If you’ve never used email as a customer service channel or simply want to improve your email customer service, our tips below can help you get started.
Making sure email is right for your brand
Firstly, it may be controversial, but the first best practice may be to actually not use email at all. Customers may be best directed to more efficient channels where they can be helped faster. Email really comes into its own through the 3rd party management rather than as a customer care channel, especially with automations – for example, automatically sending a chase to the courier when a parcel is delayed etc.
However, if email is a necessity for your brand, it may be more useful to utilise a form for customers to get in touch, rather than giving an email address. This way, you can use the form to collect additional query information and minimise the back-and-forth in reaching a resolution.
Helpful tone of voice
Your brand tone of voice should shine through in any email communications. Projecting helpfulness should be a major priority alongside this since it’ll indicate to the customer that you’re there to support them above all. Offer solutions and answers as soon as you can, and if you need to ask clarification questions, tell them why that is. For example, if the customer wants to know where their order is and they’ve provided their name and the date of the order but not the order number and this is something you need to locate their order, you’ll need to tell them this. Keeping the tone friendly and helpful rather than overly formal and matter-of-fact will help the customer see that their issue is on the way to being resolved. It should also keep any frustration to a minimum.
Apologise where necessary
Apologising to customers when something goes wrong shows accountability. Respect is a huge part of customer service and since you want your business to be well received, it’s important to acknowledge when something is wrong. The most important part of the apology is to show empathy for the situation and offer a solution based on this. For example, if a customer sends an email explaining that they were unhappy with their checkout experience, it’s the responsibility of the contact centre to respond with an apology in the first instance which is personal to their experience. This is especially important for email customer service because the customer can easily be made to feel like a number, which this approach aims to avoid.
Include all relevant information
Order numbers, references, key contact details for the agent they’re speaking to and anything else relevant must be included in any email correspondence. Your customers should never need to go digging around for information and details that should be offered as standard, so check that these are included in each customer service email as needed. However, it’s equally as important not to bombard customers with too much information that could cloud the main message, so check that what’s included is necessary.
Use a professional & clear structure
Professionalism and clarity must be upheld in email communications with customers. Try to avoid informal language or slang (unless it fits your brand’s tone of voice) and – above all -ensure your message is simple and easy to understand. A well-organised structure can be the easiest way to achieve this. Start by addressing the customer, then by directly responding to their question or issue. You can then add further explanation or ask follow-up questions before finishing by reiterating the main point and directing the customer to other communication routes if necessary.
Send emails from a professional company email address
Outbound customer service emails from your contact centre should be sent from professional company email addresses rather than personal emails. Any email address that’s not easily identifiable for the customer might be ignored or viewed as spam, which can lead to a breakdown in communication and unhappy customers who think they’ve been forgotten. Instead, set up a common address or ensure each representative has their own identifiable email address linked to the business.
Be personal
It’s important to maintain a human touch in customer service, regardless of the channel used. In the case of emails, it’s recommended that your team adds personal touches wherever possible.
Each customer should be greeted by name at the beginning of the email using the details provided in their original email. Additionally, each email should be signed off with the name of the representative who wrote the response, alongside a brief signature including their title. This makes it easier for the customer to continue the conversation with you if they choose to do so.
Provide quick responses
Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean that you must reply to each email with a personal response or a solution within minutes of it being received. But since most customers will have their emails on hand throughout the day, they’ll expect some form of response to appear fairly quickly.
We recommend offering an automated reply service which acknowledges that your team has received the email and offers a timeframe for when they should expect a response. This should be within 24 hours but can often be longer during busy periods.
Remain solutions-oriented
If the customer has come to you for a solution, it’s likely that either your self-service options aren’t helpful for their situation or they’d prefer to have their issue resolved with a tailored solution. Therefore, it wouldn’t necessarily be wise to direct the customer to any resources that relate to their question or query at this stage.
Instead, take a proactive solution-based approach to provide the customer with the answer they’re looking for. Once the problem is solved, you can then mention the resources they can use in the future.
