How to End an Email Professionally (No-BS and Actionable Guide)

Vlad Oleksiienko 06 May 2024

A simple email is the beginning of most business connections, whether it’s sales and marketing messages to potential customers, establishing partnerships, or beginning new joint ventures.

It’s for this reason that professionals across all industries, at one point or another, look into the art and science of crafting effective emails for their day-to-day tasks.

And while there’s tons of material out there about writing the perfect email, most articles and guides go in depth regarding the opening line, value proposition, and CTA. And while (yeap, another “while”) all those are crucial elements of an effective message, the email ending is often overlooked.

First impressions from your email opening get your recipient’s attention, but it’s the ending that leaves a memorable final impression, encouraging them to take the time to reply.

Let’s break down the complex landscape of top-performing email endings into small and practical pieces, exploring actionable tips and strategies on how to end an email professionally and ensure your messages conclude with impact and purpose.

The top-performing cold email structure

But first, let’s take a quick look at the full template structure of the perfect business email:

Subject line → first attempt to capture your recipient’s attention within a few seconds;
Greeting → simple, customary, and polite way to establish a friendly connection;
Intro → short personalized ice-breaker to showcase this isn’t another mass email;
Reason for outreach → the ultimate purpose of you reaching out to the recipient;
Value proposition → how your proposition may benefit the recipient;
CTA → prompts and facilitates the next step for communication;
Closing Sentence → last words in the form of a summary, P.S. line, or ice-breaker.;
Sign-off → the short ending phrase of your email, usually just a couple of words;
Signature → your digital business card with your professional and contact info.

In this guide, we’ll cover the 3 building blocks of winning email endings — CTAs, closing statements, and sign-offs, while we have a separate article on creating effective email signatures and turning them into powerful lead magnets.

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Effective cold email closing lines

Deciding how to end an important email can be nerve-racking indeed, but there’s no need to overcomplicate it either. The way I like to see it is you have 3 options — include a CTA as the closing line, include a P.S. line or ice-breaker, or provide a short summary of your message.

CTA

A call to action (or CTA, to be short) often appears before the closing line, but it can also be a powerful ending in itself given the right circumstances, for example, in sales emails to warm leads who’ve shown purchase intent.

CTAs provide a clear path to action, keeping the door open for further communication. There are virtually unlimited versions of effective CTAs, from providing some feedback to booking a meeting and beyond, there are however, some golden rules to follow:

→ Have 1 clear CTA; avoid multiple CTAs; focus on one simple action (reply back, book a call);

→ Use a maximum of 1 question (0 questions is even better);

→ Use low-friction, interest-based CTAs (e.g. Worth a conversation?);

→ Start a conversation, don’t push for a meeting right away;

→ Your proposed next action should be crystal clear and straightforward.

Here are a few examples of effective CTAs from our sales communications:

If that sounds interesting to you, I’d be happy to explain more. Feel free to pick any time from my calendar that would suit you for a chat.

Just out of curiosity: have you already implemented something for [What You Solve]?

Let’s have a quick intro call next week to see if there is a fit.

CTAs with a question can be tricky but are definitely necessary when planning how to end an email that requires a response from the recipient. And at the end of the day, if you want a response, make sure you’re asking the right questions!

P.S.Sentence or ice-breaker

Personalizing the closing statement is a neat way to leave a great final impression.

Including a P.S. or a friendly ice-breaker to your cold emails might not be obligatory, but it’s like adding a sprinkle of charm that could really make a difference. They could be both professional or personal, for example, if you noticed you’re both fans of basketball — why not close off the email with a comment on the current season?

That’s the beauty of P.S. lines and ice-breakers, they can be a common hobby, a compliment on their recent achievement, or anything else that you would say in real life to someone you met.

In the B2B world, where inboxes are flooded with automated messages, it’s crucial to stand out. A well-crafted P.S. or a personalized ice-breaker is your chance to show that you’ve done your homework, that you are invested, and that they’re not just another name on a gigantic email list.

Adding that slight personal touch at the end of an email can turn a cold email into a warm conversation. All it would take you is a minute or two to look through your recipient’s LinkedIn profile or simply use an AI sales assistant to do that job for you.

Let’s check out some examples:

P.S. I saw your recent post on innovative sales strategies, great read! I’d love to share some thoughts with you sometime.

P.S. I couldn’t help but notice your recent webinar on [topic]. As someone deeply interested in [related topic], I found it very insightful. Any plans for future sessions?

Before I wrap up, I noticed we both attended the [event name] last month. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

In my opinion, these P.S. lines and ice-breakers are exactly how to end an email professionally while making a more personal connection. Though, it goes without saying that there’s a time and place, and such endings are not how to end an email for a job application, for instance.

Simple summary

Sometimes, the best way is the simplest way, and when it comes to effective email endings, summarizing your pitch in a friendly, easy-to-digest manner can definitely be the way to go.

This goes especially for longer emails that convey lots of information or several talking points, where a key summary would be a breath of fresh air for a closing statement.

There aren’t any golden rules on how to properly summarize your email message, but a good rule of thumb is to ensure that it’s concise and has the capacity to deliver the entire message on its own. For instance, if we’re talking about sending a message to your boss, a compact summary is a great way to formally end an email.

Top-performing email sign-off tips and examples

Sign-offs are the final few words of your message, just a polite way to end the conversation, as well as your email signature, and there is plenty of wiggle room for creativity and variety in both.

While sign-offs technically go along with your name, nowadays most email signatures are automatically attached to emails

Let’s take a look at 5 types of email sign-offs, all highly effective in their own ways:

Classic sign-off

When ending an email, choosing a classic sign-off is essential for leaving a lasting impression. A classic sign-off is a tried-and-true way to conclude an email.

Regards, best regards → simple, versatile, and appropriate for any kind of formal email communication, be it to a potential employer, to a recruiter when asking for a job, or to a company when requesting something for potential partnerships.
Thank you, huge thanks in advance → another great option is to end an email with thank you, leaving it on a positive note and with gratitude for their time, consideration, and taking the time to hear you out. Thanking someone is always very light and natural.
Best → ideal for a formal, semi-formal, and informal email, it’s a safe bet that, despite its simplicity, creates a positive and respectful goodbye. Works perfectly for an inquiry email, an email to a client, or even an email for a job interview

Keep in mind that tailoring your sign-off to local customs can really make your email stand out when you’re reaching out to people from different places. For instance:

In the UK, it’s common to close with “Yours faithfully,” “Yours sincerely,” or “Kind regards.”
In Italy, you might see “Ciao” or “Cordiali saluti.”
Over in Australia, people often like to use “Cheers,” “Best,” or “Thanks.”

This small touch can show that you’re thoughtful and respectful of cultural differences!

Calendar link

Adding your personal calendar link to your email sign-off/signature is a great way to facilitate the next step of communication with your prospects, partners, candidates, etc. It saves time for both you and the recipient, and who doesn’t like efficiency?

Having a calendar link also gives the opportunity to soften your CTA to schedule a call with a simple ‘Feel free to book a quick call to discuss this further’. These sign-offs work incredibly well with an email asking for a response that needs to be discussed over the phone.

Contact information

If the calendar link is a cool addition to your sign-off, your contact information is absolutely imperative. Once again, this can be a short plain text sign-off or an automated email signature containing all the info in a more brand-themed aesthetic.

While on this topic, it’s worth mentioning that considering the new strict policies affecting email deliverability, plain text signatures are actually preferable in the context of avoiding triggering any spam filters by email providers.

With contact information and other personal info, recipients can reach out to you in their preferred communication channel, check out your LinkedIn, and slightly humanize the person sending them an email.

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Any questions?

Sometimes you can also leave the email in a manner of providing friendly assistance, once again emphasizing that you’re here to make their life easier, not to force a sale.

A simple ‘Let me know if I can be of assistance’ or ‘I’m here for any questions you may have’ are more than sufficient for an effective sign-off without the need to add anything else.

It goes both ways, and ending the email right after asking a question will emphasize that there is a more pressing topic at hand that needs to be addressed, prompting your recipient to respond.

Keep it friendly

Depending on the nature of your email and your recipient, sometimes your sign-off can be personalized in a light and friendly manner, just as you would talk in person.

And after all, your primary goal here is to build a human connection with your recipient, so it only makes sense. And even in the world of business, a little warmth goes a long way.

So, why not sign off with a friendly flourish that reflects the genuine connection you’re striving for? Whether it’s when requesting something from a partner, writing an email to an employer, or crafting a prospecting email to a customer, always be yourself, and always keep it more friendly than strictly formal.

Common email sign-off mistakes to avoid

Wrapping up emails can sometimes trip us up. That’s why it’s worth knowing the common mistakes to steer clear of when signing off. We’ll walk through these blunders and offer straightforward tips to help you avoid them.

Abbreviations/slang → the simpler your language is, the broader the audience you can cover, so instead of “MQL,” it’s better to say “leads.” Also, avoid slang jargon and marketing buzzwords in your emails (time and place).
Non-business sign-offs → while the goal is to create a friendly connection, at the end of the day it’s a business email, so there has to be a maintained level of professionalism at all times, so avoid personal or complicated sign-offs with ‘Sincerely’, ‘Best wishes’, ‘Yours faithfully’, ‘With best regards’, etc.
Pushing for the sale → the ultimate goal is making a sale, but pushing for the sale without first establishing a connection, determining if there’s a fit, and understanding your prospect’s pain points carries a great risk of pushing them away.
Having no sign-off → nothing much to add here, it’s never appropriate to leave a conversation without saying goodbye in one way or another, and emails are no exception.
Focusing too much on ‘you’ → it’s imperative to introduce yourself and your product to the recipient, but focusing the message too much on ‘you’, and not enough on ‘them’ is counterproductive, considering it’s you trying to get their attention and response.

10 cold email endings to boost reply rates

Time to put theory into practice with 10 of our favorite cold email closing sentence examples from a sample of hundreds of our company emails:

Is that something you’d be interested in? Would love to run through the details on a quick call and see if there’s a fit.

Either way, I hope you are having a good {{now_quarter}}.

P.S. Loved your post about [LinkedIn post topic].

P.S. Congrats on being with [company name] for 7 years!

I felt you might be interested in [Pain Point]. Open to learning a bit more?

Would you find this kind of solution useful? If so, I’d be happy to explain how it works.

Interested in unpacking how we can help with [Pain Point]?

Appreciate your time and consideration. Looking forward to potentially collaborating.

No rush, but is this worth exploring?

Is this something that you would be interested in discussing?

Feel free to customize these to your liking or simply use them for a bit of inspiration, but remember to include your sign-off and always add your name at the end!

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Before you click ‘send’

Before you click “Send Email” or “Start Sequence” — there are a few final touches to ensure you’ve crafted a truly effective cold email.

First, double-check for any formatting and grammar errors.

Next, read out your email and honestly ask yourself the following questions:

#1. Do I like this email template? (yes/no)
#2. Do I want to see something similar in my inbox? (yes/no)
#3. Would I reply if I received a similar email in my inbox? (yes/no)
#4. Ask your friend/colleague if they would reply to this email? (yes/no)

If you are happy with the result, your email is ready to roll, and you can start your outreach sequence with peace of mind.

Final piece of advice: Always try to A/B test all your emails, especially those in mass-email sequences. That way, you will identify the top-performing subject lines, intros, variables, etc., to further boost your reply and conversion rates.

Leaving a memorable impression

In communication, every detail counts. From the subject line to the email signature, each element contributes to the overall impression you leave like a puzzle.

By effectively concluding your messages, you can leave a memorable last impression and increase the chances of sparking meaningful engagement, enticing your recipient to take action.

So, remember, crafting a memorable email ending isn’t just a nicety — it can be a powerful tool for driving replies and conversions, ultimately growing your business, one message at a time.