You’ve done it—the perfect cold email. All that’s left is to wrap things up with a sign-off. Two common choices are: “Kind regards” and “Best regards.” Which one do you choose?
Email sign-offs are often an afterthought. Most of the time, we’d go on autopilot and choose “Regards,” “Thanks,” or any iteration of the two. So, do they even matter?
The answer is a definite yes! Sign-offs set the overall tone of your emails. You want to make sure you get it right. We’re here to help! In this article, we’ll tackle the following:
- When should you use “Best regards” over “Kind regards”
- Alternatives you could use for both
- Best practices to ensure your sign-offs elicit a response
Best Regards Vs. Kind Regards: BEST
“Best regards” is the better option if there’s already an established relationship. You can also use it when you’re acquainted but not familiar with a prospect.
Here’s a quick rundown of scenarios where you can use this sign-off:
- Sending emails to clientele
- Updating vendors you’ve worked with in the past few months
- Email follow-ups
- Emailing workmates
- When the receivers give off a casual vibe
“Best regards” works well if there’s already communication between you and the receiver. Having an established relationship allows for a more casual—yet professional tone.
If you’re unsure whether or not you’ve built a good enough relationship with the other party, the safest bet is to use “Kind regards” as your email sign-off.
Best Regards Vs. Kind Regards: KIND
Cold email marketing campaigns demand introductions. Prospects have little to no idea of who you are. Relationships aren’t established, so “Kind regards” becomes the better choice.
It’s the more formal approach to a “regards” email sign-off. Here are a couple of situations where you can use this:
- During cold outreach campaigns
- Sending follow-ups to no-response prospects
- Emailing superiors in your organization
- Introductions
- When you’ve yet to know the tone or the vibe of the email communications
Both “best” and “kind” regards have their sets of pros and cons. But, if you think either of them is too formal—or not formal enough, there are always alternatives you can use.
Alternatives for “Best regards” and “Kind regards”
If you’re not a big fan of the “regard” line-up, there are several sign-offs you can use as alternatives. Here are some examples that give the same level of formality and respect:
Warm regards
“Best regards” is for people you’re already acquainted with—” Warm regards” is for people you’re comfortable with. It’s typically reserved for close friends and family.
But that doesn’t mean it can’t work in a professional setting. You just need to be extremely selective and ensure you’ve built a strong relationship with the recipient.
Here are some example scenarios:
- You’ve already established a relationship beyond the transactional
- You have consistent communication
- When the recipient gives off a friendlier vibe
All the best
If the conversation is steering toward a more relaxed tone, go with “All the best”. It’s a great alternative that can be used in both professional and informal emails.
You give off a friendlier tone to your email as you’re “wishing them all the best”. This sign-off is perfect for email templates that don’t need to be too formal.
With gratitude
This email sign-off can be used as an alternative for “best” and “kind” regards and as a variation of the “Thank you” sign-off. It’s great for follow-up emails or when you’re requesting something.
For example, if a prospect signs up for your newsletter and you want to thank them, you can use “With gratitude” as a sign of your appreciation.
Much appreciated
“Much appreciated” is a less formal variation of “With gratitude”. Examples of when to use this are confirming details, delegating tasks, or approving reports.
You wouldn’t want to use this on a cold sales email though. Instead, use it when sending emails to more familiar colleagues or people within your organization.
Thank you
Although “Best” and “Kind” are the usual go-to's for most email marketers—a study found that “Thank you” sign-offs had the highest response rates.
An even better alternative would be “Thanks in advance” which had the highest overall responses.
According to a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, a little gratitude goes a long way.
Email Sign-off Best Practices
To ensure our email sign-offs are optimized, we can refer to the following best practices:
Understand the Context
Are you sending a contract? Is the email purely transactional? Have you been communicating consistently in the same email thread?
There are proper sign-offs for each situation. Understand the context and use the appropriate email sign-offs to wrap things up.
What’s the Vibe?
The tone of your email exchanges can determine if you should lean more casual or formal with your email sign-offs. Have you built up a friendship with the recipient? ?
If so, you can even go for informal sign-offs like “Cheers” instead of “Best regards.” Think colleagues you’ve built a good relationship with, or friends within your network.
Always Check Your Grammar
There’s not a lot that could go wrong when you’re writing a 2-3 word email sign-off. But when you do, it’s all the more apparent. Your sign-offs going to stick out like a sore thumb.
So, as a rule of thumb, always check your grammar. Only capitalize the first letter of your sign-off and end it with a comma.
Key Takeaways
“Best” and “Kind” regards are two of the most common email sign-offs you can use. “Best” is used when you’ve already built an established relationship. “Kind” is more introductory.
If you don’t want to use either of the two, you can go for the following alternatives:
- Warm regards
- All the best
- With gratitude
- Much appreciated
- Thank you/Thanks in advance
Note: An email sign-off is only as effective as the rest of the email. Make sure to personalize and optimize your subject lines, intros, main bodies, and CTAs.
Check out our complete guide to email sign-offs in this post:
