Understanding & Handling Customers Over Email

Rik Bhattacharjee

Customer care involves putting systems in right place at right time to maximize the customer

satisfaction at first touch resolution and minimization of repeat contacts through email, phone,

correspondence and any other communication channel. The communication media may also

involve physical visit to any sales or after sales service office. It is the next big corporate

challenge and is the prime consideration of every business entity because it is directly

proportional to customer retention and expansion in the market with new acquisition. Marketers

usually don’t neglect the importance of customer care and service in any business area. As for

example in an email or call customer service, the quality team may have minimal or zero contact

with customers; however their performance greatly impact customer satisfaction and retention.

There are several factors that contribute towards increasing customer satisfaction steadily and

exponentially. Exponential growth of customer satisfaction comes with experience and

dedication. A marketer generally follows the Maslow Model which takes into consideration

several factors and parameters for motivation of customer service advisors. An advisor is able to

provide outstanding and excellent customer service when the market fulfills the needs of a

human being. Psychological need is the basic need of an advisor to provide excellent service

followed by safety needs. Further ahead in the hierarchy model, the marketer should be able

provide the affection and security to the advisor followed by self-esteem which ultimately leads

to self-actualization. Customer satisfaction is triggered by several parameters like the demand &

need of the customer, the value for money, efficiency & reliability of fulfilling promises,

professionalism & expertise of the service advisor, keeping the customers up to date with new

product & services and last but not the least the after sales services.

Understanding the customers is a real time challenge for the marketers. Customer retention is

even more challenging than customer acquisition. Retention of customers depends on the highest

level of customer services and the obligation of treating all customers fairly. To understand the

customer psychology, the market should involve in collecting & analyzing the customer

feedback with situational analysis of the feedback. The customer feedback helps in increasing the

satisfaction of customers. It is a challenge to identify the exact mood of a customer on an email,

however user interface & ease of access provides us an impression of mood of the customers by

analyzing customer online movement details.

To enhance the customer services, marketers should monitor the order pattern and requests from

the customers and keeping the records of the customer contacts with the business through any

mode of communication. Any deviation from the customer’s order patterns is helpful to identify

the demand and supply of the services.

It is an established fact that the customer service is best shown through email or chat. Email

helps to resolve complex customer queries and chat is very helpful to provide instant or near

about instant resolution with more or less simpler queries.

When a customer attacks the marketer, the customer service advisor might include the quoted

statements in email or chat. As for example, “I am sorry if our services could not meet your

expectation and I request you to provide us another opportunity to serve you better.”, “I

understand the severity and the gravity of the situation you have been engulfed.” The advisor

should give assurance of better service by writing “Our goal is to provide a consistent reliable

service with an exemplary level of customer services.”

A simple system called CARP might be used to deal angry customers. Control – Acknowledge –

Refocus – Problem Solve are the steps to deal angry customers. The first step is to be in control

of the situation. That means not letting your customer’s anger influence your own behavior. That

is, don’t get angry back. The next step is to acknowledge your customer’s feelings. Be

empathetic and make it clear that you understand that they’re upset. Third, refocus the

conversation on what’s most important: the actual problem at hand. And finally, problem-solve:

work to find a resolution to the customer’s complaint.

An example of dissatisfied purchase experience:

Dear Esteemed Customer,

Thanks for your email to notify us of the difficulties you have been experiencing with our

products and services.

We are very sorry for such destabilizing encounters you have been faced with. One of our

strengths is the way we respond to our customers promptly. Therefore, your recent experience is

unjustifiable.

I have discussed with our Director and he has been directed by me to make a complete refund

and make a 25% discount on your next purchase. I want to use this opportunity to let you know

that I am sorry for the difficulties you have encountered as a result of this problem. It is obvious

from this incidence that our assistant sales personnel require adequate training for effective

delivery.

Thank you for your understanding. For any other question or request for assistance, you can call

me directly on +1234567890.

Best regards,

Rik Bhattacharjee

Customer Service Manager

There are certain phrases that work out excellently in customer service industry. In an email

customer service, the marketer has to deals with the customer remotely and has to understand the

psychology of the customers from the email. The better you understand the better you will

provide the service to the customers. In a 2011 customer service survey, American Express asked

respondents which common customer service phrases annoyed them most. The winner is “We’re

unable to answer your question. Please call xxxxxxx to speak a representative from xxxxx team.”

Good customer service isn’t always about knowing the right answer. Often, it’s about finding the

right answer so that your customer doesn’t have to.

If a customer sends an email “checking in” on the status of their support request, we consider

that a failure on our part. The two things that we do to avoid check-ins are: make sure

that we proactively keep the customer posted as often as possible (at least once per day) and let

the customer know exactly when they should expect to hear from us. While you can’t always

promise a solution by a given time, you can always promise an update. Delivering on that

promise doesn’t just keep the customer informed about the status of their request, but it’s another

opportunity to build trust.

According to a survey by Lee Resources International, for every customer who complains, there

are 26 customers who don’t say anything. Each customer complaint could mean that dozens of

other customers are having the same problem and not letting you know. That means

that resolving the problem for a single customer could make dozens of other customers happier

at the same time. That’s a huge opportunity and a huge gift from the customer who decided to

email you about it.

Despite our best efforts and intentions, we don’t always get it right. In fact, one survey

suggests that although 94% of online retailers provide email customer service, 27% of email

inquiries are answered incorrectly. While I suspect that most of you reading this blog average

much better than that, the fact remains that there are times that our answers don’t end up being

helpful. The problem is that research shows us that most people won’t speak up about problems.

So if your reply isn’t helpful, some customers won’t proactively ask you to clarify or help any

further. That’s what makes this one of the most helpful customer service phrases you can use. By

leaving the door open and inviting the customer to respond, you’ll give them a chance to let you

know if anything remains unresolved.