Tech Post (Bullets in Gmail) help the receiver not forget to answer questions

We use email as the primary way of communicating in the small business I run. The emails are communicating quotes, order details, and more. Within the emails, we are usually asking questions, then receiving answers back from the customer before we can move forward. There was a reoccurring issue I noticed with email communication. We would ask a few questions, and then in the response from the customer, he or she would forget to answer 1 or more of the questions. Often it would leave a sense of frustration because it would delay things from moving forward.

I found a solution that helped this problem dramatically. When I needed to ask a series of questions, rather that writing them in paragraph form, I would use bullets in Gmail. Here is an example:

PARAGRAPH FORM

Thank you for your request. I have a few questions. Do you have files ready or do you need our help with design? Can you provide a phone number in case we need to call you? When is the project due?

BULLET FORM

Thank you for your request. I have a few questions.

• Do you have files ready or do you need our help with design?
• Can you provide a phone number in case we need to call you?
• When is the project due?

I’ve found the latter is much more effective in getting a response to all of the questions asked.

PS – The shortcut in Gmail for using bullets is “Control Shift 8”.

February 14, 2019