Reinforcing email inquiries with automatic replies
Linda Christie
If customers call an 800 number, at least they get a recorded message asking them to hold for the next available representative. However, if they send an email message, they frequently meet deafening silence, especially if they don?t receive an automated response acknowledging their inquiry. Not knowing if their message was received or if the company will respond in a timely manner, they call the company's 800 number - a more expensive service to provide - or email a competitor- an unacceptable alternative. You just caused the customer to cost you a lot more money with a call to your toll-free number. You blew it.
"If you want to encourage customers to contact you by email, treat your email as high priority," said Mark Christiani, Director of Customer Care for TouchScape, an Application Service Provider that provides online customer service and email tracking solutions. "If you respond to the phone twice as quickly as email, you will get twice as many calls, since it is easier and more efficient."
Christiani says that to encourage email inquiries, companies should immediately acknowledged their receipt with an automated return message. This not only reinforces that the issue arrived safely and is going to be addressed, but also gives you the opportunity to set customer expectations.
Automated replies should tell customers how long they will probably
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have to wait before their
questions are answered, but should also provide other useful information, he said. "It's better to
overestimate the time they will need to wait and reply sooner, than to disappoint them with a late
response. Also include company contact information, your 800 number, and a hyperlink to your
website and FAQ's."
You can create a variety of customized auto responses in Outlook or Outlook Express by using the Rules Wizard under the Tools option. You can also use this feature to automatically send custom reply messages when you are out of the office.
For additional information about the Outlook Rules Wizard, visit the Microsoft Office website at http://www.microsoft.com/office/outlook/
.
To learn more about TouchScape's customer service and email tracking solutions, visit the company website at http://www.touchscape.com/.
Related Book
Outlook
2000: The Complete Reference
Author : Thomas E. Barich
Publisher : Osborne
ISBN/CODE : 0072124369
Cover Type : Soft Cover
Pages : 775
Published : Aug 2000
Summary :
Complete coverage--offers an all-in-one Outlook 2000 reference and MOUS certification study guide.
Readers will find complete coverage of the MOUS test, including exam objectives. Companion CD-ROM
with Test Yourself software is a unique and valuable learning tool for everyone and includes the
MOUS exam and practice files that correspond to exercises in the book. Other exciting features
include: learn-by-example sections providing hands-on skills practice; printed endpapers that
highlight key topics from the book, as well as the MOUS exam objectives; coverage of both Internet
Only and Corporate/Workgroup Modes.
This was first published in March 2001
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