It is now, more than ever when customers are really looking forward to being treated and acknowledged well by brands and companies. Being responsive enough is the first step to having a satisfied customer. And, when the communication is through an e-mail, being responsive becomes as important as knowing how to respond.

E-mails are the most used mode of communication when we talk about customer service, feedback, complaints, appreciation, or even good comments.  If you master the art of responding well to your customers by mail, you will notice a drastic increase in your customer retention levels as well as find your customers to be more satisfied with your products and services than ever.
Let’s start with the three basic tips that you must keep in mind before responding with an e-mail:

Tip #1 Know your Intention
What is the intention of your e-mail? What is the basic message that you wish to put across? What do you want the customer to understand after they read your mail? Getting your intention clear will help you in generating a response that is to-the-point and apt according to the situation.

Tip  #2 Use a template if needed
If your response needs to be a fairly regular one, such as a response with product delivery intimation, sales notifications, or a mail asking for general feedback, you can always use a good e-mail template.

An example of an e-mail template would be something like:

For a Sales Notification

Hey (Customer Name),

Thank you for shopping with (Brand Name). Your trust in our brand means a lot to us and we promise to deliver you a product that you’d really enjoy using. Your order will be delivered in 6-8 working days.

Looking forward to serving you better!
For any queries, please write to us at  (e-mail)

Thanking you,
Team (Brand Name)

Did you notice how precise and easy it became to respond with the help of an e-mail template?
While e-mail templates can be convenient, you must also remember that e-mail templates should only be used for routine and standard responses. Using an e-mail template for a response that needs to be personalized would be a big mistake.

Tip #3 Respond Timely
There’s nothing that customers appreciate more than a timely response. Responding within hours of receipt can really re-affirm trust in a customer. If you happen to respond late, then make sure to apologize for it at the start of the mail.

The level and wordiness of your response depend on a lot of factors. If you are responding to simply acknowledge the receipt of an e-mail, then we would suggest keeping it simple and straightforward, even a one-word acknowledgment would do.

If you are responding to a query or with an agenda in mind, you must pen down all the points that support your response and provide sufficient information about the same. Either way, make sure to use professional and simple language with no heavy words. Your response must be easy to understand, there is no need to stretch it more than it needs to be.

Often, people have a habit of reading an e-mail through skimming. A good tip is to highlight or underline the keywords of your mail to make sure that whatever needs to be conveyed, is duly conveyed in the right manner.

If you are the kind of person who does not check their mail every few minutes or too often, then using acknowledgment receipts can be really helpful. This would help the sender in knowing that even if you are not replying to the e-mail right now, you have duly received the same. If you happen to use a good e-mail service such as Gmail, you can always set aside some good e-mail templates to do the job.

Drafting e-mails for customers

The customer is king. Period.

One needs to be extra cautious when writing an e-mail as a response to a customer. Whether you are dealing with an angry or dissatisfied customer or if a customer is coming back to you with a testimonial or positive feedback, your response can play a huge role in carving a permanent impression of the brand.

Below are some e-mail templates that will simplify customer responses for you:

If the customer/client has referred your brand or services to someone they know,

Greetings of the day from (Brand Name),

Thank you for referring us to (Name of the person). It has been a pleasure knowing them and we look forward to serving them well through our products/services. We are grateful for the trust that you have shown in our enterprise and we thank you for spreading the word among your network.

We are indeed blessed to have a customer like you,
Thank you for being there!

Regards,
(Name)

If a customer/client is not satisfied with your product,

Greetings of the day from (Brand Name)

Thank you for sharing your honest feedback about the recent experience that you had with our brand. We apologize for the inconvenience that it caused you. Please note that we have shared the matter with our team and they are trying to resolve it as soon as possible. To save you from any more hassles, we are processing a complete refund of your purchase.

We’re sorry that you had to face such an experience with us. Please give us a chance to serve you better with this discount coupon that we are sharing with you by mail, that you can use for your next purchase.

Thanking you,
(Name)

If a customer/client is enquiring about delivery,

Greetings of the day from (Brand Name)

Thank you for shopping with us. Please note that your product will be shipped in 6-8 working days. You can track the status of your ordered product(s) on this link, (Link).
Please let us know in case of any other queries, we will be happy to resolve them for you.

Thanking you,
(Name)

Mastering the Art of composing good e-mail responses is not difficult. While one needs to be cautious and observant about the quality of their response, the trick lies in keeping the response precise, polite, and relevant. Using e-mail templates can be a great help towards ensuring a good impression. But while you do so, make sure that you fill out all the leftover fields of the template and ensure that there are no grammatical errors at all. The customer must not feel that they are being greeted with a redundant robotic message, the secret to conversions and long-term associations lies in the warmth of your response.