5 Tips for Providing Great Customer Service Via Email

Email has become the most ubiquitous and basic of business tools. Likely to be the first thing someone checks when starting the workday, email is now the primary method for business communication. As such, it’s imperative that a business think through the role email plays in customer service.

There are many benefits to employing email as a customer service tool, but certain risks and weaknesses as well. Most people have experienced the embarrassment of a thoughtless typo or an email whose tone was misconstrued by the recipient. Create a set of rules for email conduct that all customer service representatives are expected to follow to avoid some of the most basic email errors. Include guidelines that may seem like common sense, such as never using profanity, along with less obvious suggestions like avoiding jokes, or anything at all political. Train employees in the company’s preferred tone for use in written correspondence.

Always proofread. No email should be sent without being read over first. Typos are embarrassing, unprofessional and, in especially egregious cases, can obscure meaning. Proofreading ensures each email possesses the clarity and professionalism that shows the company in the right light. If a customer service representative doesn’t take the time for such a basic task, it sends a message to customers that they and their concerns are unimportant to the company.

As people are busy and time is one of the most valuable commodities there is, make the point you need to in the fewest words possible. Needlessly lengthy emails are likely to be only partially read or skimmed, causing important information to be overlooked. If the issue being addressed is especially complicated, determine whether a phone call would be a better approach rather than a long email.  Then follow-up after the call with an email summary of the phone conversation (in case of complex instructions, etc).

While a reply doesn’t need to be immediate, the goal for every customer service email should be to respond within a business day. This shows that the customer service representative is attentive, and helps prevent letting an issue drop off the radar. For problems that take longer to resolve, requesting customers to create a ticket in Mojo Helpdesk is an easy way to ensure that the issue will stay visible to the assigned representative until it’s solved.

To make providing customer service with email easier on representatives, create template responses to the most common customer issues. Chances are, the company encounters certain questions or problems with more frequency than others. By working out the best response to each of these frequently asked questions, and offering them to representatives in an easy to access space, such as the Helpdesk, the company can be sure that representatives provide the preferred proof-read responses and cut down on the time required to respond to many customer service issues.

As with any customer service tool, email can be used effectively or detrimentally. By implementing the proper process to ensure tone and avoid typos, and with encouragement to have your customer service team take the time to mindfully and carefully review correspondences before sending, basic email blunders can be easily avoided.

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Emphasize Customer Satisfaction Over Average Handle Time

Efficiency is a common buzz word in business, regarded by many as the most important metric for improving business practices. Unfortunately, what efficiency means and how to best measure the efficiency of your staff aren’t always easy to calculate. In customer service, it’s tempting to measure efficiency through factors that are easiest to quantify, such average handle time, but this approach misses the primary goal of customer service. Achieving customer satisfaction should be the number one focus of every customer service interaction. A faster handle time might look good on paper, but could come at the cost of customer experience.

In a business climate that emphasizes efficiency, a customer service department may be put in the difficult position of determining the best way to balance effective, considerate customer service with the expectations of reduced call times. There are methods to provide convincing data that the department is working towards greater efficiency, without sacrificing the more important goal of customer satisfaction.

If a call can be handled quickly and effectively it should be. Everyone’s time is valuable and the customer most likely is hoping for a fast resolution as well. That said, some issues necessarily take longer to resolve than others. For the sake of reporting, distinguish between simpler, standard customer tickets and the more complex customer inquiries that require more than a quick answer. This will give a more accurate sense of how long different types of issues take to resolve.

If performing an analysis of the customer support team that takes average handle time into consideration, make sure that customer ratings, feedback and the types of customer issues being handled are viewed alongside the handle times. The amount of time to solve a customer's problem is only one small piece of the larger picture and should never be treated as the most important factor in a customer service job.

If there’s still pressure to cut down on handle times after taking these other factors into account, work with the staff to develop methods for doing so that won’t impede the customer service process. Initiate a discussion in the next group meeting about some of the causes of longer call times. Evaluate as a group, which causes are valuable to the customer service experience and which could be handled better. Work together to create a document with the best responses to the most common issues to provide a reference for representatives to consult when needed.

Use the data from Mojo Helpdesk to identify those in the department that are best at resolving customer tickets quickly, while consistently receiving high ratings from customers. Encourage them to work with other team members to offer ideas for improving average handle time. If there’s a team member or two with especially long issue resolution times, have them shadow the top performing team members for a day to develop some ideas for resolving customer issues more quickly.

A blanket discouragement against longer handle times could result in worse customer service, so instead encourage team members to rethink ways to resolve customer issues that emphasize efficiency, while never losing sight of customer satisfaction as the top priority. If there’s pushback from outside the department, point out that good customer service can lead to positive reviews online and repeat business that far outweigh the time saved by pushing for shorter resolution times.

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Brand Your Helpdesk, Improve Customer Experience

Branding might seem a concept that falls more into the realm of marketing than customer service, but smart business people know that the two are highly interrelated. The main goals of a helpdesk are to bring greater efficiency to the customer support process and improve the quality of each customer service experience, but Mojo Helpdeskoffers the added benefit of customization options to help ensure that the exceptional customer service offered is consistently tied into the company’s brand in the minds of customers.

Any business that has invested in the proper resources and training to provide outstanding customer service should be eager to make sure that those positive customer service experiences are associated with the company at every step. By incorporating company branding into the helpdesk, customers are regularly reminded of the company while working with the customer service representative, and will therefore be more likely to recall their positive customer support experiences when it comes time to consider future purchases.

Helpdesk branding also provides regular customers extra confidence that their problem will be resolved, when the company's customer support carries the same branded seal of approval as the products they already know and love. As more and more larger businesses outsource their customer service to companies with little actual connection to the business and products they represent, providing an explicit visual connection between the customer service experience and the company can make a huge difference in ensuring that the customer has a positive experience.

There are several simple options available to more clearly tie a company’s brand to the customer experience in Mojo Helpdesk: 

• All Mojo Helpdesk customers receive a branded URL to direct users to the helpdesk (http://yourbrand.mojohelpdesk.com)
• Include one or more links back to your website in the main customer portal. Providing a link to an FAQ’s page could help customers find the answers they need before submitting a ticket. As an added benefit, this will increase your website’s SEO
•  Add the company logo on the customer portal mainpage
• Customize the copy included in the portal mainpage and the e-mails sent from within the helpdesk to add your company’s unique voice and writing style that your customers are already familiar with 

In addition to these simple branding options, the customer portal mainpage is also fully customizable with HTML.  Any company with an html savvy designer can get creative in finding new ways to incorporate branding and other relevant information into this space.  Use it to keep customers up to date on company and product news, current promotions, marketing materials like videos or whitepapers, and anything else a current customer might find valuable. 

Business owners and managers should always be on the lookout for ways to make the most out of the resources at a company’s disposal. Mojo Helpdesk makes it easy to use a tool designed for improving customer service to also further the company’s brand.

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The #1 Customer Service Tool: Your Support Team

Regardless of the many tools on the market that are advertised as essential to the customer service process, anyone in customer service knows the #1 customer service tool any business can employ is a competent, happy, customer support team. It’s certainly valuable to provide the best possible resources to enable customer support staff to do their best, but additional resources are largely wasted if the people using them are not knowledgeable, capable and happy with their jobs. We previously covered how to put together a first-rate customer service team, and once that crucial first step is completed, it’s important to remember how valuable a strong customer service team is- and make sure the company treats them accordingly.

The members of the customer support team are the company’s primary contacts for customers. Their behavior towards customers and ability to deal effectively with all issues that arise has a direct influence on the company’s reputation. In addition, as the first and primary point of contact for the people using the company’s products, the customer support team is the most knowledgeable on what people think of them. If there’s an issue with a product or a common suggestion for how to improve it, the customer support representatives will be the first to hear it. The feedback heard and recorded by the customer support staff is a necessary component for informed product development. Countless resources can be wasted trying to fix perceived problems that aren’t bothering customers or make improvements they don’t actually want if product development doesn’t make use of customer feedback.

So how can a company make sure to get the most out of its most valuable customer service resource?

1. Practice Active Listening – Schedule a regular meeting (i.e. 10 minutes every morning, or 1 hour every week) where all members of the support team are encouraged to share any issues experienced, relevant customer feedback and other important topics that the customer support team feels urgency to report. When supervisors are present and actively listening, a clearer view of the company and its customers are provided, while support staff will be empowered by having their voices heard.
2. Incorporate Feedback – Listening is good, but it must be more than a symbolic gesture. Let the support team not only discuss customer support related issues, but also allow them to provide suggestions for solutions, while focusing on the benefits and downsides of implementing each possible solution. If there’s a general consensus that something new is worth a try, do it. 
3. Encourage New Learning – Any time new products are developed or changes are made to existing products, the customer support team should have training and any other available resources to stay experts on the products they represent. Encourage team members to attend webinars or conferences to learn more about the industry or improved techniques for customer support. Offering incentives (getting lunch catered for a company scheduled webinar, or planning a happy hour after a conference for all employees who attended) can help boost employee enthusiasm, and make a support team want to get more involved.
4. Think Like a Team – A good manager or business owner doesn’t make decisions independently. When there’s an intelligent, experienced team of people with unique ideas eager to help, it’s foolish not to incorporate them into the process. Make sure their suggestions are genuinely considered, and respected no matter how different, creative, or unexpected they may be. Thinking outside of the box can be a valuable asset to resolving many issues.
5. Keep Everyone Happy – If the staff members working with customers are unhappy in their jobs, it will inevitably show in the way the company is presented and issues are handled. Few people can effectively convince others of the value of something they don’t care for themselves. A company should consider it a top priority to create an environment in which representatives love their jobs. Embrace your company's culture and encourage your employees to have a good time while they meet their goals. 

Even the greatest, most versatile resources available are worthless if not used properly. A great customer support team that’s not properly appreciated and valued will not be very motivated to accomplish all they are capable of. In addition to the immeasurable wasted potential, a company risks losing its best customer service representatives when those representatives feel under-appreciated. Don’t let the #1 customer service tool available to the company go to waste.

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Clarifying Customer Concerns

A customer service representative must hone a great number of skills to become outstanding at customer support; the ability to communicate well with customers is easily one of the most crucial. Effective communication is especially challenging when working with a customer who has a hard time expressing the problem and what is needed to resolve it. When this occurs, it becomes the representative’s job to help clarify the customer’s concerns.

Customers who know they need help, but just can’t articulate their needs begin their customer support experience frustrated. To overcome this frustration and the confusion that fuels it, a customer support representative must be calm and reassuring at every opportunity. Start by encouraging the customer to explain everything about the issue at hand. Allowing them to talk it out clarifies the issue while giving the customer the chance to vent their frustrations. Once the customer is finished, repeat back all relevant details to demonstrate that the issue has been heard and understood.

If this initial explanation doesn’t provide enough information to identify the problem, ask questions to narrow down the likely causes of the customer’s concerns. As a better understanding of the issue develops and the best course of action is determined, let the customer know exactly what steps will be taken next and their expected outcome. Make sure to address every question a customer has. Any questions ignored will add to a customer’s confusion and could lead to a misunderstanding of the issue. An assumption made with too little information can lead to an attempt to solve the wrong problem, resulting in more confusion and frustration for the customer.

In cases where a representative still has difficulty determining the issue after following these steps, it’s time to defer to a manager. Keep the customer in the loop when bringing in someone else to help. In addition to offering the assurance that someone’s working on the problem, the knowledge that a manager is personally looking into the case demonstrates that the company cares about finding a satisfactory solution.

Every customer service representative should strive to know the products he or she represents well and be familiar with the likely issues customers may experience. When a customer is confused, it is especially important to demonstrate that the company’s representative is not. Once customers know they’re in  knowledgeable, competent hands, it should give them the confidence to worry less about the problem and instead focus on the solution.

At every step, keep the customer informed of what’s being done to solve the issue, how long it’s likely to take, and the expected result. The best tool to alleviate a customer’s confusion is knowledge. With the proper attention, tone and a careful analysis of the information provided by a customer, most customer concerns should be easy to clarify and resolve.

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Tip of the Week: Sending Text Notifications of New or Newly Assigned Tickets

Did you know that it is possible to send someone a text message from an email? Basically, every cell phone number can be sent an email that will be converted to a text if you know the correct email address to send it to. If this is news to you, check out this list of email addresses that can be used to send text messages to phones. Just replace "number" with the 10 digit phone number you want to text.

Using this information, it is possible to create an automation that will send a text message when a new ticket is created or when a ticket is assigned to someone. Go to the Automations link from the manage menu at the top of the page and click the new button to create a new automation. Give your automation a title and description, then set the filters. If you want a text every time a new ticket is created, click the button next to selected statuses and choose new for the status. If you would rather, you can apply this to newly assigned tickets by choosing assigned from the selected statuses menu.

Go to the actions section and click the box next to Send an email. Enter the email address for the cell number you want to receive the text in the To blank of the email form. Enter a subject and text for the body of the email, but make sure you keep it as short as possible since most text messages are limited to no more than 160 characters.  Click create and activate and you are ready to start receiving text notifications of new or newly assigned tickets.

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Why Social Media Can’t Replace a Help Desk

With the endless proclamations of how crucial social media is to business, a discussion of its difficulties and limitations often gets lost in the hype. Use of socialmedia in customer service certainly has value and shouldn’t be neglected, but there’s a clear limit to what can be accomplished with it. Communication through social media is no substitute for the features and functionality available through a good help desk. To get the most out of both a social media presence and a help desk, it’s important to have a sense of the best uses for each and how to most effectively integrate them.

The way different people use their social media accounts varies considerably. Some spend large amounts of time each day checking in on Twitter and Facebook feeds to contribute their thoughts and ideas, while others let days or more pass in between visits. If the primary form of communication a business has with a customer is through social media, there’s the risk of long lags between each reply. This can extend the time it takes to resolve an issue that could have been handled quickly through a help desk. While it is possible to miss important feedback and questions through social media due to timing, all issues can be tracked with a Help desk to ensure nothing slips through the cracks.

Even for users who are likely to check their social media accounts frequently, using social media for extended communication has the clear downside of restrictive character limits. Most problems a customer’s likely to experience will require more explanation than can be expressed on Twitter in 140 characters or less. Understanding the particulars of a customer problem and its desired solution requires a back and forth likely to be slow and drawn out over social media, to the frustration of all involved. In contrast, a Help Desk makes it easy for customers and customer service representatives to provide as much information as needed at each step in the process and enables faster response times.

While the public nature of social media can certainly be a benefit, sometimes providing customer service requires the exchange of sensitive information. In most cases, a customer will be less likely to offer up personal details over social media and a customer service representative should never ask for anything sensitive over a public forum. Further, often the nitty gritty details of a customer service complaint aren’t something a company wants broadcast to a wide audience. It’s good to be able to publicly show a quick response to any complaints a customer makes, but there’s a point where the discussion about a customer issue on social media becomes more of a liability than an opportunity to publicly demonstrate great customer service.

A company should make a point to be aware of and quickly respond to any complaints that appear on social media, but a presence on social media doesn’t mean a full customer service correspondence should play out within that space. When a customer with a complaint is identified, respond quickly and with a suggestion to move the correspondence off the social media channel, including an e- mail address, phone number or link to fill out a ticket request on your help desk. A quick response shows you’re attentive and proactive about solving the problem, without restricting both parties to an awkward, drawn out conversation over a medium not designed to host one. View social media as just one aspect of customer service, it can be the first step in a longer conversation that occurs primarily through tools better designed for that purpose.

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