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Email’s Mounting Role in Customer Service
There are myriad ways to please customers with email, but only so many do it properly

September 2009

Delivering best-in-class service is an important competitive differentiator, so every customer interaction needs to be positive.  Email is a powerful tool for strengthening customer service and increasing user confidence in your site and company.

Effective use of email for customer service begins with regular email communications.  Your template should inform recipients of helpful site features and services, and include ways to contact you.

• If you have an 800 toll-free number be sure to feature it in your email.  Recipients might prefer to speak directly with one of your customer service reps (CSRs) for questions or problems. 
• If you have site features such as a gift registry, store locator or gift reminders, include links to these services in your email.  
• A preference center where the recipient can update their personal information, interests and communication choices is a valuable adjunct to any email program.   This self-service facility allows the consumer to control their relationship with a company.

Also consider including a “Contact Us” or “Customer Service” link in the footer of your template. It should bring people to your Customer Service page.  At a minimum, that page should include information on how to call your CSRs and a form for individuals to submit their contact information with questions or comments. 

It's also a good idea to provide information on when customers should expect you to reply. Some sites include an option for live help, where customers can chat with customer care specialists online.

HP does an excellent job in their email programs.  It is clear that customer satisfaction is important to the company.  Their top navigation bar includes a link to Support.  Below the main content of the email, they highlight “Award-Winning HP Total Care” which provides a variety of hot-linked options including troubleshooting, chat support, email support as well as their support forum.  They feature their toll-free number.  In addition, the bottom navigation bar includes a link to Customer Care.

Special emails

Effectively using email for customer service extends to other types of emails as well. Automated emails such as welcome messages, order confirmations, shipping confirmations and back-in-stock notifications all are forms of customer support and provide the opportunity to increase customer satisfaction.

Any merchant should have these messaging programs in place.  They create richer and more relevant user experiences that recipients like, and typically have much higher open rates compared to other emails.

A recent study by the e-tailing group found that 16 percent of sites fail to send shipping confirmations.  It also found that only 11 percent send back-in-stock notices.  So the majority of merchants are missing the opportunity to recapture sales.

Include a mini-form on your site that allows visitors to enter their email addresses to receive reminders when items are back in stock.

Another opportunity for quality customer service is to use email for damage control.  If the site has technical problems, or there are promotion or pricing issues, consider sending an email apologizing for the mistake.


Customer service replies

Moving beyond regular email communications, let’s look at one-on-one customer service communications. Here are some rules of the road:

1.  Do reply to requests.  Direct marketing consultancy Hornstein Associates recently shared the results of a study it conducted: Emails were sent to CSRs at leading companies and responsiveness was measured. Only 45 percent of these companies replied!

2.  Respond in a timely fashion.  To provide a good customer experience, respond to a query as soon as possible.  A best practice is to answer inbound emails within 24 hours.  The same study cited above showed that of those companies that did respond to the customer service emails, just 29 percent replied within 24 hours.

Two standouts with stellar response times were RedEnvelope (nine minutes) and L.L.Bean (16 minutes).  RedEnvelope guarantees on its site that the company will respond ASAP, and L.L.Bean promises 20 minutes; both deliver on those promises!

3.  Answer the question.  If your company uses automated customer service technology, double-check each automated reply to make sure it really answers the question.  It's helpful to have a machine-generated response that acknowledges the email and provides a time frame for a human response, but in order for the response to be effective, it has to answer the question.

4.  Make it personal.  You can increase customer loyalty by adding a little extra personalization to the beginning of your email reply.  Always include a pleasant greeting, and thank customers for emailing you.  At the end of your response, let customers know how they may contact you if they have any further questions or require additional assistance. If a customer emails about a problem, acknowledge the customer's pain and inconvenience.

5.  Test live chat as an option.  Savvy website operators are finding that, when used tactfully, online chat can be a powerful way to boost sales — not just as a passive customer service tool, but also as a way to engage customers.

Good email practices that keep customer care in mind at all times result in happy, repeat customers. Plus, satisfied customers are much more likely to recommend your site to their friends, relatives and colleagues.


Reggie Brady is president of Reggie Brady Marketing Solutions, a direct and e-mail marketing consultancy in Norwalk, CT. You can reach her at (203) 838-8138 or reggie@reggiebrady.com

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