Module 1/4 22 min
Why your email gets no reply
Step 1 / 2·The first fifteen seconds
0/2 steps done
Learning objectives — after this module you will:
- Understand what the reader decides in the first 15 seconds
- Recognise the three reasons emails get parked
- Write subject lines that state the action
Learn ~10 min
The first fifteen seconds
Understand what a reader actually does when opening your email.
Recipients do not read your email through and then decide. They scan for about fifteen seconds to answer three questions: is this mine, what do I have to do, and how urgent is it. If those three are not clear, the email gets parked — and a parked email is rarely reopened.
'They're busy' is usually not the real cause. An email saying 'please approve section 3 by 3pm Thursday' gets answered far faster than a long one that explains everything and puts the request on the last line.
Three reasons emails get parked
| Reason | How it shows | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| Unclear who does what | Six people in the To line and no name in the body | One person in To, the rest in Cc; name the person who must act |
| The request is at the end | Three paragraphs of context before the ask | Put the request right after the greeting; context goes below |
| No deadline | 'Whenever you get a chance to look at it' | Give a specific date and time, and why that date |