Why Your Work Emails Aren't Getting Responses: The Email Habits That Are Costing You
A few weeks after one of my email strategy workshops, I started getting screenshots. Not one or two but a whole scroll’s worth of screenshots. Marketing professionals sliding into my DMs with Slack threads. Workshop attendees texting me photos of their Teams conversations. People sharing what happened when they went back to their desks and actually changed how they wrote emails at work.
One team stands out. A marketing agency I had worked with was stuck in what I can only describe as the ghosted cycle. They would design social content for their clients, send it over for approval, and wait. Their follow-up emails looked something like this:
"Hi! Just circling back to see if you had a chance to look at the posts I sent over last week. Let me know what you think!"
And then… nothing. Days would pass. Deadlines would get pushed. The content calendar would back up while account managers fielded internal pressure about why client approvals were stalling again.
The work was good. The relationships were intact. The problem was entirely in how they were communicating in their emails. Once we addressed that very simple, yet important communication strategy, things moved forward.
Most of us were never formally taught how to write a work email. We learned by watching the people around us, mirroring formats that felt professional, and defaulting to a structure that has become so normalized we don’t even question it: generic opener, lengthy setup, buried ask, vague close. And that structure, as familiar as it feels, is quietly working against you.
People spend roughly three seconds reading your email.
Three seconds to decide whether to engage, respond, file it away for later, or scroll past entirely. I share this in every workshop I facilitate and it always surprises the room because most professionals write emails like their email is the most important one in their recipient's inbox. Spoiler: it’s not and it will likely get buried or forgotten. Your reader is scanning between back-to-back meetings, checking their phone during lunch, or working through a full inbox at the end of the day.
What this means practically: your most important information has to come first. Not in the fourth sentence. Not after the pleasantry and certainly not after an explanation of why you’re reaching out. Right up front. The goal, the ask, and the critical piece of information should be the first thing your reader understands.
This is where the marketing agency made their first change. Instead of opening with a check-in, they led with the business need. An email that had previously read like a casual status update became:
"Hey [Client name], in order to get your marketing content posted by Friday, we need approvals back by tomorrow. Can you confirm receipt and share any feedback by end of day today? That gives us time to make any edits before we go live. Thank you!"
Same relationship. Same work. Completely different result. And their response rate shifted within the first week.
Which brings me to a phrase I want you to retire from your professional vocabulary: “let me know.”
Let me know is where emails go to die.
It sounds casual, even friendly, but it does nothing to move a conversation forward. It hands all the decision-making back to the reader with zero direction. Let you know what, exactly? By when? In what format? When an email ends with “let me know,” you’re essentially leaving your reader to write the next chapter themselves. Most of the time, they won’t.
Replace it with a specific call to action every single time.
“Can you confirm by Thursday?”
“Please reply with your approval so we can proceed.”
“Would you be available for a 15-minute call this week on either Tuesday at 2pm or Wednesday at 10am?”
A direct ask gives your reader something concrete to respond to. Which leads to higher response rates.
At the end of the work day, please remember this: emails are relationship builders. That might sound at odds with talking about cutting the fluff, but it’s not. There’s a difference between removing filler and removing the humanity. The goal is not to write cold, transactional messages… it’s to write with intention.
When you sit down to draft an email, ask yourself: What does this person need to know? What do I need from them, and by when? How does this message fit into the larger relationship I’m building with this person? Those three questions will do more for the quality of your professional communication than any template or formula ever could.
I’d go as far as to argue that by starting out an email with “The goal of this email is to…” gives you more credibility in your professional relationship than the generic “Hope you are well”. No one is well when opening their overloaded inbox. Email others the way you would want to be emailed.
The professionals at that marketing agency didn’t just start getting faster client approvals, they started having stronger client relationships, because their communication became trustworthy. Clients knew exactly what was being asked, why it mattered, and what to do next. That clarity builds confidence, and confidence builds the kind of professional relationships that sustain long-term partnerships.
The same principle applies no matter your title, role, or industry. Your emails are making impressions before you ever walk into a room. They are shaping how people experience your professionalism, your clarity, and your reliability.
A few rules I keep close and share consistently:
Lead with your goal. Your reader should know within the first two sentences why you’re reaching out.
Make the ask specific and time-bound. Vague requests get vague (or no) responses.
Retire "let me know." Always close with a defined next step.
Cut what doesn’t add value. If a sentence isn’t giving context or moving things forward, it doesn’t belong.
Write with intention. Every email is a data point in how someone experiences you professionally.
Your inbox is full. So is everyone else’s. The professionals who have learned to communicate clearly, directly, and with genuine care for the reader’s time are the ones who stand out — and the ones who consistently get things done.
Write your emails that way.
