Practical Tips for Customer Support by Email

Customer support by email can constitute a real challenge for even the nimblest writers. Here are a few techniques to help smooth out the bumps.

Templates
Create templates for your most common types of questions so that you aren’t constantly re-writing the same thing over and over. In most helpdesk or CRM software systems you can build several layers of auto-text that supply different kinds of content. This approach should be simple enough to use that it doesn’t add unwanted complexity, but also allow you to respond to different types of inquiries. 

Resign yourself, though, to knowing that you’ll nearly always be modifying your email at least a little bit in order to create human-sounding messages. Writing like a human being is inherently not automate-able.

Modifying templates
Very few email inquiries, even ones similar in nature to each other, can be answered with exactly the same words. If one person inquires “How do I access the account page?” and another asks “My dashboard is missing?” then you, as a responder, cannot answer both the same way — even if you’re sure they’re both experiencing exactly the same dilemma — without sounding awkward or even wrong. So, even when using a template, you’ll nearly always be rewriting a substantial portion of your text, especially at the beginnings and ends of messages.

Tone and Style
An even, light tone is usually preferable. Every organization (and to some extent every individual communication type) has its own style, but a business-casual level of writing is acceptable nearly everywhere. Most emails should read like a note written by an acquaintance. Correct grammar and complete sentences are required and slang should be avoided. But an awkwardly over-formal response to a straightforward question is aggravating for the reader. For instance,

Useful:
“You can reach your account dashboard from the green ‘Menu’ button at the top of the screen.” 

Not useful:
“Account dashboards settings must be accessed by means of the selection of a menu button near the upper part of the page.” 

There are some specific reasons why the first is better: it directly addresses the recipient, and uses active phrasing to say what they need to do. But it also simply sounds like it was written by a human being, not generated by an algorithm.

On the other end of the spectrum, avoid a falsely casual or over-familiar tone. No one really wants to receive an email about their life insurance account that starts with “Duuuuude check this out LOL.”

Length
Emails should always be as short as possible. Customers may not read a second sentence, so get the most important details into the first one.

Multiple paragraphs are even worse.

If a useful answer to your customer’s question really requires multiple paragraphs, consider removing details. A short, incomplete answer that the customer reads will be more helpful than a long one that they don’t.

Understanding the Question
The majority of questions asked by a customer are going to be only half-useful at best. Generally people ask about the part of the problem that they know about, but there's another part that's important but invisible to them. It's also easy to miss details of what they do say. Sometimes they include too many details! Sometimes they list all the things they know aren't the problem, before getting to the problem. Skimming questions fast can lead to trouble. So start by attentively reading what they've asked. Then read it again. Make sure you get what they're asking, before trying to answer.

Then, do the necessary research to make sure you understand the other implications that may have not been part of the initial question. For instance, a question about a password reset may actually be about changing account owners. A question about a stuck credit card transaction may actually be about unpaid bills or a cancelled account. A question about which button to click may turn out to be someone who's on the wrong website entirely.

If you don't know which problem to solve, your answer won't help.

Understanding the Answer
How you understand the answer is usually the easy part. If you're well-trained on the product you support, and you understand the question properly, the answer will usually follow automatically. But the details will still need to be tailored somewhat to the question itself, and the person asking it.

Sometimes also the process of answering involves finding the other questions. Doing the research into the problem will surface important details that require multiple answers: someone who's having internet connection speed may have a faulty router and a malware issue; someone whose online account is inaccessible to them may have forgotten their password and been removed from the account by a coworker on purpose. You can't address only one issue when there are several issues involved; if you do, you've failed to help the customer.

Writing the Answer
As mentioned above, the shorter your email can be, the more likely its recipient will understand it. However, sometimes explanations are tricky, or there are multiple separate issues. When possible, separate each of these details into a succinct, clear, actionable statement. Don't explain the underlying theory. They almost certainly don't care. They just want to get on with their lives.

Opening and Closing Messages
Always thank the customer for contacting you-- preferably at the beginning and end of your message. And encourage them to followup with other questions.

Thanks for reading this! I hope it was helpful.

____ 

Questions? Arguments? I'd love to hear them! Let me know how you feel about this topic.

Be sure to check out my other posts:
Practical Tips for Customer Support by Phone
The Five Qualities of Great Customer Support Staff
Customer Support Is Simple