When you are writing emails day in and day out to customers, it’s only natural for some support emails to miss the mark. Maybe you sent the wrong link to someone or addressed someone by the wrong name. Tiny errors like this could lead to a poor customer experience. However, you can fix these issues with a simple support email checklist. After all, writing a good email depends a lot on getting the basics right.
If you’re wondering how to write customer service emails better, here are eight tips to follow before you hit ‘send.’
1. Address the customer by their name
It’s a good practice to call a customer by their name. If you do not know the customer’s name, a friendly “Hi there” will do. But do start your reply with a semi-formal greeting, no matter how urgent the issue is. It sets the tone that you are calm enough to handle the issue no matter how the customer is feeling.
Start your reply with a semi-formal greeting, no matter how urgent the issue is. Click To Tweet
2. Thank the customer
The customer is using your product/service and cares enough about it to write to your customer support team. So, whether it’s a complaint or a how-to question, they have taken an interest in your company and that should be met with gratitude.
- You can thank them for bringing the issue to your notice.
- You could thank them for using your product.
- You can thank them for giving you a great feature idea.
A simple thanks will make them feel valued and help them understand that their thoughts are welcome.
Whether it’s a complaint or a how-to question, the customer has taken an interest in your company and that should be met with gratitude. Click To Tweet
3. Answer all the questions the customer asked
No matter how great your email is, the primary goal of the customer is to get a quick solution to their issue and move on. So the main customer service skill is to empathize with your customer, value their time, and give them clear answers to all their questions in one go. If you need more time to answer some of their questions, then go ahead and say it. Don’t make the customer feel like you did not read their full email message.
Always value your customer’s time and give them clear answers to ALL their questions in one go. Click To Tweet
4. Address the underlying emotion of the email
Some customers are calm and composed when they write to you. But some are frustrated and angry customers. It’s natural because what might seem like a simple problem to you is actively preventing them from getting what they want.
So if they sound anxious or sad or angry or frustrated, go ahead and address it, and reassure them that you are doing everything you can so they don’t feel that way. If there is nothing your customer service team can do to help, you can still address it and tell them that you are sorry that they feel that way. Ask them if there is anything you can do to help. A simple acknowledgment will show them that you care and turn it into a positive experience.
A simple acknowledgment of the customer’s emotion will show them that you care. Click To Tweet
5. Stick to a consistent tone of voice and style of writing
No matter which support agent your customers engage with, you want them to have a positive customer experience that reflects your brand – no exceptions. Having a consistent tone and style of writing support emails across your team helps give this seamless experience.
Is there a standard way you want to address your customers? How casual or semi-formal do you want the language to be? Are there any formatting rules to be followed while presenting the solution? As a customer service team, you can decide to arrive at these basic rules and put together a support email style guide.
P.S: To ensure that all support agents follow these style guidelines, you can use simple automation like predefined reply templates as ‘canned responses’ which can be added in a single click.
MISA, a US online fashion retailer, gave faster support and achieved a 50% ticket deflection rate using Freshdesk’s canned responses feature without comprising personalization.
Canned responses have been so helpful because we’re able to avoid typing out the same message 25 times a day but still personalize it for every customer. It was much quicker than previously when we were using Microsoft Word – Victoria Stanzione, Customer Care Coordinator at MISA.
6. Test out the solution before suggesting it to customers
This check is mainly applicable to technical support questions. Before troubleshooting a customer’s issue and telling them to refresh the screen or try from a different browser, try it on your side. Maybe the solution was given to you by some experts on the team, but you don’t want to find out from your customers when it’s not working.
Never have the customer point out that the solution you gave isn’t working. Click To Tweet
7. Check for grammar, broken links, correct code, and attachment
Blunders pull you down. It’s hard to look like an expert problem solver when you overlook the little things. So make sure you check spelling errors while writing a customer support email. You can use tools like Grammarly for this purpose or even Microsoft Word. If you are not confident about the grammar, get a colleague you trust to review and get their input. Similarly, if you are sending a link or a code, double-check that they are working. And always check to see if you have attached the document you promised to attach!
You can’t look like an expert problem solver when you overlook the little things. Click To Tweet
8. Keep the email clear and simple
When writing to your customers, make sure you are conveying only the essential details in plain and direct language. Even complex information can be explained simply. Industry terms and jargon may be pretty obvious for you to understand but not for your customers. Add relevant images, screenshots, knowledge base articles or FAQ links, or even video tutorials to clarify your point. You can also highlight critical details within the support email to make it easy for your customer to process the email at a glance.
Avoid jargon and irrelevant information that may confuse a customer. Click To Tweet
Examples and templates to write good support emails
Now that we’ve seen a few tips to write good customer service emails, let’s take a look at some sample responses for certain scenarios. Don’t miss the easy-to-use customer service email templates too!
Example scenario 1: A customer is asking for a new feature that can be built
Example scenario 2: A customer is asking for a feature that is not on your roadmap
Example scenario 3: A customer is asking for a feature that is not on your roadmap
Deliver exceptional email support faster
There you go. These eight customer service email tips will ensure that your support emails to customers are empathetic, quickly created, and reflect your company in the highest light.
Are there any checks we have missed out on? Let us know in the comment section.
P.S: If you’re looking to switch from shared inboxes to a simple ticketing system, sign up for Freshdesk.
Further reading:
– More tips to write exceptional support emails
– How to support customers efficiently with Gmail – Part 1, Part 2
Updated on February 15, 2022.
Brought to you by the Freshdesk Academy. For more content like this, enroll in the academy today, for free.
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