Customer Service Email Templates that Actually Work

As a business owner, the way you handle customers’ queries can decide your fate. When somebody faces an issue with your offerings, they should be able to contact you and explain their grievances.

While chatbots and social media have grabbed most of the attention, email communication is still alive and well, especially from a customer service viewpoint. The communication channel impacts everything from lifetime value to repeat purchase rates to how people talk about your customer service firm publicly and privately.

Indeed, in 2021, 21.5% of receivers opened corporate emails – across all industries – that landed in their inboxes. That is a 3.5% rise from the 2020 figure.

Compared to telephones or instant messaging, customer service email templates offer you a tad more breathing space to reach a solution. Moreover, the communications remain private – until customers share them more widely.

Today, brands perform several customer-service-centered activities using customer email templates, including responding to customer feedback, providing instruction manuals, and problem-solving.

Let’s skip the chit-chat and dive into more information.

7 Essential Elements of an Effective Customer Service Email

Whether your business has recently taken off or has been around for a while, make sure your customer service response templates incorporate these vital elements:

01. Appropriate Doses of Personalization

Customers hate when they feel like they are interacting with a robot. While standard customer service response templates are beneficial, personalization boils down to making your customers feel like they are talking to a human, not a faceless business.

That does mean simply opening customer service emails with “Dear privileged customer,” but rather offering them a personal touch from the outset.

Start with personalizing subject lines as it boosts the open rates by 26%. In addition, use names – of both customers’ and yours – and ensure that your agents follow suit.

Using identities for avatars and signatures echoes individual people instead of faceless agents for a big brand.

Further, adding a few emojis here and there to customer service emails creates warmth and puts customers at ease.

02. Easy-to-Understand Language

Often, customer service emails look like complex how-to guides. Customers have a tough time reading and understanding these as they look for easy and quick steps to fix their issues.

So, how to write copy that keeps readers engaged?

First, enter a subject line summarizing the customer service email content and enabling clients to skim it easily.

When explaining a complex instruction or concept, avoid writing it like you were sharing it with your agents. While you are versed in the industry jargon, always assume that customers are not.

So, avoid adding irrelevant information or going off-script. Case in point, removing unnecessary phrases, including “I think.” Keep customer service emails focused and get to the point pretty quickly to keep readers glued.

All these while still being friendly and polite, of course.

03. Proper Structure and Formatting

While managing a large client base, crucial email details – customers’ sentiments, demands, and wants – might slide under your noses, staking your brand’s impression.

Sending responses in a long paragraph will not make life any easier for customers. Reading such lengthy emails becomes overwhelming, and customers might simply ignore them.

Consider dividing customer service emails into short and clear sections/lists. Format sub-headings in bold and organize responses under each statement. Furthermore, use italics to emphasize a point.

04. Empathy-filled

The first step to issue resolution is a genuine apology where you acknowledge customers’ feelings. No matter how the problem came about, customers feel strongly enough to reach out, so respect this emotion early in your customer service email response.

Take responsibility, fix the issue in your email, and conjure up the best possible solution (s).

A simple “I understand how <the client’s sentiment> that must have been.” will set you off to a fantastic start.

Some other phrases to add to your customer service email templates include:

“I understand completely”
“I totally hear you”
“Thank you for reaching out”
“I’m sorry that you’re running into this”
“I get where you are coming from”
“You’re right”

These impactful phrases can help ease off customers’ anger or dissatisfaction.

05. Prompt Responses

Customers expect timely responses to their emails and should never need to follow up with your customer service agents to check in on their support requests’ statuses.

When a client contacts you, the amount of time your agents take to respond or solve the problem substantially impacts their experience. So, help your customer service staff find the necessary answers and put them across to customers as soon as possible.

Offer them clear, tentative timelines as to when you will resolve customers’ queries. For instance, “We’ll get back to you within 24 hours.” The faster you respond to queries, the less likely will customers take that issue to public where others can form opinions about your brand.

Further, things, such as saved replies and macros, proper documentation, and straightforward escalation paths, help agents respond significantly faster.

06. Proactive Follow-ups

Impeccable customer service does not end with the first email you send.

Send a follow-up email to customers if they are yet to reply to your previous email where you have asked for feedback or more information in response. This is particularly true if customers contact you about service-related bugs or issues still being fixed.

Besides, follow up on customers to determine whether you have successfully resolved their problems or if they have any further queries for you.

However, “you have to stop the Q-tip when there is resistance.” If customers vehemently state that they no longer want to hear from you again, stop bothering them with your customer service emails.

07. Call to Action

Are people taking action after your customer service emails?

A call to action (CTA) in a customer service email ensures your customers know exactly the next steps to keep engaging with your brand. These few bits of text make the difference between a recipient converting into a paying client or eventually hitting the “unsubscribe” button.

Use compelling action words for CTAs in your customer service email templates, for instance:

Become a member
Take a tour
Check it out
Schedule a call
Get more information

Besides, place the CTA in your customer service emails such that the content segues into it. People read the content from the upper left to right. Hence, position your CTA buttons at the bottom or to the right of the narrative.

Top Customer Service Email Templates for 2023

To help you send a well-thought-out email, here are five customer support email templates that apply to day-to-day scenarios. Pick the ones that suit your customer service business the most and tailor them according to your unique needs.

Template 1: Responding to a General Inquiry

If your business website has a “Contact Us” page, prospects will likely fill out the inquiry form and ask for more information. Use this customer service template to respond to people who have submitted their online forms and shown interest in your brand.

“Hi [Customer Name],

Thanks for reaching out about [rephrase the customer’s inquiry].

Here is the requested information:

[Insert the answer to the customer’s query. Add images, hyperlinks, or attachments, if necessary.]

You can also browse our FAQ section and online catalogue for more information about [inquiry].

Sincerely,

[Your Name, Designation]”

Template 2: Addressing a Complaint or Negative Feedback

As a business, you must accept your mistakes and take responsibility with your chin up. Whether it is long wait times or rude agent behavior, you need to apologize sincerely. Plus, end the apology email with the assurance that such mistakes will not occur going forward.

So, how to respond to frustrated customer emails? Consider this customer support email template:

“Hello [Customer Name],

Thank you for sharing your experience with us. I’m truly sorry to hear about it .

Happy customers are our top priority, and we realize that we’ve let you down this time.

I’ve shared your valuable feedback with my support agents and assure you that we won’t commit this mistake in the future.

Feel free to talk about any other issues with us or let me know if you need any further help. I’ll be more than happy to help you out in any way possible.

Sincerely,

[Your Name, Designation]”

Template 3: Customer Satisfaction Survey/Feedback Seeking Email

This customer support email template lets you get raw insights into what people think of your brand, your offerings, and your customer service staff. Send this follow-up email to someone after they have interacted with your agents.

“Hi [Customer Name],

Thank you for your recent interaction with us! We value your opinion and would love to know about your experience with our support team.

Your feedback helps us improve the service/experience we deliver to you and our other clients.

Could you take 2 minutes of your time to answer a short survey?

[Insert link to the survey]

Your feedback matters to us!

Sincerely,

[Your Name, Designation]”

Pro tip: Embed feedback survey within customer service emails to response rates. That way, you can receive feedback at ease without having to redirect customers to other web pages.

But when should you use this customer email template? Easy-peasy…when you feel you have done everything possible to help customers but yet they are not satisfied with the solutions.

Template 4: Announcing a Product/Service Launch

In this customer service email example, a brand is announcing the launch of its new product/service. The discount mentioned at the end of the email to the first few buyers serves as the cherry on top.

“Hi [Customer Name],

Our new [Product/service] is out now. What sets it apart from other similar products/services is [USP].

Click on the link below to place your order and see how easy your life becomes.

Avail of our early bird offer and get [Discount].

[CTA hyperlinked to the product/service]

For more, check out our website.

Cheers,

[Your Name, Designation]”

Template 5: Following Up After a Customer Interaction

This customer email template is a gentle reminder of the status of the interaction and is an excellent way to seal a conversation with a customer.

It is a polite follow-up customer service email that allows people to ask anything else and feel delighted with the interaction instead of feeling neglected.

“Hi [Customer Name],

Hope you’re doing great! I just wanted to check in with you about the inquiry email you sent the other day.

I hope the content and material shared in the previous email have been able to clear your doubts.

If you need any additional assistance with the inquiry, I’d be more than glad to help you.

Have a nice day!

[Your Name, Designation]”

Art of Creating Customer Service Email Templates

While “bold predictions” might reckon that email communication is fading away, the truth is – emails remain among the leading three distribution channels for brands.

In customer service, the bulk of customer-facing conversations happens over emails. Using well-drafted customer service response templates will help you strengthen your brand reputation, keep customers happy, and turn prospects into patrons.

The tips and examples laid out in this piece will guide you and your agents toward crafting meaningful and effective emails that earn you loyal clients.

That said, you do not have to use these customer service email response examples as word-for-word templates. Rather, sit with your agents, get your creative juices flowing, and make the necessary tweaks to make these templates well-suited for your brand.

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FAQs

01. Are emails relevant today in customer service?

Despite the ever-growing popularity of social media and billions of websites, email communication in customer service still holds relevance. Emails let you offer personalization and enjoy profitability at levels that contemporary communication channels cannot match.

Moreover, customer service teams can reach out to more focused groups and gain better control over what information to share with customers.

With every step the industry takes into the future, C-suites rely more significantly on tried-and-tested customer service email templates to resolve customer dilemmas.