How to Craft Friendly Emails That WOW Customers | 06/08/2009

How to Craft Friendly Emails That WOW Customers

10 Tips to Take Your Emails to the Next Level!
From : http://myragolden.wordpress.com/2009/06/08/how-to-craft-friendly-emails-that-wow-
customers/
Another source http://myragolden.wordpress.com/2011/02/18/how-to-write-usiness-friendly-
emails-that-create-emotional-connections/
Youre in for a treat, because today I have for you a unique email session with the most important tips, tools
and techniques you need to make your emails appear both friendly and professional. If you communicate
with your customers via email, you cant afford to miss this!
1. Write a Subject Line That o!s
The subject line is your first impression in email communication so make sure your first impression is
personal and attention!ettin!. "y far, the most common subject line in email responses to customers is#
$%e# customer web inquiry&. 'ure, its accurate, but what a waste of opportunity to connect with customers
and make your communication memorable.
You can immediately capture your customers attention by doin! ( simple thin!s with your subject lines# )*+
,sin! the customers name in the subject line )whenever possible+ and )(+ insertin! a short phrase that
speaks to the customers issue. -eres what I mean#
.oe, the lawn mower manual you requested is attached.
/ynn, your replacement wid!et will ship tomorrow.
/auren, here are tips to help maintain your !arden.
0ersonali1e your emails and theyll be read before anythin! else in the customers inbo2. I !uarantee it.
3ow, when you personali1e subject lines be sure to keep it short. 'ubject lines should be no more than 45
characters. Its just fine to use fra!ments in subject lines as lon! as youre clear.
". O!en with a friendly salutation.
6ost emails from companies open with $7ear.& "e different and friendly by openin! with $-ello.& 8mail is a
much less formal communication means than the business letter. It should be conversational 9 just like
youre sittin! across from your customer. /et your salutation be as simple and friendly as Hello Myra.
#. Than$ the customer for the email and%or com!laint
: lot of companies be!in complaint response letters with# $;e have received your email dated<& 7ont do
this. The fact that youre respondin! to the email is irrefutable proof that you have received the customers
letter. Instead of wastin! words, immediately !o into a response desi!ned to restore the customers
confidence and re!ain their !oodwill.
6y favorite approach to be!innin! a complaint letter is to be!in by e2pressin! appreciation for the feedback.
-ere are some ways to e2press appreciation for customer feedback#
Thank you for taking the time to write to us. )This is ideal for a response letter to a customer who is
actually responsible for the error or when you cannot honor the customers request for a refund or
e2chan!e.+
$Thank you for your email. ;e appreciate customers who let us know when thin!s arent ri!ht.&
$Thank you so much for takin! the time to write to us. ;e appreciate the opportunity to clarify what we
think has happened.&
&. 'se ersonal ronouns to ersonali(e )our *essa+e and Establish ,a!!ort
The =ranklin >ovey 'tyle ?uide su!!ests, Probably no single language choice is as effective in making
business documents human and ersonal as well!chosen ronouns. :nd this style !uide is absolutely ri!ht.
,sin! personal pronouns like I, 6e, You, and "e make your emails more conversational and friendly.
Take a look at this e2cerpt from an actual email to a customer. The customer sent it to me and raved about
how awesome the email was. ;hat made it !reat was the use of personal pronouns by the customer service
rep to make it real and establish rapport.
I am very sorry to hear of your recent disaointment in ourstudio
services. We assure you that customer satisfaction is our to riority and we want the service at our
studios to reflect that rincile. We reali#e the imortance of having ortraits taken and the time and effort
involved in rearing for a sitting. $s a mother of three children I can certainly understand the frustration
and disaointment you had with having to wait so long and then not having the %uality sitting you are
entitled to.
.
-. Em!athi(e with the roblem )our Customer Has E.!erienced
@ne of the easiest ways to connect with your customers on a personal level and let them know for certain
that the email didnt come from a template is to use empathy. /ast summer I returned a camcorder to AB>.
: couple of weeks later I contacted the company via live chat to check the status of my return. -eres how
the customer service representative ;@;ed me with an empathetic response to my routine question#
Ms &olden' ()m so sorry the *anon +i,ia H+-. Mini/+ H/ *amcorder hasn)t been rocessed as of yet. (
know you)re an,ious to have this comleted. The return rocessing time can take u to 01 days from the
date an order is returned to 2+*. ( hoe your item is rocessed soon.
;hat I especially loved about this response was, ( know you)re an,ious to have this comleted. :nd $(
hoe your item is rocessed soon. 'how a little empathy and personal concern in your emails and soon
your customers will be ravin! about you!
/. When the Email 0ddresses a roblem1 E.!lain What Ha!!ened and Why
Takin! the time to e2plain to customers what mi!ht have caused the problem helps you reestablish trust.
-eres how .et "lue e2plained what happened in an apolo!y letter to its customers after a pretty bi! fiasco.

The storm disruted the movement of aircraft' and' more imortantly' disruted the movement of
3et4lue)s ilot and inflight crewmembers who were deending on those lanes to get them to the airorts
where they were scheduled to serve you. "ith the busy President)s /ay weekend uon us' rebooking
oortunities were scarce and hold times at 0!5..!36T4786 were unusually long or not even available'
further hindering our recovery efforts.
2. ,es!ect )our Customer by 0nswerin+ 0LL of Her 3uestions
:nswer :// questions 9 this is a "I? one. >ustomers find it frustratin! to !et an incomplete response from
the company. >arefully read and re read the customers email to ensure you have captured every issue and
make sure you respond to each of the issues.
4. 5on6t 'se Email to 7i8e a Customer 9ad :ews
Tim 'anders, bestsellin! author and former Yahoo! 82ecutive, said recently in his newsletter# $:t Yahoo!, I
always told my folks, C8mail is for sayin! yes and for e2chan!in! information. If you want to say no, critici1e
or !et into an emotionally char!ed issue, pick up the phone or do it in person. 8mail fails to communicate
your intentions, so it usually looks pretty insensitive.
>ertainly, its !oin! to make more time and effort on your part to pick up the phone and call a customer to
communicate bad news, but you really need to make the sacrifice.
'peakin! to the customer by phone !ives you the opportunity to establish rapport, rebuild trust, offer
alternatives, or to offer a sincere and unreserved apolo!y. 8mail communication is so vulnerable to
miscommunication and you are at +reat ris$ for losin+ the customer when you con8ey bad news
electronically without the o!!ortunity to truly defend your !osition.
;. 0dd a .S.
Im about to let you in on a secret that is apparently unknown to most companies# 'tudies show that the
postscript is the most often read and the first read portion of any letter. .oe Bitale, author of -ypnotic
6arketin!, encoura!es his readers to always use a 0.'. and says $Your 0.'. is your chance to state your
stron!est point, or offer your !uarantee, or to mention just how wonderful your product is.&
-ere are some !reat ways to add a post script to a complaint response email#
.S. :s a concrete form of apolo!y I am sendin! you two additional wid!et kits. You can enjoy one now and
one later. Thanks for bein! a loyal ;id!et >ompany customer!
.S. I wanted to let you know that ri!ht now were runnin! a special. ;hen you buy ( wid!ets, you !et a
third wid!et at absolutely no char!eDand we pay the shippin!. This may be a !reat time to pick up a wid!et
up for you, your mother, and a special friend!
.S. You are always welcome to call me with any additional questions. 6y direct dial number is EEFGH(
**F*.
1<. End your email on a friendly note.
-eres one way :ma1on >ustomer %elations ends emails#

9egards'
$utumn "alker 6,ecutive *ustomer 9elations
$ma#on' ( love you.
@f course, you dont have to !o that far. You can simply end your emails in a friendly way by addin! your
name, tollfree number, and email like this#
:incerely'
3ane /oe
0!555!555!5555
;ane<abccomany.com
:dopt and apply these simple tips and your emails will !rab your customers attention, be memorable, :37
they will help you build and stren!then loyalty with your customers!
!he !op "i#e $est %ept &ecrets to 'ood (ustomer &er#ice )nline
Are you ha#ing prolems pro#iding good customer ser#ice online*
Are you finding yourself struggling to connect with your clients*
$efore + re#eal my good customer ser#ices methods it,s important to -now there is a new reed
of online shoppers that ha#e #ery different profiles. characteristics and needs.
!he challenge to pro#ide good customer ser#ice is increasing due to the hea#y numer of online
software #endors.
!he traditional methods of creating customer satisfaction often entailed face to face meetings
and phone con#ersations. +n the new era of good customer ser#ice people now prefer email
correspondence and only the occasional phone con#ersation.
!hree years ago. + was a customer ser#ice representati#e for an online retail store selling after
mar-et printer in-. + was ale to increase sales y /00 my first four months y pro#iding good
customer ser#ice.
+ will share with you the pearls of my disco#ery and how + successfully increased our ottom
line.
'ood (ustomer &er#ice is pro#iding 'ood 1mail (orrespondence
!he in#ention of the +nternet and 1mail has drastically changed the way people communicate.
1mail is often the preferred method of communication for most clients. +t is not unusual for a
client to send an email consisting of only one sentence.
"or e2ample + ha#e a client after ta-ing our thirty day trial they down loaded our online
accounting software and sent me the following e-mail:3how do + acti#ate multi-user support*4
5hen people send you a one sentence 6uestion this is a perfect opening to show your good
customer ser#ice s-ills. +nstead of responding with a one sentence answer li-e. 3go to your
usiness profile on your dashoard and clic- on 7grant / remo#e user access,. 8ou now ha#e an
opportunity to uild on generating customer retention along with an ongoing usiness
relationship.
An )utstanding 1-mail 12ample of 'ood (ustomer &er#ice
9y response to the 6uestion: 3how do + acti#ate multi-user support*4
:ear (ustomer.
!han- you for using our accounting software we really appreciate ha#ing you as a client. 5e
would li-e you to -now that if you ha#e any suggestions aout impro#ing our ser#ice please feel
free to contact us. 5e #alue your usiness and customer satisfaction is e2tremely important to
us.
"ollowing are the instructions on how to add multiple users to your usiness account.
;og in to your account
)n the left #ertical na#igation ar. go to the &etup section
(lic- on 3$usiness <rofile4
=nder your usiness information. clic- on 3'rant/>e#o-e Access4
An 3Access (ontrol4 pop-up will occur
1nter the email of the person you wish to gi#e access to
&elect the le#el of access you wish to gi#e this person y using the drop down arrow
(lic- on the lin- 3Add =ser4
!he email address you ha#e entered should show up with their access le#el
(lic- on the 3:one4 utton
As- the new user?s@ to sign up for an account using the email addresses you ha#e pro#ided
)nce they signed up and #erified their email addresses. they should e ale to log in
!hey will see a list of usinesses they ha#e access to under the 3Aa#igation4 ar y using the
drop down icon.
5e hope we were ale to answer your 6uestions. <lease do not hesitate to contact us if you
ha#e any further 6uestions or comments.
5arm >egards.
(larity Accounting &upport !eam.
<hone: ?//8@ B/0-1880
1mail: supportCclarityaccounting.com
5e : www.clarityaccounting.com
&ome -ey points in impro#ing customer retention and customer satisfaction when sumitting an
email response:
!han- your customers for sending you an email
!han- them for their support and/or patience depending on the nature of the customer,s in6uiry
Always in#ite your customers to contact you again if they ha#e any 6uestions or comments.
!he <roper 5ay to Dandle (omplaints 5hile <ro#iding 'ood (ustomer &er#ice
(omplaints are the emails you need to respond to A&A<. +f the complaint is something that
cannot e resol#ed instantly. you would still want to respond to the complaint immediately y
saying: 3!han- you for sumitting your issue. 5e are sorry for the incon#enience and we are
currently wor-ing on resol#ing state the prolem here. 5e will contact you as soon as we ha#e
the prolem resol#ed.
!his will alle#iate your customers an2iety while gi#ing them a feeling of customer satisfaction.
>ecently + had an e2perience with an online ser#ice company that did not pro#ide good
customer ser#ice. !hey did a software upgrade and + could no longer e2port any of my contacts.
&ince this drastically affected my wor- flow. + decided to send them an email saying this has
affected me greatly and + needed this feature ac-.
!hey did not respond for B days and when they did get around to emailing me. they were casual
and #ague. + didn,t feel as if they cared aout my prolem nor did + feel #alued as a customer.
+f they had dealt with this situation in a professional and timely manner + would e
recommending them to my clients and e more li-ely to purchase their ne2t product. instead +
was left with a ad customer e2perience.
Dere are some appropriate guidelines to follow when responding to a customer compliant:
&et up an auto- responder on your we site that ac-nowledges the client immediately. letting
them -now with in a 2E hour time frame you will get ac- to ac- to them.
>espond in a timely manner honoring the time set in your auto responder e-mail.
>eply in a friendly and professional manner.
)ffer to ma-e up for any delay or lac- of a promised ser#ice.
$e clear when stating appropriate time frames for the resolution.
12tend an in#itation to e contacted concerning any other needs they may ha#e.