Seven templates that improve
customer service
Content
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Why is customer service important? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
The benefits of using customer service templates . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Seven email templates for improved customer service . . . . . . . . 8
Quick tips – how to answer customer service emails . . . . . . . . . 14
Customer service leads to brand loyalty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Seven templates that improve customer service SuperOffice AS © 2013 www.superoffice.com
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Introduction
Customer service has been around since the first transaction took place thousands of years ago.
If a buyer is not happy with a purchase, the customer will complain.
In today’s Internet driven world, if a customer is not happy, not only will they complain to you but
they are also likely to complain to their friends on Facebook and other social networks – which
could be anywhere between hundreds to thousands of connections.
And as 8 out of 10 web users now research your business online before buying a product, it is
important to answer all requests sent to your customer support team. 14% of email requests are
never answered at all and 27% of all email queries are answered incorrectly.
This white paper will investigate how customer service impacts brand loyalty, how you can
use email templates to improve your customer service and includes 7 email templates you can
implement today.
Seven templates that improve customer service SuperOffice AS © 2013 www.superoffice.com
Page 3 of 18
Why is customer service important?
Customer service has fast become the most important department in any
organization, and searches in Google continue to increase for “customer
service” – to the point of where it is at its highest in recent years.
Customer service
Your customer service team has access to key insights
into what troubles your customers are facing, their most
commonly asked questions and feedback to products and
services. In short, they can help your business get better.
Customer service teams have the power to turn
complainers into brand advocates and help customers fall
in love with your business. In fact, good customer service
is the new marketing and sales.
Based on research, here’s how customer service can
affect your business:
•
The #1 reason customers leave a company is
because they think you don’t care about them
•
86% of consumers are willing to pay more if they
receive a better quality of service
•
73% of consumers say friendly customer service
made them fall in love with a brand
•
55% of businesses claim that improving customer
service leads to increased sales
Simply put, investing in good customer service gives your
business the competitive advantage.
Seven templates that improve customer service SuperOffice AS © 2013 www.superoffice.com
Page 4 of 18
The benefits of using templates
Whether your business uses a knowledge base, an online FAQ or each
customer service response is handled freehand, you will find that common
trends in questions or issues emerge quickly.
Happiness and efficiency
Using email templates to improve customer service can help any business become more efficient.
With SuperOffice Customer Service Help Desk, you can set up and store email templates. Whether it’s a thank you
email for completing a form on your website to regular customer communication, email templates not only help you
to save time.
Other benefits include:
1
Personalized messaging
Using merge fields within email templates, each message can be personalized to
include the customer’s name, address, product and pricing details.
2
Reducing the margin for errors
As there is no need to retype each email, you remove a significant chunk of
human error and risk of sending incorrect messages with potentially awkward
consequences.
3
Using brand tone of voice in every communication
As your team does not need to edit the text within the email, any person
using the template can send the email and not have to worry about
“getting the same message right”.
Seven templates that improve customer service SuperOffice AS © 2013 www.superoffice.com
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Lets get started
In order to help you get started, we have created seven email templates
to help you and your customer service teams get started. The templates
can be copied and implemented directly. The email templates include:
1.
Auto-acknowledgement
2. Welcome and introduction
3. Create a new account
4. Provide a refund
5. Sign up to newsletter
6. Customer feedback follow-up
7.
Privacy policy and secure data
Add these templates to your knowledge base and watch
your customer service satisfaction levels grow.
Seven templates that improve customer service SuperOffice AS © 2013 www.superoffice.com
Page 6 of 18
1. Auto-acknowledgement
One of the most important emails your customer service team can send to a
customer is the “auto-response” that acknowledges the email has been received
and assigned a support ID.
The result of email response
1.
You inform the customer that the email
has been received and your customer
service team is now busy working on
solving the problem.
2. You assign a unique reference ID
so that the email can be tracked for
future correspondence and can also
be tied to your CRM software.
Not only does this benefit the customer,
but it also benefits your organization.
Ideally, the email should include the
unique id, be short and to the point,
highlight the fact that the email has been
received and tells the the customer how
long he can expect to wait.
Hi [first name],
We’d just like to let you know that we have
received your email and are working on a
response right now. Our customer service
team usually responds to all emails within X
hours.
Just in case you need to track the progress of
your inquiry or contact us again relating to a
similar topic, we’ve created a unique ID for it:
XXXXX
You’ll be hearing from us again soon but in the
meantime, have a great day and talk to you
later.
Best,
Your name
Company name
Messaging example: Auto-acknowledgement email
Seven templates that improve customer service SuperOffice AS © 2013 www.superoffice.com
Page 7 of 18
2. Welcome and introduction
As soon as a web visitor provides their email address, whether it’s through
downloading a white paper or creating an account, you can use it as an
opportunity to establish the relationship.
It’s important that you build a
relationship with your customer
This email can also be used to introduce
the company in a more personalized
way. Using a friendly tone, you have
now introduced yourself to the customer
and established a relationship. You have
also provided value by linking to helpful
information in order for them to get started.
Hi [first name],
Thanks for signing up at [your brand].
I see you haven’t signed in yet. We’ve created
a guide to help get you up and running with
[product or service]: [insert link to user-guide].
If the [product or service] isn’t working right,
I’ll be here to help you but I can also help
with guidance to make sure that you don’t
experience any problems when using [product
or service].
I’m available as resource for you at any time so
if there’s anything else I can help you with, just
let me know.
Best,
Your name
Company name
Messaging example: Welcome and introduction email
Seven templates that improve customer service SuperOffice AS © 2013 www.superoffice.com
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3. Create an account
If you have an ecommerce store or you provide an online service (or software),
getting your web visitors to create an account on your site is an easy and
powerful way to collect customer data.
Making life easier
By creating an account on your site, it
saves your customer time next time they
want to login and repeat an action such as
completing an order or signing in to view
their profile. However, unless your “create
account” button is clearly displayed, you
will receive customer service requests that
ask how to open an account.
As you can see, the template also
includes a sentence for those who have
already created an account but may
have forgotten their password or login
credentials. By doing so, you can avoid
duplicate profiles in your company’s CRM
software.
Hi [first name],
Thank you for visiting [your website URL]. To
create an account, please visit [link to your
create account page].
If you already have an account at [your brand],
please click here [link to login page] to login
Alternatively, if you have forgotten your
password, please request a new password
from here [include link to forgot password
page].
If there is anything more we can help you with,
please do not hesitate to respond.
Best,
Your name
Company name
Messaging example: Create an account email
Seven templates that improve customer service SuperOffice AS © 2013 www.superoffice.com
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4. Provide a refund
If you sell a product or service, you will quickly find out that it’s very difficult to
please all your customers. In some cases, the customer may ask you for a refund.
Good experience
While not all refund requests will be
honored, it is important to acknowledge
and review all customer refund requests.
Not doing so may result in a backlash and
with social media; the customer has the
potential to share this experience with
thousands of friends and /or connections.
Make sure that you remain in contact
with the customer as communication is
important at this stage. The worst scenario
is that the customer asks for a refund and
you ignore their request - Whether they
contact you via email, live chat or through
one of your social network profiles.
Hi [first name],
We’re sorry to hear that you didn’t enjoy
your experience at [your brand]. Customer
happiness is important to us and we’re happy
to review your request to receive a refund for
[product or service].
Refund requests usually take [number of days]
to review. We will inform you once we have
had a chance to review/ investigate your case.
If the request is approved, you can expect the
refund to be completed within 30 days.
If there is anything else we can help you with,
please let us know
Best,
Your name
Company name
Messaging example: Provide a refund email
Seven templates that improve customer service SuperOffice AS © 2013 www.superoffice.com
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5. Sign up to newsletter
Another easy to use email template can be sent as soon
as a customer signs up to receive a newsletter.
A quick response
This email confirms that the request has
been received and that from now on, the
subscriber will receive promotional emails
from your business.
Email is the most effective marketing
channel and 77% of online consumers prefer
email over any other channel for receiving
promotional material. It’s important to
notify and establish a relationship with
the subscriber immediately.
Hi [first name],
Thank you for signing up to our newsletter.
You will now receive [frequency] updates that
include product announcements, company
news and special promotions, unique to email
subscribers.
To keep up to date on all [your brand] activities,
you can follow us on Twitter, become a fan
on Facebook or subscribe to our YouTube
channel:
• Facebook link
• Twitter link
• YouTube link
We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Best,
Your name
Company name
Messaging example: Sign up to newsletter email
Seven templates that improve customer service SuperOffice AS © 2013 www.superoffice.com
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6. Customer feedback follow up
Once you have responded to your customer and solved
their issue, you should schedule a follow-up email 1-2 days
after the case has been closed.
Problem solved!
By following up with your customer, you
are confirming that all issues have been
solved and that, ultimately, you care
about their happiness. If the issue is not
solved, then you should fix the problem
immediately. If it has been solved (make
sure you check before you send this
email), then a short follow up should like
the messaging example on the right.
Setting up an online survey
This kind of email will require you to set
up an online survey, which can be created
using a free tool like Survey Monkey.
The survey can be as long or as short
as you like, but one question you should
ask is “How well did we handle your
email?” and provide a 1-10 rating system.
If your average score is low you need to
assess what you can do better – Was the
response clear? Did you respond within a
reasonable time?
Hi [first name],
We’d just like to let you know that we have
received your email and are working on a
response right now. Our customer service
team usually responds to all emails within X
hours.
Just in case you need to track the progress of
your inquiry or contact us again relating to a
similar topic, we’ve created a unique ID for it:
XXXXX
You’ll be hearing from us again soon but in the
meantime, have a great day and talk to you
later.
Best,
Your name
Company name
Research shows that customers value
good service over speed. Keep this in
mind when you hit the “reply” button. If the
email is a complaint, then you really need
a combination of both, as no one likes to
complain only to think it has gone ignored.
Messaging example: Customer feedback follow up email
Seven templates that improve customer service SuperOffice AS © 2013 www.superoffice.com
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7. Privacy policy and secure data
Data privacy is a hot topic and users are now more than ever taking extra
steps to ensure that their data is kept safe. In order to make your web
visitors feel safe and secure.
Peace of mind
1.Ensure that your website has a
current, up-to-date privacy policy
that can be easily found.
It’s important that the tone of this email is
kept formal as data privacy is a sensitive
topic. And by including a link to your
privacy policy, you allow the customer
to refer back to the policy at any time.
Hi [first name],
Data privacy is very important to [your brand].
We are committed to protecting the privacy
of our customers and visitors. [Your brand]
employees do not access customer data
directly unless needed in connection with a
request from you. We do not share your data
with anyone other than you.
For more information on user privacy, please
visit [link to privacy policy].
Best,
Your name
Company name
Messaging example: Privacy policy and secure data email
Seven templates that improve customer service SuperOffice AS © 2013 www.superoffice.com
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Answering customer
service emails
If a customer writes an email to you, it means
they care enough to do something about it –
Whether the email is reporting a bug on your
website or requesting a new feature.
It’s important to make sure every single
customer email is answered. It helps to
make unhappy customers happy and it
helps to create good customer relationships.
08
Read the email thoroughly before you respond
Customers value good service over speed. It might be the customer got lost on
your website or cannot remember his password, but read the email thoroughly
before you write your response. If the email has too little information for you to
solve the request, it’s OK to ask questions to get more information.
Address your customer by name
Most emails sent to your customer support team are sent by human beings.
It’s easy to forget this when you answer hundreds or thousands of emails per
week, but people appreciate being treated like human – In fact, recent research
by Cisco found that customers are willing to pay extra for a more personalized
service. Make sure you address the customer by his/her name in each email you
respond to.
Seven templates that improve customer service SuperOffice AS © 2013 www.superoffice.com
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Answering customer
service emails (cont.)
Focus on solving the problem
A customer who communicates a problem does not want to hear excuses of why
the problem occurred. They only want to hear the solution. If the customer cannot
login to his account because of a bug, there is no need to explain that it’s your
web developer’s fault for forgetting to fix it – Simply get it fixed and then inform
the customer the problem is fixed.
Include links to your website
It’s much easier for both you and your customer if you provide links to relevant
sources on your website rather than explaining how to navigate through the site.
For example:
“ In order to login to your account, please go to our home page and at the top
right of the page, click the “my account” link. Once you click the link, you will
be taken to the login page.”
OR “To login, please visit www.examplewebsite.com/login”
Use your real name and email signature
Staying anonymous in your responses is the wrong approach. If you use a
generic email signature, the customer won’t know who he or she is emailing with.
Think of it like a conversation, it’s more natural to say your name instead of just
company name and department. And using your own name will only strengthen
the relationship.
Seven templates that improve customer service SuperOffice AS © 2013 www.superoffice.com
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Build brand loyalty
Good customer service is one of the main reasons a customer
will remain loyal to your brand even when times are hard.
Impact on brand loyalty
Marketingcharts.com collected feedback
from both consumers and senior
executives into how customer service
impacts brand loyalty.
The results found that 33% of consumers
say providing exceptional customer
service is the best way for a company
to build brand loyalty and that 74% of
senior executives in the US say that a
customer’s experience impacts their
willingness to be loyal advocates.
Furthermore, in April 2012, 56% of
consumers ay the first purchase or
beginning of service is the deciding
moment in establishing brand loyalty.
This means you have one chance to
get your customer service team to
solve the problem with a quality reply
in an acceptable response time if you
are going to capture the customer for
life – One chance!
10%
20%
30%
33% Providing exceptional 24/7 customer service
20% Rewarding me for purchased, feedback, referrals
13% Sending me exclusive and/or relevant offers and specials
12% Providing personalized products, services
11% Other
10% Knowing me when I visit or call in
Chart: The best way to build brand loyalty
Seven templates that improve customer service SuperOffice AS © 2013 www.superoffice.com
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Conclusion
At the heart of your organization, you have a team that deals directly with the people who buy
your product or service. These support agents hold the customer service secrets and will make
or break your business – A bad experience could be shared with thousands online, but a good
experience can help you grow exponentially, and without the added cost for marketing spend.
These 7 customer service templates will help you get closer to improving your relationships and
increasing customer satisfaction.
If you’re looking for further tips in how you can increase your customer service team, you should
download our “10 Tips to Outstanding Customer Service” guide.
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