How To Write The Best Customer Support Emails

How to write the best customer support emails

Friendly, yet informative and easy-to-read customer support emails can be tricky to write. Even the most experienced business communication experts can run out of exciting and positive ways to portray the right messaging. Added to which, the purpose of a bunch of customer support emails can vary. Most, of course, are in the form of responses to queries posed by customers as tickets, but there are others which fall in the category of merely providing information, only apologizing, welcoming customers, or requesting for their feedback.

That can amount to a whole lot of emails, every week, from a business to its customers!

To counter this, smart companies invest in proactive customer service or proactive customer engagement, to minimize the number of emails being sent to customers from customer support teams. The natural decrease in the number of emails results in raising the quality of emails that do go out.

Proactive Customer Support

Let us briefly cover a few proactive customer support activities that can lead to lesser email generation.

Detailed FAQs – A well researched set of FAQs is always helpful. But make sure to include all the most likely scenario questions and answers. Some companies fail in providing this, infuriating customers even further.
Smooth onboarding, purchase and payment processes – If your ecommerce website or UI is slow, sluggish or complicated, you will definitely get more tickets and query-based mails from customers, which you will have to then scramble around to respond to quickly. Keeping processes simple, clear and efficient will save your customer support function a lot of time and effort.
Resource bank – A well stacked knowledge bank is especially important for appliances, technical products or furniture companies, who need to instruct their customers in installation, assembly or troubleshooting problems. Ready-to-use blogs, step by step presentations and video tutorials can cut down on customers reaching out via email or even chat, time and again.

However, even with a proactive support mechanism in place, the requirement for customer support emails will arise.

So, here are some tips to churn out the most impressive and effective customer support emails:

1) Don’t always copy paste a template

We understand that templates are the easiest way to respond to customers. However, in a string of emails to the same customer, avoid using the same template. Humans can detect repetition easily. When you constantly utilise templates to respond, it comes across as impersonal and automated. Instead, add variations to address the specific issue at hand. This makes the response sound more human and empathetic.

2) Select, original well written templates

Secondly, for the templates that you do use, create original ones rather than the ones available online. Take inputs for inspiration but finally create your own using your brand values and key messaging tone.

3) Use friendly greetings

Begin every email with the customer’s name and utilise a friendly semi-formal greeting such as ‘Hello” or “Hi there”. This frequency of communication sets the tone and calms the customer down before he or she moves on to reading the rest of the correspondence.

4) Use hope-giving phrases

Phrases such as “I have no idea”, “This has never happened before” or “It’s not our fault” are a let down for customers, no matter how true you think they are! Instead trigger hope by providing constructive statements such as “I understand and I will do my best to find the best solution”.

Also, speaking in the first person like “I am here to help you. My name is so and so….” rather than “We are working on your problem”. If you wish to give the impression that there are others dedicated to solving one customer’s issues, say “I will ensure that the team rectifies your problem at the earliest”.

Other positive statements include:

“I will definitely help you with that”

“Thank you for bringing this problem to our attention”

“You are our valued customer and your business means a lot to us”

5) Don’t redirect to the FAQs or Resource Bank

Once a customer has created a ticket via an email, try not to redirect this customer to your resource bank or FAQ section. Give the solution in the response email in a step by step manner.

Alos, do not offer complicated solutions. If there is an absolute need to include a tutorial or instructional video link, you may. But at the same time, list down the steps included in the video in an easy-to-follow fashion. This portrays that you have made some effort and not merely copy pasted some links, to deal with the customer quickly.

6) Follow up with promises

If you or another customer support agent in your team has promised a customer a particular thing such as a refund or order cancellation, be aware of this and do not go back on it. Instead fulfill this promise to the best of your abilities.

Proactively send follow up mails on actions required by the customer or from the support team’s side. Don’t ignore a problem till it is resolved satisfactorily.

7) Write in simple, lucid language

Customer support emails are not a test of your literary skills so keep your language and words simple. Avoid using exaggerations and dramatic responses. Keep it semi formal, straightforward and conversational, with less jargon unless it is really required.

If you require assistance with your customer support emails, please feel free to contact us at the earliest!