Around the start of the year we got a mass email from our rental agency. We don’t get them that often so when they arrive I’m already a little anxious. The company we rent for is a large, national chain and they probably have hundreds of properties on their local books. Now, this email started off pleasantly enough, wishing us a happy new year. You know, the usual small talk opening. But what came next really threw me.

In the following two paragraphs the writer of the email launched into a tirade about the state of some tenants’ lawns. The bulk of the email was an ultimatum that if you didn’t keep your lawn green, mowed every three weeks and weed free, you’d be kicked to the curb. Somewhere in amongst the vitriol she said “Thanks” to the tenants who were doing a good job, but those few words were literally sandwiched between threats.

I felt belittled, angry and annoyed after getting this 100 word onslaught. I know that my partner felt the same. We’d been attacked, even though we were doing everything we could to keep our lawn green.

This got me thinking about the dangers of using mass email to address a problem like patchy green lawn amongst renters. Some people, I decided, are doing mass emailing really wrong.

Here are four things to keep in mind when you’re communicating to a large group of people.

1. Do not use mass email to do battle with a few people
If you have an issue with a small group of people, send an email or letter to them directly and individually. Don’t send a mass email to a large group of people when the issue concerns a minority. It’s offensive to the majority and it will backfire because you will look petty.

2. The message you intend isn’t always the message people will receive
How your readers will comprehend your email will differ based on limitless factors. They may be having a bad day, they may have had a bad experience dealing with you in the past or the email may have arrived at a bad time. You never really know how someone will take an email, especially if it doesn’t address an issue specific to them. I know that I took the email from our property manager personally, and I was offended. I know, that her intention (probably) wasn’t to offend me. Yet this was the outcome. Different words trigger different emotions and associations as Amanda Gangon said in her article Do your words scare people away? Stick to the facts and try to be neutral.

3. Don’t write an email when you’re feeling emotional
I guess our property manager was having a bad day when she wrote the email. She might have driven around to a few properties and seen several lawns looking a little brown. I bet when she returned to the office she was really fired up. This emotion is the perfect excuse to leave the mass emailing until tomorrow. Never, ever write an email when you’re fired up. Take some time and think about what you want to say and how you’re going to say it. Devise a plan of attack. Draft up an email, sure, but don’t send it.

4. Business communication directly affects your business
Never assume that the language you use in a simple, throwaway email will not affect your business. The language, your tone and how well you articulate your stance on issues will greatly affect perception. Many businesses have style guides that dictate the type of language to be used when communicating with customers. They are important, especially for larger businesses with several offices and thousands of clients. Eisla Sebastian has it spot on when she wrote “Without a communication style guide your employees may be transmitting offensive messages or muddled messages to your clients and to each other, which can impact your company productivity and profitability.”

How you communicate affects so many different facets of your business. Get it right and you can create brand loyalty and longevity. Get it wrong and you’re digging your own grave.