Signing off an email in English

It’s the tiny things that make a difference in Business English, and this includes signing off an email.

I think that most weeks, I see this mistake below. I get an email from someone who wants to improve their Business English and they write, ‘Greetings’ at the end of their email instead of ‘Groeten’. Of course, they are writing to me to ask for help so this is what I reply:

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We do not sign off with 'greetings'

“Dear …

Thanks for your email …[insert message here]

Just before I go, I want to give you a small English tip. I hope you don’t mind. 

The word ‘greetings' is only used to say hello or welcome someone. A goodbye is a farewell. There are many ways to sign off an email and ‘Kind Regards’ is usually the safest.”

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However, for more advanced students of Business English, we have a wide variety of options to end a message.

Formal sign offs:

Regards / Best Regards / Warm Regards - all positive and professional.

Thank you - to express gratitude.

I’m looking forward to seeing you / starting this project with you - an optimistic tone for future plans.

Sincerely - positive yet formal.

Best - can be used formally. 

Informal sign offs:

Have a great week / Have a great weekend - useful for colleagues/clients you are in touch with often.

Cheers - a friendly informal ‘thank you’.

Take care - good for workplace goodbyes / retirement or leaving the company

Best wishes - good for workplace goodbyes / retirement or leaving the company

Talk soon / see you next week.

Let me know if you have any questions/problems - exactly what it says.

Of course, you know your industry and your colleagues so you can always look carefully at your peers and how they communicate to decide what tone is right for you. Here are some you might have to think about carefully before using:

Thanks in advance - can be considered pushy depending on context.

Love and xoxox / x - not acceptable in business. Though my old boss sent an ‘x’ to everyone religiously. I don’t think everyone appreciated it though.

Emojis - can be used in Business English but not recommended.

Any religious overtones such as, ‘have a blessed day’ are also to be avoided.

One last note:

I’ve noticed that ‘Met vriendelijke groeten’ is much more common in WhatsApp’s than UK ones. 'X' is much more common in British WhatsApp’s between friends too. It took me a few years after moving to the Netherlands to realise that I shouldn’t be putting ‘x’ at the end of my whatspps to my male Dutch ‘taalmaatje’. Oops!