Customer support hinges upon effective communication and a high percentage of this communication will be done over email.
While most of us are familiar with emails (the average corporate employee receives 121 emails a day), a quick look through your inbox will reveal that few of us are good at writing them.
Many companies provide internal communication guidelines for their customer success/support teams.
However, these documents rarely provide the tips and strategies needed to produce high-quality emails that will delight your customers.
Fortunately, this challenge is easy to solve.
By creating a series of email templates for your customer success/support teams to work off of, you can ensure quality and alignment and reduce the time it takes your team to respond to customer needs.
The customer support templates in this article form the foundation for your email template library.
You’ll get guidance on effective communication, personalization, and template management.
The benefits of customer support email templates
Customer support email templates offer many advantages for you and your team. You can:
- Save time and bandwidth for your customer service team: Generating emails from scratch takes time. An email template makes the process faster and easier.
- Reduce your average response time: Responding to customer questions and issues quickly creates a positive customer experience.
A Customer Experience Trends Report by Zendesk found that 60% of customers consider long wait times the most frustrating part of customer service.
A selection of email templates that are ready to go can help reduce your average response time and improve the customer experience.
- Improve brand alignment: Your customer service team builds trust with your customers by aligning messaging with expectations.
Email templates provide a consistent tone of voice that ensures everyone operates from the same playbook.
- Eliminate human error: Errors look unprofessional, from spelling mistakes and misquotes to mistaken or outdated assumptions.
An email template helps you eliminate grammatical errors. You can also update it regularly to reflect current prices, practices, and policies.
- Improve customer satisfaction: Combining these benefits leads to greater customer satisfaction, retention, and loyalty.
8 customer support email templates to get you started
Every business is different, but the following templates provide a good starting point for crafting emails specific to your needs.
1. Intro email
An intro email is your chance to start a new customer relationship off on the right foot. It should include details about who you are (name, title) and how to contact you.
It can also detail the next steps or lay out a brief plan of what lies ahead in the customer journey.
Hi [customer name],
My name is [your name], and I am a [title, position] at [your company name].
I am happy to support you with [specific issue or area of responsibility].
I will be [next steps — reviewing your account, sending you some information].
If you need anything in the meantime, I can be reached at [phone number, chatline, email, or meeting booking link].
Looking forward to working together,
[your name]
2. Handoff email
A handoff email eases the customer from one team member or department to another. Be sure to CC the new team member in the email.
Hi [customer name],
I’d like to introduce you to [team member receiving the handoff].
Going forward, they will help you with [managing your account, processing your refund].
I have already briefed them on the details of your [account, issue, or request].
Best,
[your name]
3. Thank you email
A thank you email demonstrates your appreciation for a valued customer.
This could be thanking them for making a purchase, renewing a service, or helping your business in another way.
Never use this opportunity to promote another product or service.
If you are going to include a reward as part of the thank you email, outline the reward and how to redeem/receive it.
Hi [customer name],
I wanted to reach out personally and thank you for [purchase or renewal]. We appreciate your support.
I have included a link to our swag store so you can select a few items for your team. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
All the best,
[your name]
4. Service issue response email
Customer complaints need to be understood before you respond to the issue.
Try to identify the issue’s catalyst and detail how the issue will be resolved and avoided in the future.
In most cases, an immediate resolution will not be possible; but it’s important to assure the customer that the process is underway and that you take the issue seriously.
Hi [customer name],
I am sorry to hear [summarize the incident/experience].
At [your company name], we always strive to deliver on our commitment to service and this does not meet that mark.
I have looked into this matter personally and can assure you we are working to resolve it. [provide details if you can — e.g., your refund is being processed and should go through in a few days].
I will be overseeing this matter going forward, so please reach out to me with any questions or concerns.
I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you.
Best,
[your name]
5. Technical issue response email
Technical issues can be hard to resolve without specific details. An email is a great way to reach out and request this information.
Hi [customer name],
I understand you are having a problem with [detail the issue].
I’d be more than happy to help with that.
To ensure I can accurately identify the problem and provide an effective solution, I have a few questions.
- [question]
- [question]
- [question]
Thanks for your help with this,
[your name]
6. Frustrated customer response email
Sometimes an angry customer just needs to vent. It is important in these instances to step back and remove your emotion from the situation.
Even if an angry customer is in the wrong or their frustrations seem unjustified, listening to your customer’s complaint and responding with empathy and respect is a much better approach than “educating” or arguing your side of the story.
Hi [customer name],
I am sorry to hear this has been such a poor experience.
Listening to your account, it is clear that it has been very frustrating, and for that, I apologize.
At [your company name], we never want someone to feel that way.
I want you to know that I have listened to your concerns and will take every step to avoid an incident like this in the future.
All the best,
[your name]
7. Customer support resolution follow-up email
A good customer support follow-up email makes a good experience great. It is also an opportunity to request customer feedback.
Hi [customer name],
I wanted to touch base and see how everything is going.
Are there any further questions or concerns I can assist with?
If there is any feedback you’d like to provide, please let me know.
I’ll make sure your input gets to the right people.
Best,
[your name]
8. Customer review request email
Social proof is more important than ever in today’s competitive business landscape. In fact, more than half of consumers surveyed reported passing on a product or service because of poor ratings/reviews.
Customer review request emails are an important part of your email template library.
When sending a review request email, timing is everything.
If your company provides a service, reaching out after you have delivered an exceptional experience will garner the best results.
If you sell a product, requesting a review after the product return window closes ensures the customer has had time to use the product and is satisfied with it.
Hi [customer name],
I hope all is well with you today.
I am reaching out to ask if you would like to share your experience using [your company name/product name] so far.
It’s a great way to help others like yourself find us.
You can leave a review on [review site] or [review site].
We would greatly appreciate the support.
If you have any feedback you would like to share with us directly, I’d be more than happy to pass your insights along.
Thanks,
[your name]
Managing your template library
Creating a customer support email template library is just the beginning. To leverage it to maximum effect, you need to give some thought to how it will be managed.
- Expanding your template library: The example templates above are only the tip of the iceberg.
Your company will likely require several unique emails to address specific aspects of your business.
These are sure to change over time so reviewing your library quarterly or annually is good practice.
Talking to your support team is the best way to discover the types of emails they send most often and which of them make good candidates for an email template. Involving the team also fosters a sense of ownership.
- Storing your email template library: An email template library is only effective if it is accessible.
While it is possible to store your library as a series of shared spreadsheets or documents, this is not the cleanest or most secure option.
The best place to store your email template library is a CRM, together with the rest of your sales enablement assets.
These platforms offer secure access to your library and can streamline the process by allowing your team to send these emails from the same system they retrieve them.
FreeAgent can help you store and manage your email templates
FreeAgent CRM can help you take your customer support email game to the next level through:
- Role-based access controls: Ensure your email templates are only accessible to those who need them.
Plus, you can designate users as read-only to protect your content from being tinkered with.
- Centralization and connectivity: All customer interactions and support tools are gathered in one place.
This means your team isn’t jumping from one application to another to address customer needs.
What’s more, every customer interaction is captured and time-stamped so you can see what emails have been sent and when, preventing email spamming and improving collaboration between team members and departments.
Try FreeAgent CRM today, and start delighting your customers with the top user-rated CRM on the market.
