirm receipt or kindly confirm receipt. I'll be received as the document and then receipt is you have received it. Anyway, I wait to hear from you guys which one is correct. So when you are sending somebody kindly confirm receipt. The goal is you want to confirm, did this person see my e-mail? Did this person receive my e-mail? So I understand, I really, really understand.
That's the purpose. But what we should be trying to do actually is we should be trying to propose something. We should be trying to get advancements. We should be trying to get a reply. We should be trying to put a call to action. Let me explain. Excuse me. A call to action is when you include something in your messaging that suggests what the other person should do next. The reason why we should always use call to actions in our emails, in our marketing communications, in our sales is that deals are closed one step at a time.
Small, small, small. We need to get people to take one small step. That is why we should be using Ctas call to actions in our text messages, in our conversations, in our emails, in our whatever. Even if you design A flyer, put call to action. If you design A flyer, The thing is beautiful, but at the bottom of the flyer, you don't say call to book now or text message. So, so, so and so for 50% discount, you don't put something like that, then what are you doing?
You're just designing something pretty. But that pretty thing is not getting people to take any action. So if you've been listening to this podcast for any length of time, please always remember CTACTA, call to action, call to action, call to action, everything you do call to action. You visit somebody in the office, you stand up, you're about to go Chief, it was nice meeting you call to action, what are we going to do next?
You send somebody an e-mail, call to action, what are we going to do next? And like I told the boys during that meeting, because I think two of them are in school, when you're back on campus and you go for a date with the babe, you guys have fun. You walk out back to the hostel. You don't say I'll be seeing you around. That was rubbish. That's BS. Which ones I'll be seeing you around. What you tell her is I had fun today, I hope you did too.
See question. She will smile as you say yes because she's feeling you. If she squeeze her face, you know your own. And then you also say I would like to hang out some more with you. I hope you want to spend some more time with me too. She will smile and she will blush and she will not because she's feeling you. If she squeezes her face, you're on your own. Then CTA call to action. How about this Friday? Are you free? If you say that's OK, I don't have anything planned, then you now tell her at the cinema they are showing so, so, so and so.
What do you think? Would you like to go see call to action? Next step, Proposing something, scheduling something. This is what we call an advancement. We are making progress. One step, one step, one step. It is the same thing in business. You send an e-mail, don't end with kindly confirm receipt, propose something, ask a question, use a call to action, try and get some advancements. And how you do it is you just ask a question that is aimed at moving this interaction forward,
moving this e-mail chain forward, moving this conversation forward, moving this agenda, this relationship forward. So at the end of the e-mail, you can ask do you have any questions about section XYZ, question mark, send that kind of thing begs a response. The person can now respond, Oh no, actually everything seems all clear. You cannot propose the next step. OK, if everything seems clear, next step is we should move forward by you transferring the deposit of 30% to the amount of so, so, so and so.
Is that something you're willing to do right away? You see proposing next step, proposing something, moving this thing forward. Or you can end e-mail by saying, if you're OK with everything, how about we proceed with ABC? See the kind of thing, excuse me, that you will say will depend on, you know, what was in the body of the e-mail. But I'm just trying to show you that statements like this kindly confirm receipt. You are not helping yourself ask a question that is aimed at moving this interaction forward.
Now, in this case, what we were dissecting was an e-mail that was meant to confirm availability for a meeting. So some of the options I told was like, look, we've already in the previous chain, we've already established that the person is interested and that the person is willing to meet. And you have said 4:00 PM tomorrow. How about asking, does that time work for you? Should I go ahead and pencil this on the calendar?
Is there any particular item that you would like for us to discuss tomorrow? I mean, you, you see how like just sit down with small creativity. You can come up with something, anything that is a call to action that ends with a question that begs the response that moves the conversation forward. Well, bottom line, if you are a listener of this podcast and I hear that you have been ending your emails with kindly confirm receipt, I will disown you.
I will disown you if I see you, I will say I know you not depart from me. That is what I will tell you. I'll say depart from me to the land of no prophet where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. I will disown you. Do not be handing your e-mail like that from today henceforth no more kindly confirm receipt. So remember when you send an e-mail Andy with kindly confirm receipt, you think the goal is to confirm whether the e-mail was read or not.
No, the goal is not to confirm whether the e-mail was read or not. The goal is to get the other person to reply or to get the other person to take some sort of action. So we should always keep our emails simple, keep them conversational. All that fancy formal talk that we learned in primary school and secondary school was necessary to pass exam. We have passed the exam now we are in the real world. People don't talk this way, at least in Nigeria.
Keep it simple, keep it conversational. Even in the e-mail. I'm not saying you slang simple and conversational but professional. So always use a call to action at the end. You want the person to do something next. If you can't figure out what a call to action should be, just remember the simple rule from Tavishima. Always end your communication with a question mark, especially before you have collected deposit. After you have collected deposit or collected payments and you can go back to your bad e-mail habits.
But this stage where we're toasting them, your e-mail should not end with the declaration. Your e-mail should end with a question. And for those of you who are still in school and we're trying to love up, I'm giving you free advice here that will help your life after the date, please call to action. You finish the date with the girl and you say I'll be seeing you. This is what will happen. And I'm telling you from experience, I'll be seeing you.
She will smile and she will say, OK then you come next week Friday, you say you want to check her. Then they'll say Necker is not around, she's not around, not be feeling somehow like I thought we had a good time. OK, where is she? You'll be thinking maybe she was going to go and read and also that she went out with only they had to now sink like he coolly. Then as you're leaving the hostel now, you see them under the tree in the car park,
laughing and giggling. And before she leaves, he gives Kony a Peck on the cheek. And then you just want to die inside. Then you'll be thinking Kony is a bastard now, how can he do this to me? You know it's free for all. The business is free for everybody's chasing your customer, everybody's chasing your client. Cooley is following up. Well, he's doing call to action. You're not using call to action. That's the reason why, right.
OK, and then let me leave you there before I say something that will get feminists upset. Anyway, I'm not sure of any shot. I'm, you know, I'm just trying to flesh out this thing in a way that you guys will understand. So for those of you who are still in school, you know, by the time you go back and, you know, you be in some kind of situations, you remember that. Oh, OK, this is what I vision has said. And you will always apply it in business too.
So that's the reason why I use these examples. All right, so let me wrap it up here. And like I said, kindly confirm receipts. No, none of that. Please confirm receipt of invoice PDF here to further with attached to this e-mail. Please, no language like that for the purpose of sales, for the purpose of sales, for the purpose of trying to collect money, trying to collect a deposit, simple conversational call to actions, advancements.
What is the next step? That's what we're trying to do. So that's it. And that's all for today. Remember, if you'd love to connect, you can call, send me a text message or WhatsApp message on 08064662140. And if you love this stuff, then please subscribe, Scroll down, there's over 1200 episodes, lots of stuff about how to grow your Nigerian business. So I'll catch you soon. Oh, by the way. As you listen, write it down.
I said it in the last episode. As you write down, you apply. If it works, let me know. It doesn't work, Let me know you agree with something. Let me know you disagree with something. Let me know you try to apply something and then you hook. Let me know. We'll discuss. We'll make a podcast episode about it so other people can learn as well. So I'll catch you guys.