How To Choose The Best Complimentary Close
All of the options listed above are appropriate for use in business correspondence.
Choose which one to use based on how well you know the recipient and the circumstances behind your letter writing.
For instance, limit options that are some form of a thank you to instances where you are requesting a favor or expressing appreciation.
You can think of “Best regards,””Sincerely,” Cordially, and the variations on these closers as the little black dress of complimentary closes. You can’t go wrong choosing one of these optionsthey’re always appropriate.
Keep in mind that if you are writing someone in the armed forces, it is customary in the military to use the complimentary close, Very Respectfully or its abbreviation, V/R.
In The ‘options’ Menu
3. On the left column, click on ‘Mail’. 4. After the ‘Mail’ options appear, click on ‘Signatures’ on the right side. 5. A new dialogue box will appear. You can choose which email account you want to create/insert the signature for, whether the signature will be used for new emails only or for replies/forwards as well. 6. Create your email signature in the box note that you have to ‘Insert’ any pictures/logos and not just drag-n-drop image files into this box. 7. After creating our masterpiece email signature, click on ‘Ok’ to save it. 8. And that’s all there is to creating/inserting a signature/sign-off for your emails in Outlook!
Using Humour And Creativity
Injecting a little humour into an email can help brighten the recipients day. Care is vital, though, as misjudged humour can easily offend or cause upset.
If you are new to sending business emails, or if you are unsure whether you are striking the right tone, it’s best to keep humour to family, friends and close colleagues.
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Always Include A Closing
Aside from the fact that an adequate closing can act as a perfect call to action, solidify your relationship with the correspondent and add a bit of personalization to what would otherwise probably be a rather dry conversation, adding an appropriate sign-off is simply a matter of etiquette.
Naturally, if the email you are sending is just a part of a long thread, and if you expect a quick response, you can omit the formal closing, but in other situations, be sure to include some kind of a greeting.
Besides, by including a sign-off at the end of your email, the recipient can be sure that they received the entire message and that part of it wasnt cut off.
This is especially important in long email conversations, where email clients sometimes place a part of the message after those three dots.
Include Relevant Contact Information

You may need to take your email conversation to a different platform depending on the conversation. As part of your signature, or in your closing statement, be sure to mention how the recipient can reach you in other ways. You may even want to call out a specific time or method that you intend to use. Even still, try to keep relevant information available in case the individual your messaging needs to reach out first.
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The Appreciative Email Sign Off
29. Thank you for
Saying thanks is one thing. But expressing your gratitude is totally different. If you feel like someone helped you on something specific, just say it.
30. Thank you for taking the time to
Showing someone that you appreciate their time and help goes a long way. Instead of a generic thank you, go the extra mile with this email sign off.
31. Thanks for the consideration
Looking for a way to tell your reader that you appreciate their interest in your product or service? Thats the one!
32. Much appreciated
A good choice if you need to express your genuine appreciation for something the recipient has done for you.
Tips For Creating A Professional Email Ending
Here are a few things to keep in mind as you compose your email closings:
Use your full name. Always include your first and last name in your closingespecially in the first few correspondences. This way, your recipient is clear on your identity and is less likely to confuse you with other contacts who have the same first name.
Be professional. Use context clues to determine the appropriate tone to use in your closing. If you are emailing someone youve never met, keep a professional tone by avoiding casual sign-offs like Chat soon! If you have exchanged several emails and feel that a more laid-back closing would be more appropriate, feel free to mirror your audiences tone. If youre unsure, its always a good idea to err on the side of professional.
If youve exchanged several emails with someone, it can be tempting to skip the closing. In this case, it is good to be thoughtful about including a closing in your email. While your conversations might have become more casual, an email closing still exhibits attention to detail and professionalism. Additionally, the recipient may forward your email to others within the organization who may not have communicated with you previously. A thoughtful closing will leave a favorable impression on them and makes the communications clear and easy to follow.
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Email Closings For Gratitude And Requests
7. Thanks in advance
According to the Boomerang study, emails that include thanks in advance have the highest response rate. Maybe its because this sign-off expresses gratitude but also sets an expectationyoure saying that youll be grateful when the person youre emailing comes through. In more formal circumstances, thanking someone in advance may come across as too demanding, so take care where you use it.
8. Thanks
A simple thanks is also a solid choice when you want to express gratitude. But, just like thanks in advance, it can convey a tone of expectancy. Save it for when you actually mean to imply, I expect you to do this.
9. I appreciate your
Theres never really a wrong time to express appreciation when someone has helped you out.
Don’t Forget The Template
As you probably noticed, the good example above used a signature template. There’s a good reason for that. Templates are a great way to add an extra degree of professionalism to your business email.
Here are some reasons to use pro email signature templates:
Browse through many professional email signature templates at Envato’s GraphicRiver marketplace. For a closer look at some of the best and most popular email signature templates, review these articles:
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Sign Off #1: Thanks For Your Help
Thanks for your help is a pretty self explanatory email ending line thats used to thank someone for the time theyve dedicated to helping you.
Use cases: When writing to a colleague thats helped you out with something that might not be in your area of expertise.
Variations: Thank you for taking the time to help me/us, I appreciate you taking the time to help
Creative Email Sign Offs
If you’re interested in using a unique, casual email closingit’s not as hard to do as you might think. Here’s how you can build your ownunique and quirky email closing:
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Most Popular Email Sign
- My sincere thanks for your time and consideration,
- Take care,
- Continued success,
As with anything to do with email, use your discretion as to what is best for that particular message. For example, you wouldnt use I remain yours truly in business communications. However, you would use that closing with someone you admire, like, or have a friendly email relationship with.
Whereas Regards is the other end of the scale. Very professional, unemotional, and depending on the content of the email, could be perceived as a terse closing.
It would be best if you took the time to choose a sign-off that is indicative of the overall tone of your email. A sign-off that does not match the essence of the emails text can be perceived as being sarcastic or downright rude.
Likewise, I doubt if you were sending a professionally stern email that you would sign off with Warmly.
There Are Good Ways And Bad Ways To Sign

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On average, our inboxes get bombarded by over 120 emails a day, and that adds up over the years. Despite all the hours we spend typing and sending those emails, many of us still fall short on email etiquette, in particular the best way to sign-off an email. The goal of a well-crafted email sign-off is to ensure a quick response without coming off too formal, passive, or old fashioned. Modern life, it’s fraught.
A big issue is that we all have a different idea of what makes a great email sign-off. But as you’ll soon find, one person’s go-to email sign-off could be like nails on a chalkboard to some recipients.
Below, we’ll cover 10 email sign-offs that are sure to get a great response and 10 email sign-offs you might want to skip.
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What Are Email Sign
Email sign-offs, also known as “valedictions,” are the words or phrases used just before your name after an email. They’re used to indicate the end of your message with respect and are almost always followed by a comma and your name. The most common professional business email sign-offs are:
- Thanks,
- Regards,
- Respectfully,
While most people choose one of these common valedictions to close professional emails, you can use unique and personal email endings to contribute a bit of personality to your email message.
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Why Is Signoff Important
You might ask what is the big deal about a signoff? The prospect will have already opened the email and read it. So how does it matter what the ending is, as long as we close with some degree of gratitude?
That’s the biggest mistake you can make. Closing an email is as important as the rest of the email contents for many reasons:
- A promising sign off lets the prospect know that’s the end of the message
- It encourages the prospect to take an action
- It creates a good final impression
- It clarifies the intentions
- It gives an opportunity to display contact information
- It opens up cross-selling & upselling opportunities
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Keep Up The Great Work
Example:
Keep up the great work helping students discover their passions,
Everybody loves praise and giving it them encourages them to keep going. A lot of people lose motivation after a while because they have no clue the impact theyre making on other lives. Be a force that counters other human beings natural negative bias!
Never underestimate the power of a personalized, relevant compliment.
But dont waste time personalizing those emails one-by-one. Use a tool like Mailshake to: 1) personalize hundreds of emails all at once, 2) schedule those emails to send on your schedule, and 3) automate follow-ups if they dont reply.
I use Mailshake to automate my cold email outreach, and its the tool I recommend.
Has your contact been on a roll lately? Encourage them to keep it going.
There You Have It Stop Being Boring
Use these different email endings to wrap up messages in the most love-hate communication tool out there: email.
If you noticed a theme at all, its that many of the email endings use feel-good messages.
Its that saying: People dont necessarily remember what you say, but they do remember how you make them feel.
Readers are desensitized to run of the mill, polite email endings, since everybody else uses them.
So, be creative, and say something different.
Sometimes it only takes a few extra words to make a positive, lasting impression.
Additionally, our brains are wired to pay more attention to novelty. So if you use a more creative signoff, people are more likely to remember you and thats the first step in the door to future opportunities and connections. Happy emailing!
Whats the funniest or most awkward email intro or signoff youve received? Please, share it in the comments below, so we can all learn what not to do!
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Email Endings When Youre Sending A Congratulatory Note
When someone gives you a compliment, you feel obliged to give one back. Right?
Its called the Rule of Obligation.
You might need a favor from your recipient in the future, so end your email with a final note that further recognizes their accomplishment. It will create subconscious, positive attitudes of you and your company.
Keep up the great work!
Congrats again,
In awe of what youve accomplished,
Email Closing Example 2
Contrast that with the experience of receiving a similar email, but with the proper closing information included.
You skim down to the end of the email and find that it’s signed by “Brian Jones.” Brian knows how to close a business email, and also uses a proper signature template with complete contact information.
“I remember them now,” you think. “I met Brian Jones at the meetup last month.” You pick up the phone and call Brian’s number to find out more about the business opportunity described in the email.
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