That Final Word: Why Your Email Closing Matters More Than You Think
You've just spent an hour crafting the perfect pitch to an investor. The subject line is sharp, the body is tight, and the ask is clear. Then you get to the last line and stall. Is “Best regards” too formal. Is “Cheers” too casual. Does “Thanks” sound too soft when you need a decision.
That hesitation is normal because the closing does real work. It sets the tone of your relationship, reinforces your intent, and shapes the last impression the recipient carries into the decision to reply, ignore, or defer. In startup life, that matters more than many realize. Founders send emails that can facilitate intros, press, customer calls, partnerships, beta feedback, and launch visibility. In those moments, the closing isn't decoration. It's part of the pitch.
The best ways to end a professional email depend on context. A note to a journalist isn't the same as a follow-up to an early user. An investor update shouldn't sound like a Slack message. A launch submission question to a platform team should feel clear, respectful, and easy to answer.
What follows is a practical playbook, not a list of generic sign-offs pulled from office etiquette advice. These are the endings that fit high-stakes founder situations, including product launches, outreach, and community building around platforms like Saaspa.ge.
1. Best Regards
“Best regards” is the safe choice when the communication is critical and the relationship is still new. It sounds professional without feeling cold, which is exactly what you want when you're asking for time, access, or consideration from someone who doesn't know you yet.
This closing works well in first-contact emails. Think investor outreach, partnership proposals, press pitches, sponsorship requests, or a formal question to the Saaspa.ge team through the Saaspa.ge contact page. In all of those situations, you want to signal respect and seriousness.
When it earns its place
Use it when the recipient is evaluating both your message and your credibility. A tech journalist deciding whether to cover your launch will notice if your email sounds too stiff, but they'll also notice if it sounds lazy. “Best regards” lands in the middle.
It also helps when the rest of your email is direct. If your body copy says, “Would you be open to a short reply if this fits your coverage?” then “Best regards” softens the ask just enough.
A few founder scenarios where it fits:
- Press outreach: You’re pitching a new AI tool to a reporter who gets flooded with launch emails.
- Platform operations: You need clarification on a listing, feature slot, or submission process.
- Business development: You’re proposing a co-marketing partnership with another SaaS company.
What can go wrong
The mistake isn't using “Best regards.” The mistake is pairing it with a vague close above it. If your final sentence says “Hope to hear from you” and then you sign off formally, the email feels noncommittal. The sign-off can't fix a weak ask.
Keep the structure simple:
- State the ask clearly: “Would a quick yes or no this week be possible?”
- Match the signature to the context: Full name, role, company, and relevant link.
- Use it early in relationships: Once the thread becomes warmer, you can loosen up.
For formal first impressions, this is still one of the best ways to end a professional email.
2. Thanks
If you already have some rapport, “Thanks” is one of the strongest closings you can use. It feels current, confident, and human. More importantly, it performs well. A Boomerang analysis of over 350,000 email threads found that “thanks” produced a 63.0% response rate, ahead of several common alternatives, according to this summary of the Boomerang email sign-off findings.
That result matches what a lot of founders already feel in practice. Gratitude lowers friction. It tells the recipient you respect their time, but it doesn't make the message feel ceremonial.
Where it works best
Use “Thanks” after the relationship has moved past the first handshake. That includes customer follow-ups, replies to early adopters, notes to community members who shared your launch, or back-and-forth with beta testers.
It works especially well when you tie it to something specific. “Thanks for the thoughtful feedback on onboarding” is stronger than ending with a generic “Thanks.” Specific gratitude feels earned.
A few examples:
- You’re replying to a user who reported a bug and offered extra context.
- You’re following up after your product gets featured and want to keep the thread alive.
- You’re thanking a founder who introduced you to a potential customer.
The trade-off
“Thanks” can sound too casual if you're using it in a cold email to a traditional executive, lawyer, or enterprise buyer who expects more distance. In those cases, the body of the email has to carry more of the formal tone.
Still, in startup circles, “Thanks” often beats polished corporate language because it doesn't slow the conversation down.
Use it with a follow-up question when you want momentum. For example:
- Feedback thread: “Thanks. If you had to fix one part of the onboarding, what would it be?”
- Community outreach: “Thanks for sharing this. Curious which audience segment it resonated with.”
- Customer follow-up: “Thanks. Want me to send over a short walkthrough?”
Done right, “Thanks” is efficient and hard to resent.
3. Looking Forward to Hearing From You
This closing works when you need a response and want to say so without sounding aggressive. It signals interest, respect, and forward motion. Used well, it creates a gentle expectation that the conversation isn't over.
Founders tend to use it in the right situations and the wrong ones. It belongs in messages where a reply is essential. Investor outreach, beta recruitment, partnership exploration, product feedback requests, and cross-promotion emails all qualify. A status update with no real ask does not.
Why it works
The phrase tells the recipient two things. First, you're paying attention. Second, you're inviting dialogue, not dropping a monologue into their inbox.
That matters when you're trying to build something with other people. If you're asking experienced operators for product feedback, “Looking forward to hearing from you” feels more collaborative than “Let me know.” It puts the relationship on more equal footing.
Use it when there is a clear action sitting just above the sign-off, such as:
- “If you're open to it, I'd love your blunt feedback on the pricing page.”
- “Would next week work for a short intro call?”
- “If this aligns, I can send a draft partner plan.”
Make it less generic
On its own, the phrase can feel padded. Add a concrete time frame or context when appropriate.
Examples that sound sharper:
- Investor note: “Looking forward to hearing from you this week if this fits your thesis.”
- Beta outreach: “Looking forward to hearing from you after you've had a chance to test the flow.”
- Partnership email: “Looking forward to hearing from you if a joint launch week campaign is worth exploring.”
When to avoid it
Don't use it if you don't want the response, or if you're not prepared to handle one quickly. Founders lose trust when they invite input and then disappear for days.
Also avoid it in a thread that already has a scheduled next step. If the call is booked, “Talk soon” is better. This sign-off is for open loops, not confirmed ones.
4. Cheers
You send a quick follow-up after a founder dinner, a beta tester replies from their phone, and the thread is already informal. “Cheers” works there. It keeps the tone human without making the email feel careless.
That balance matters in startup conversations. Founders spend a lot of time switching between very different audiences in the same hour. One email goes to an investor associate. The next goes to a maker you met in a launch thread. Using the same closing for both is how you end up sounding stiff in one place and too casual in the other.
Where founders can use it safely
“Cheers” fits best when the relationship already has some warmth and the email itself sounds natural. I use it in ongoing conversations with other operators, product people, and community members where nobody expects corporate polish.
Good fits include:
- follow-ups with another founder after trading launch notes
- coordination with beta testers or early users who already know the product
- back-and-forth with collaborators in business software launch communities on Saaspa.ge
- short threads with journalists or creators after the initial introduction is out of the way
What it signals
“Cheers” says you are comfortable dropping a layer of formality. That can help in startup circles where speed, clarity, and personality all matter.
It also carries risk. In the wrong thread, it reads like borrowed startup language. If the recipient is formal, older-school, or writing from a more conservative industry, the sign-off can undercut the seriousness of an otherwise solid email.
Where it misses
Skip it for first-touch investor outreach, enterprise procurement, legal conversations, and bank or compliance contacts. Those readers are judging judgment, not friendliness.
Geography matters too. In UK and Australian contexts, “Cheers” often feels normal. In other markets, it can sound more casual than you intended. If you are unsure, default to something more neutral.
A simple filter works. Read the last two lines of your email out loud. If the body says, “Happy to send over the deck” or “I can share the cohort numbers if helpful,” “Cheers” may fit. If the message is more formal, high-stakes, or clearly transactional, choose a closing that keeps more distance.
Used well, “Cheers” makes you sound like a real person. Used too early, it makes you sound like you are trying to skip a step in the relationship.
5. Best, [Name]
You fire off a note to an investor at 11:40 p.m., a journalist at 6:15 a.m., and three launch partners before lunch. In that kind of week, “Best, [Name]” is tempting because it costs nothing to think about. That convenience is also the problem. As noted earlier, “Best” tends to underperform stronger sign-offs, even though it shows up everywhere.
Still, I would not ban it. In startup work, speed matters, and this closing is short, familiar, and easy to use on mobile. In an active thread where the other person already knows who you are, that simplicity can help keep the conversation moving.
Why it keeps showing up
“Best, Maya” works when the email is doing operational work, not relationship work. You are confirming timing, answering a quick question, or sending a small update that does not need extra polish.
That is common during launch cycles, partner coordination, and founder-led outreach at scale. On Saaspa.ge business launch pages, for example, founders often manage a pile of conversations at once. A light closing helps when the value is in the speed and clarity of the reply.
Use it when:
- the thread is already warm
- the recipient clearly knows your name and role
- the message is short and specific
- the next step is already understood
Where it weakens your email
The main drawback is that “Best” often reads like muscle memory. In low-stakes threads, that is fine. In high-stakes outreach, it wastes a useful signal.
A founder pitching a reporter, asking an angel for a meeting, or reopening a stalled enterprise deal should make the last line do a little more work. “Thanks” can show respect. “Looking forward to hearing from you” can reinforce a pending response. “Best” usually says only one thing. You ended the email.
That is why context matters.
- Good fit: follow-up notes with a known operator, partner, or customer
- Weak fit: first-touch investor outreach, media pitching, or any thread where tone carries judgment
- Better version: include your first name if the thread is warm and keep the ask sharp above the sign-off