Customer service has changed dramatically in the last twenty years thanks to the internet. Instead of calling to raise concerns, complaints, or compliments, now you can simply email the company. Thus, companies must train customer service employees in how to respond with proper etiquette, in order to build good relationships with their customers. Similar to a telephone conversation, a rude or appropriate reply can damage a company's reputation, while a friendly and professional reply can maintain customer loyalty. But more importantly, a good customer service email should address and solve customer problems without lingering in the right language and tone.
Step
Part 1 of 3: Personalizing Email
Step 1. Try to reply as soon as possible
Customer service is often considered good if it works quickly, effectively, and respectfully. Therefore, it is advisable to respond to emails from customers as soon as you have the required information.
- The best response time is between 24 hours to 3 days. If it's longer than that, the customer will feel like the email didn't arrive or the customer service doesn't care at all.
- In this day and age, customers feel compelled to receive an immediate response. Therefore, prompt reply will increase customer's trust and thereby become the company's competitive advantage.
Step 2. Compose the title sentence
The title sentence is very important because it often determines whether an email is worth opening and reading. Blank headings are more likely to be removed or irritate customers by having to open the email without knowing what's being discussed.
- Keep the title sentence concise and specific, and put the most important words at the beginning of the sentence. Don't forget, most headlines should be less than 60 characters, while phones can only display 25-30 characters. Put the most important words at the beginning to instantly grab the attention of the recipient.
- Be careful not to use all capital letters and too many punctuation marks. Both are considered intrusive and inappropriate for customer service emails.
Step 3. Personalize the email using the customer's name
Customers value personalized email addressed by name. This makes the customer feel treated as an individual and valued because you are respectful and courteous.
- Personalized emails will strengthen the relationship with customers compared to informal and generic emails.
- Choose a greeting that reflects the customer's status. For example, a doctor should be addressed with "Dr." If it is not known, use the standard greeting “Brother” or “Brother.”
Step 4. Introduce yourself
Similar to customer names, you can use a personal name to personalize your email. After all, emails should be made like conversations between two people rather than a transaction between a businessperson and a customer.
In addition to your name, include your title and contact information to establish a relationship for future communication
Part 2 of 3: Replying to Emails
Step 1. Consider the context of your email
All customer emails should be appreciated, no matter the good or bad because every email is an opportunity to improve the product and strengthen the relationship with the customer base. Customer email is a good resource for discovering product strengths and weaknesses.
- If you have to make an apology, don't just say "sorry" and be more specific. This way, the customer feels like you really read and understand the problem.
- To all problem-focused emails, you should be prepared to admit that the company is having trouble solving problems. Hiding the problem will only destroy the trust that was built. In addition, by acknowledging the problem, the customer knows that the company is trying hard to solve the problem.
- Make sure you ask questions to dig deeper into the problem. This is a great opportunity for companies to do direct research on the product. For example, ask “How can we improve our product?” to get feedback on how to fix problems and maintain the loyalty of customers experiencing similar difficulties.
- Show appreciation for more than just “thank you.” Customers who take the time to write emails deserve to be rewarded with a heartfelt thank you.
Step 2. Provide concise instructions to the customer
To ensure customers can follow or understand difficult terms of a complex product, and avoid using instructions that only certain circles can understand.
- Simplify your response to complex problems using numbers or bullets to describe steps or actions that need to be taken separately
- Apply the ELI5 technique (Explain Like I'm 5 which means "explain as if I were 5 years old"). Before submitting instructions that are technical in nature or very difficult, try to reread them as if you were 5 years old to make sure the customer can understand them. The key is to maintain respect and not treat customers like children.
Step 3. Use regular replies to frequently asked questions aka FAQ (frequently asked questions)
Don't forget to keep your email personal and not like replying to FAQs. As a customer service representative, you are bound to run into some of the same questions every day. While it's easier to store responses to all of these common questions, be careful how and when to use them.
- Use appropriate recorded responses, but always try to personalize emails so customers don't feel like they're receiving “copy-paste” replies.
- Try to keep the recorded response part of your reply to detailed instructions in your email, but change the name, date, and location accordingly to personalize the email.
Step 4. Enable the link in the email if the response is overwhelming
Most people don't like receiving long emails. The reason, the email is boring and annoying. Therefore, if you have to reply with very lengthy instructions or feedback, include a link in the email so customers can find what they're looking for right away.
- If the instructions contain three or more continuous steps, include a link linking them to the information you provided.
- The customer will click on the link instead of reading all the steps or information.
- Consider developing an information center with helpful information in the FAQ. This way, you can link this information and make it available to your customers 24 hours a day.
Step 5. Include additional help to the customer
The customer should know exactly when to receive or know a solution or at least get a notification. This is one way of building trust between the company and the customer.
- Stay proactive in providing information and notifications to customers.
- Anticipate additional needs or problems before asking customers
- Provide contact information so customers can reply to you directly. Thus, problem solving is more effective and responses can be faster.
Part 3 of 3: Preparing to Send an Email
Step 1. Consider the tone of your email
Dealing with customers via email emphasizes the importance of the words used to express proper attitude. Recent research has shown that a casual tone is preferred by customers (about 60%) except when the request is rejected. At that time a formal tone was preferred. Therefore, in most cases, you should try to be polite, personal and professional.
- Avoid using slang or emoticons, total capitalization, and excessive punctuation as they are considered rude even for casual emails.
- While “Mister” and “Madam” are appropriate, they are considered too formal.
- Try to be firm with the customer's needs when responding to the problem.
- Replace negative words with positive. Positive words are powerful in influencing how customers read your emails.
Step 2. Close your email politely
Close your email with a "thank you" for using your product or service.
Provide a personal signature and end the email with “With respect.”
Step 3. Read your email again
Don't be tempted to skip this stage. In busy times, there are often words that are left behind, typos, repeated words, or incorrect punctuation.
In addition to grammar and word choice, try to make your emails look good by setting page borders, compiling easy-to-read paragraphs, and bullet points for steps
Tips
- Emails that contain swearing or other aggressive words can make you angry. Pause your response to the email for a while to prevent venting anger on the customer.
- Do not use customer email addresses from customer service to send company offers or promotions. Customers will perceive it as spam and damage the company's relationship with customers.
