8 Steps to Write the Perfect Customer Service Email
Customer service is the pillar of every successful business. That point of contact with customers can make or break a business. To build an overall great customer experience, you need to wow them with every outreach. A good customer service email can help you with that.
In this era of change, phone calls and walk-ins have been replaced with emails. When customers make an inquiry or complaint, you need to have an effective customer service email to win them over.
Even if just a few employees have a wrong email approach, it can affect the increase of negative reviews and shed a bad light on the company. For that purpose, you should craft the perfect customer email that everyone can learn from.
Here are the basic steps you need to take to get to that excellent customer service email.
1. Write a Clear Subject Line
The customer’s first encounter with your email is the subject line. You want to make a good first impression, so a good subject line is a must.
What makes a good subject line you ask?
It needs to embody the characteristics of subject line greatness: clear, direct, and specific. For example:
- Reminder: Update Your Premium Plan
- Feedback on the Purchase
Simply don’t overcomplicate it. Here are a few more tips that will help you write great subject lines:
- Keep it under 30 characters (mobile phones show 25-30 characters)
- Place the most relevant word first
- Don’t use all caps or multiple exclamation points (this can be perceived as yelling or too much excitement)
2. Greet Customers by Name
In your correspondence with customers, you want to always address them by their name. A generic greeting will automatically put a wall between you and the customer.
You want to earn their trust and present yourself as their friend. To do so, you need to start the interaction as if you know each other.
Stay away from the impersonal and lonely “Hi” or “Hello.” Just a small addition in the form of a customer’s name can make a world of difference.
In case you don’t know the customer’s name, opt for a friendly “Hi there.”
3. Keep It Structured and Concise
We leave in a busy world and customers don’t have time for empty talk and elaboration. So, your email needs to be simple and clear. Provide the information that customers need and that’s it. Address their inquiries without hesitation.
If a customer asks several questions, organize the answers into segments. Or, use bullet points to separate the answers. In case you are sharing certain steps or directions, bullet points and numbering are the best choices.
The goal is that a customer can find every piece of information they need within seconds.
4. Don’t Write Like a Robot
Customer service gets swamped up with so many emails that you get into automation mode. You send one email after another in the same repetitive manner.
What this can do to emails is strip off the friendliness. Before you know it, you start sounding like a robot. An overly formal approach can present the company as cold and uninterested. Just take a look at the following example:
Hello,
We have received your inquiry. Send us your reference number if you want us to provide you with that information.
Thank you,
The Support team
Does this email exude with “we are here for you” emotion? Absolutely not.
The email needs to sound friendly and natural. The customers shouldn’t get the impression that a robot is answering them. They should feel that there is a friendly face on the other side of the screen that they can turn to.
5. Show Empathy
A dissatisfied, frustrated, or angry customer usually feels crossed over. If you try to diminish their strong feelings, things can get worse.
What they need in those emotion-packed moments is compassion.
Show your customers that you care about them. Start the email with an apology and follow it by expressing understanding. For example:
Hi Jenifer,
I am really sorry that the shipping has been delayed. I completely understand your frustration.
Please give me 1-2 hours to find out what’s been holding it back.
Cheers,
The Support team
Sympathize with the customer if you want them to stop looking at you like the enemy. A simple empathetic approach can go a long way.
If you need help with creating emails that have a friendly tone, you can seek academic assistance from writing services. Academic writing services are more affordable and yet high-quality.
6. Avoid Being Vague
The best customer service is run by efficient and proactive people. The customers need to perceive you as such.
Using vague and indecisive statements such as “I’ll get back to you soon,” “I don’t know what has gone wrong,” and similar can be seen as lack of interest or capability, dismissing, or ignorance.
Show the customers that you are in control. Present yourself as a proactive company and be specific. Write “I’ll get back to you in 30 minutes” or “I’ll get in touch with delivery service right away to find out where’s the hold-up.”
However, don’t make promises that you can’t keep. It’s better to underestimate yourself and contact the customer after an hour (instead of three) than to keep them waiting.
7. Be Careful with Copied Content
When a customer asks for general information, copy-paste from your rulebook is a go-to. However, you need to double-check the content you copy.
Revise whether the date, location, links, and other information in the text is correct and applicable to the customer’s situation. If there is room for personalization, make some adjustments.
The best instruction email looks as if the customer service agent has written it from scratch.
8. Stay Away from Commanding Tone
Customers don’t want to be ordered around. They want suggestions. Some seemingly innocent sentences can look arrogant and rude to customers.
To avoid misunderstanding or perceived as rude, you shouldn’t use the following form of expressions:
- Go/do this…
- We can’t see how…
- You must/should…
- You claim/say that…
Instead, go for more respectful expressions like:
- Could you…
- Can/might we suggest…
- Can you send us…so that we can help you with…
Put the focus on positive language and you’ll navigate the correspondence in a positive direction.
Wrapping Up
Follow these steps and you’ll take the right road to the best customer service email. Considering the importance of customer service, every effort you invest in the email will be worth it. Now, put these tips to use and email away!
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