If you are a freelancer or senior developer, most likely you’ll be handling a lot of client emails and if you are more focused on development and coding, there would be an instance that you’ll never be able to explain to the client on what you really meant in terms of functionalities, technicalities, and what’s possible in terms of development. Remember, it would be arrogant to say that it’s possible to develop anything. If your client will say that you will need to develop an app that would direct the entire bandwidth of the world on to your mobile phone then you’ll probably bite your tongue afterwards.
Recently, I had received an email that needs my expertise. To fully explain my answer, I need to include some codes and would be a menace if you’ll just send the client a bunch of codes and not be able to explain it to them properly then you just missed the point of answering their email. It’s like explaining algebra to a dog.
Based on that experience, I thought that it would be best to share some tips that developers can use when emailing clients.
Make it short and sweet
Don’t make your clients run around the bush. It would only confuse them and will not answer their question. Be specific with the answer and don’t give them a 3 paragraph email wherein you can only answer in just one.
Tell them their objectives
It’s not wrong to tell them their objectives again. This is a good practice because your clients will also know that you understand their question perfectly.
Visuals are good
There are a lot of screenshot tool that you can use. Visuals are a perfect way to explain your answer because not only you can easily convey what you mean but also it’s a good way to validate your answer.
Your clients are not afraid of your codes
Your clients are afraid that you will not be able to answer their question. If I remember on my last email, I only had to explain my answer in only 6 sentences. I had a blog post on how should we teach students programming and it had the same principle. Some people would probably say that it was a bad idea but I tried it on a client that was older than me, had a completely different degree, and had no programming experience.
First, you need to include the specific code only. Find that code that answers their question then explain to them how it works. You don’t have to explain it to them line by line because it would be a mess so if you can generally explain the codes the better. Codes are languages and languages are meant for communication so if the receiver doesn’t understand your language, you just have to explain it to them in a language that they can understand.
Don’t be afraid to say “Thank You”
Clients are the ones that make you who you as you are right now. Without your clients, you won’t be the developer that you are right now. A simple gratitude doesn’t hurt but it makes a lot of difference.
