Hello, I hope you’re well.

A colleague of mine used to use this at the opening of every email she sent. Even to people sitting in the same room as her. It had become her standard opening, just as the old faithful Kind Regards had been her standard sign-off.

We would tease her gently about it. Her defence was: “I’m just being polite.”

Politeness and etiquette is, of course, very important in business. She definitely had the right attitude.