What is an effective use of action in a business e-mail?

What is an effective use of action in a business e-mail?

Tim Burress (E-mail Etiquette and Organization Specialist) gives expert video advice on: What are the four important elements of a business e-mail?; What is a good 'greeting' to use in business e-mail? and more...

A quality and effective use of action in a business email is when you are being very clear and specific, particularly with response time or the specific action that you're requesting. In other words, "Please submit your business plan to me by 5 p.m. Eastern Time, May 15th", compared to "Send me your business plan by close of business May 15th" is a much more effective use of action in a business e-mail. "Close of business" for someone might mean 5:00 p.m. and whereas for another person it might be when they stop working that day, which could be at 10:41 in the evening.