10 Ways to Improve Your Customer Support Emails
Before social media, email was a favorite way to socialize with those on our friend’s list. Just like social media, it quickly became a popular way for customers to connect with businesses. Even with the addition of live chat, text messaging and social media, email is still a thriving communication method for companies to deliver service to their customers.
Unlike a phone call, it can be difficult to adequately provide excellent customer service because there is no tone of voice and intentions are easily misconstrued.
How can a business deliver excellent customer service through email? Take a look at these 10 tips for better customer support emails.
1. Respond quickly
Customers expect a quick resolution to their problem no matter how they contact a service department. If you advertise a customer support email, make sure it is actively monitored and quickly distributed to the correct individual. If a customer has to wait more than a day for a response, they are likely to become frustrated with the lack of response.
2. Match their tone
Before responding, customer service representatives should read the entire email and identify if the customer is upset, excited or curious. If a customer is excited, show excitement in your response by using exclamation points like this:
“Hi, Lisa! It is great to hear from you!”
If they are agitated, skip the exclamation marks, and acknowledge the severity of their email. Don’t forget to sign off with a friendly and professional farewell such as all the best or warm regards.
3. Always say thank you
In addition to acknowledging every email, it is essential that you thank the customer for contacting you. Showing appreciation is not only a sign of caring about what they have to say, but it also shows that you value the time it took to send the email.
4. Be positive
Whether you have good or bad news to deliver, find a way to say it positively. If the customer is requesting a refund, but the company policy is to only replace an item, a response could be: “Great news! Because we value loyal customers like you and believe in our products, we can send a replacement free of charge! How does that sound?” By approaching it in a positive way, customers are more likely to be accepting of the solution.
5. Personalize the response
Outside of automated email responses acknowledging that an email was successfully delivered, it is best to skip canned replies. Copy and pasting answers makes you look robotic and makes the customer feel unessential. Personalize every response by using the customer’s name and acknowledging the reason for the email.
6. Be thorough
Before hitting send, review the information you included and make sure all the necessary details are listed. Customers utilize email because it is supposed to be easy. By outlining all of the details, you prevent them from having to ask additional questions and speed the support process along.
7. Don’t use industry jargon
Sometimes, representatives go overboard in trying to sound professional, and they use terms the customer doesn’t understand, which only causes confusion, additional emails and frustration.
8. Provide actionable steps for a solution
In addition to details, it is essential that you outline actionable steps that the customer needs to take or that your company is taking to remedy the situation. Simply stating, “we’ll take care of that for you,” leaves the meaning open to interpretation. If your method of solving the problem isn’t the same as what the customer expects, they won’t be satisfied with the outcome.
9. Don’t type anything that can result in public scrutiny
In today’s digital-focused society, every conversation can end up on social media for the world to see. Make sure that anything you type won’t lead to embarrassment or public backlash if the customer takes a screenshot and shares on their social platforms.
10. Reread every email
Finally, never send an email without rereading it first. Check for grammar and spelling mistakes to assure that you are responding in a professional and polite manner.
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