Effectively Using Email to Connect with Customers

Monday, 04. 27. 2009  –  Category: T2 Communications

Today’s customers rarely see their service representatives in person.  Much of their interaction is done over the phone or in emails because it’s faster to just give a call or send a quick message.  Email has become a widely accepted form of communication across all types of industries for requests, cancellations, and basic customer relations.  There are many important factors that play into communicating with the customer, including courtesy, politeness, and a positive tone.  The difference between phone or face to face and email conversations is that the professional and friendly tone has to be implied through writing, not voice inflection and facial expressions.

Grammar and Spelling Are Important
You can thank your high school English teacher for accepting nothing but perfection because grammar and spelling count when we communicate in writing!  We want our customers to value our service as much as we value their business.  If we put together a sloppy message with misspelled words and incorrect punctuation, not only does it look unprofessional, but our message may not be clearly expressed or understood.  Before clicking send, give your message one last read and make sure your spell check didn’t miss anything.  If you see any green or red squiggly lines, re-read that portion of your message and be sure it is written and spelled correctly.  It’s important not to overlook these indicators just because you “know” it is right.

Listen With Your Eyes
Read the customer’s message carefully and be sure you are addressing the concern or question the customer is specifically asking or addressing when you respond.  Sometimes it is easy to get confused as to what the customer wants when reading an email because questions and requests can get lost when they are put into paragraph form.  It is important to identify what the customer would like to know or would like you to do and then answer each question or confirm that you have completed each request when you respond.  Sometimes it’s best to put your message in bullet points if there are several questions to be answered.  This way, your customers will not miss any important information they were looking for.  If you first need clarification from the customer, be sure to address the specific details that you are looking for in your response, and remember to be professional, not just quick.  After you compose your message, read it out loud.  If it sounds the way you intended it to then it is safe to send.  If you notice that a sentence doesn’t come across as nicely as you wanted it to, or if your tone could be misinterpreted, re-write it.

Respond Quickly
It’s best to respond within thirty minutes of receiving an email.  Many customers sit in front of a computer all day and will be waiting for an immediate reply, just as if they were asking you in person.  You will want to make sure you have enough time to get all of the information needed and have enough time to proofread your response; so if you need more time to investigate, send an initial message to let the customer know that you will need more time to look into their question and get back to them.  It is usually best to give them a time that you will reply, like “this afternoon” or “before 5p.m.” so they know what to expect.

Just Give Them a Call
Some questions and answers are best delivered over the phone.  The customer cannot see your smile or hear your tone of voice in an email, and in many customer related cases that is an important aspect of the conversation.  If you know that the information you need to give or request from a customer may be sensitive or may not make them very happy, it is best to call them on the phone and tell them in a more personal manner.  If you know that they are reached best by email, send them a message to tell them that you would like to give them a call and ask when would be a good time to do so.

Katie Petre works for T² Communications, a CornerWorld company.

Tags: article, customer service, e-mail, Katie Petre, sales