5 Tips To Improve Customer Email Response Time

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Customer email response time matters as customers are the major source of revenue. For this purpose, customer satisfaction is important, which can be assessed through customer email response time. We have found the 5 tips to improve customer email response time.

  1. Send an immediate response

Customer satisfaction is key to any good business and a vital aspect of it is customer response time. Market surveys indicate that the customer expects a reply within an hour; earlier the better. Else, they don’t want to do business with you. Apps like Zomato are consistent in keeping you informed in a structured way. The customer receives an acknowledgment of his order, almost instantly. This creates a positive perception that a team springs into action the minute he places his order. An immediate acknowledgment of a customer’s order, query or complaint reveals that you believe in servicing them well.

And all it takes from your end is to send out a personalized automated reply, which is relevant to the situation. Doing this also means you are preventing them from reaching out to you through another mode of communication. This leads to both unpleasantness as well as extra work for your team. Hence, keep the First Response Time short and make your customers trust you better. Client engagement is high. When the time is managed well, or the product is delivered even before the promised time, the customer’s expectation is more than met.

The media company CNBC states that swift responses accomplish more than just ensuring customer satisfaction – they also underscore a business's commitment to valuing its customers, a crucial factor for maintaining their loyalty and continued patronage. When clients are aware that they can easily contact a business and anticipate timely replies, it fosters a sense of assurance in their interactions. This confidence significantly contributes to cultivating a favorable and enduring rapport with customers.

  1. Aspects you need to consider to set the TRT

You need to consider a few aspects before setting the turn round time. It can be evaluated reasonably well when you know the complexity of the issue on hand. You also need to know, what the response time given to the customer in earlier instances with similar issues, was. That would be the baseline for your customer’s expectations. Implement a good customer service software that will help extract all the previous mail exchanges with each client so you’ll ascertain this without a sweat.

Communicating with your support staff to know what is a reasonable time they’ll need, is a vital aspect to consider. And finally, you also need to know how urgently, your client needs your assistance, so you can accordingly flag it. An important aspect of customer satisfaction is quoting a realistic timeline and then doing all it takes to deliver ahead of time. This makes you consistent and reliable in your customer’s eyes. He will feel valued by your promptness.

  1. Use Autoresponders Responsibly

You can streamline responses by creating autoresponders for FAQs, and for the different types of queries or orders, you get. It saves you both time and the trouble of not having to respond to follow up queries. The prompt and well-written response will add credit to your brand image. Let the message be engaging, tapping into feelings while also being clear and precise. Creating as many as you need to, based on the kind of issues you encounter, helps stay on top of the communication game. At every stage of service, you can send one out.

That way, your customer is kept in the loop throughout the wait. An autoresponder can also contain other useful information such as a phone number to contact customer service or even a number for an ASAP scenario. Only, do not use an autoresponder when your clients are elite or few. And if you do use autoresponders, make them personal and keep the tone warm and sincere.

As per a post featured on the Campaigner blog, skillful utilization of autoresponder emails ensures the timely delivery of essential messages, cultivates confidence in your brand, and enhances sales figures. Due to their predetermined timing, autoresponder emails are tailor-made for every subscriber, resulting in remarkable pertinence. Notably, nurtured emails lead to purchases 47% larger than those attributed to non-nurtured emails.

  1. Use an App that lets you effectively deal with a high volume of emails

Some apps can assist you with auto-sorting, standard replies, detailed reporting, tagging categories, etc. Apps or plugins like Yesware, If No Reply, Boomerang Respondable, etc can make work simpler. Using an app like Text Expander is greatly useful to send out quick replies when you have to deal with bulk emails. With a few keyboard shot cuts, it can guess the kind of message you want to send. It will copy a response you posted previously.

You may just need to edit it a bit before hitting send. The wait is always longer when you are silent. Use technology to quickly and efficiently reach out to your client at regular intervals. Silence indicates that you either don’t care or you are not aware of the turn round time. But when you use the right apps, you will create the time to ensure you update them with relevant information, making the customer experience more positive.

According to Help Scout, the utilization of email management software empowers support teams to provide quicker and more effective responses to a high volume of customer inquiries. Functions such as automated responses, email templates, and collaborative inboxes equip support teams to manage customer emails with heightened efficiency, guaranteeing swift and responsive customer assistance. This software also reduces the burden of email organization, processing, and prioritization, ultimately enhancing productivity and concentration.

  1. Create an excellent page for FAQs

Devoting time to create detailed answers for FAQs is an excellent measure to reduce queries. There will always be a percentage of customers who are bogged down by technical terms to figure out simple fixes. And there is another lot – the ‘fix it yourself gurus’ who, with a set of detailed instructions, can do the work themselves. Both these groups would benefit from the step by step instructions for simple fixes. Keep the language simple and direct. Explain technical terms wherever possible.

Make your page relevant to most. Identify and segment the types of queries that come in. Check what the bulk of your queries are about. And identify queries that clients can handle with a bit of information. Add a link to lead them to a page that tutors them on solving those issues. Also, vet the ease of following your instructions by getting a team to test it. And don’t forget to add a number they can reach out to in case they still need your technical team to assist them.

Bonus Tips Submitted By Viewers

  1. Create a Customer Service Software

Besides an app, the software does wonders in improving email response time. And it’s fast-growing.

This means that more companies are considering using customer-friend software to help sort and address customer care issues quickly and comprehensively.

Many software supports efficient customer service. The software archives all customer service conversations and interactions. Thus offers a great document to undertake a postmortem analysis of issues affecting customers and how well they are usually resolved.

Tracing the various customer components,c you can deduce from previous interactions how to better manage frequent complaints about service or products.

These data are vital not only from customers’ point of view but also for designing better products or implementing improved service delivery systems.

Further, having software simplifies the steps of capturing and analyzing customer queries. If you can identify and resolve the complaints fast from a centralized location, the response time improves significantly.

  1. Use time-based email alerts

Sometimes, some customers may prefer email to communicate. Yet people usually check emails when they are free or have dealt with pressing issues.

This means that if you receive a critical email, you may set your attention to resolving it. Meanwhile, an even more critical email may be sent soon afterward.

The problem is that you get engaged in the previous correspondence to even look at what is streaming in. So the subsequent emails get less attention are remain in the mailbox for hours, or even days.

Unfortunately, if those emails are considerable, attendants may even miss one or two in the maze. But these could be some of the prominent issues.

So how do you ensure you view and capture all the incoming online correspondences? Well, try setting up time-based email alerts.

Alerts are essential. They remind you that more issues need your attention. They also provide you the opportunity to chart a response and follow-up mechanism so that emails are well and promptly attended to before they become a clatter.

To conclude, we provided people with five tips that can help improve customer email response time. We are confident that the tips we offer can quickly increase your email response time and help you grow digitally.

Hope you enjoy reading "5 Tips To Improve Customer Email Response Time" :)


BONUS ARTICLE: Why Is Email Marketing Important?

According to an approximation, almost 50% of the entire world population uses Email. These numbers are increasing each day and the use of internet spreads.

Businesses, regardless of their type, size, volume, and area of operation, heavily depend upon marketing. Selecting an appropriate, easy, and budget-friendly marketing channel is also a tricky and delicate decision.

As of now, people are using various methods of running a marketing campaign. However, there are a few challenges of using these marketing methods.

These include:

  1. High marketing costs.
  2. Reach a number of audiences that can be handled by that particular method.
  3. Easy and quick optimization.
  4. The ability to contain multimedia.
  5. Using social media.

While it is hard to comply with all criteria at once, there are methods that do. So far, internet marketing, through any means, is considered the fastest and widest way to promote the business. Among internet marketing channels, the most reliable and cost-effective is email marketing.

It is very important to understand how email marketing can play an effective and efficient role in running a successful and winning marketing campaign by employing correct and timely decisions by every tear involved in this process.

First, it covers all the main points as it is quick, affordable, easy to optimize, can contain multimedia, and can be sent to a large number of people. The far reach of Email is due to the internet.

Let’s look into detail all the characteristics of email marketing:

In today’s modern time, almost every man and woman have at least one email address, which has gotten more certain after the introduction of mobile and other handheld devices and mobile-friendly versions of the Email.

Almost half the people on earth use emails. That means using email marketing gives you access to all those people.

Even if someone needs to do anything over the internet, he or she needs to use either an email address or a mobile number. People usually avoid using mobile numbers to avoid their identity disclosure; therefore, they end up entering an email address.

Marketing on Email has more chances and probability of being viewed and responded because of the existence of an email in every device, whether a desktop, a laptop, a mobile phone, or a tab.

Similarly, emails are very frequently used in every office, workplace and, domestic and commercial outlets, thus making the emails visibility very obvious.

Research studies conducted from time to time have proven that statistics of the usage of emails have been increasing with every passing second, which is another obvious reason to support the importance and effectiveness of email marketing.

Email marketing is also considered necessary because of having no comparison with all other marketing tools in terms of ROI, being a powerful, reliable, long-lasting, and perfect marketing partner for any kind of business.

When it comes to marketing, you need to update the data and your strategies regularly. However, when you are dealing with large numbers of recipients, it is not that easy a task. The same is not true for email marketing.

Despite the huge marketing benefits of emails, you do not need to spend hours emailing every single person on your list. This process can be fully automated with the help of many available software.

These systems can even handle quick optimization of the email text, design, and valuable content to make it more beautiful. You do not need a bunch of graphic designing skills to craft an awesome email. By using email marketing, a worthy email can be achieved by a few clicks.

If you are unsure of where to begin, tons of templates available on the internet are proven to bring results.

Keeping up with change is a crucial feature for any business to run smoothly. You need to keep up with all the technological advancements and new social media. This requires a lot of money and manpower.

However, emails can still keep up with the ever-changing devices and remain a reliable source of one-way communication. Therefore, by using email-based marketing, you provide your business with flexibility.

This feature is what keeps businesses running and allows them to accept change.

Lastly, emails are used daily for all sorts of purposes, including informing your readers about your business. These emails are called newsletters and are a great way to keep the interest.

You can also encourage sign-ups and include relevant links. This works for online courses, new product launches, seasonal sales, sharing the content on other social media, and using discounts and coupons.

While it is all simple text and your message, it can inspire the reader to take action and sometimes even become a long-term customer.

In short, email marketing is versatile, flexible, and a very personalized way of reaching your audience.

1 Tip That Can Significantly Improve Your Online Marketing

Find the Optimal Time to Post Content

The best way to ensure the effectiveness of your posts is to ensure that they are viewed. This means that you need to upload your content when your targeted audience will most likely see them. You will require to assess your targeted audience and identify factors such as occupation, age, and their online presence. For example, if your targeted audience is teenagers, then it would be best for you to upload content after school hours when the majority of them will have uninterrupted access to the internet. Further, you can use social media insights for your accounts to see when your posts get the most traffic. This will guide you on when especially to be active and as a result, you will increase your presence. Fortunately, many social networking platforms provide business accounts the ability to see the views on their posts, customer geographic, customer engagement, age, and the time when your account is most active.

One Email Split Test Idea to Accelerate And Boost Conversions

Sending an email on the special days of the recipient

If you have the details of the birthday, the day of the anniversary, or any such special, private days of the recipient, you might send a personalized email to congratulate the concerned party, and conferring your regards to the recipient for the same. This will give the recipient an impression about how you care about them, and hence, it will significantly improve their relationship with you.

This simple technique has proved immensely effective in fostering a better engagement between the sender and recipient, and hence, you might give it a try as well. You might even consider to include some free items, or you may take the opportunity to offer some special offers to the recipient. For instance, it can be an offer coupon, offering concession on the bills at the nearest restaurant, on the occasion of the birthday, or the anniversary of the recipient. Such emails must inevitably be personalized with the name of the recipient directly.

1 Way To Sharpen Your Writing Skills And Copywriting Techniques

Keep it simple:

You certainly don't want to make things complicated for your reader. Your focus should be on the clarity of your content. Avoiding all sorts of technicalities and irrelevant piece of information is going to make your writing stand out. It doesn't matter what kind of writing you're doing if you are using simple wording that is to the point you’ve done your job.

You can tackle many errors in your writing by simply one thing that is to keep it simple. Don't use words that are too difficult, sentences that are too long and irrelevant details. Many of your communication hurdles can be overcome if you use practice clarity in your writing. It is one of the important tips for improving your writing. Perfecting this skill is no magic but you don't need to worry about it. You can always practice until you're there. Good luck!