How to Use Email to Improve Customer Experience

As customer expectations rise, support teams need to deliver a reliable, quality experience across every channel — and that includes email. A key part of your effort must include integrating email support into your larger strategy.

Email brings in a staggering $38 for every $1 spent by a company. This includes marketing outreach efforts, retention emails, and, of course, customer support communications. Why, then, do so many companies overlook this vital support channel? In a recent experiment conducted by SuperOffice, 62% of the companies they contacted didn’t respond to their emailed support request, 90% didn’t acknowledge receiving the message, and a whopping 97% didn’t follow up to ensure customer satisfaction. With so many companies seemingly leaving a big gap in their support, there’s a great opportunity for you to step in and make a lasting impression with your customers. 

Follow these tips on using email effectively to help improve your company’s customer experience.

Offer a personalized email experience. Each tweet that goes out to your followers and each post that you make on Facebook may target your audience, but you can’t personalize it to each individual viewer.

With email, however, you can personalize each message to address each and every customer. From query responses to shipping updates to suggestions about related products or services, personalization makes an impact. It helps create a connection and suggests that your business is looking after the customer’s specific needs, ultimately boosting engagement with your brand.

Follow up and encourage feedback. Always follow up with customers’ issues when they email you. Doing so gives you the chance to close the conversation on a satisfactory note. It also shows that you care and are willing to go the extra mile to help your customers.

Following up also allows you to collect feedback. Customers like to know that they have some measure of say in the process. Allowing them to have input into your products and services will vastly improve their experience and help strengthen your company.

Show some personality and build an emotional connection. Don’t be afraid to have fun with your email messages! Tell stories and create truly engaging content. Everyone likes to know that there’s a real person sending that email. By making the effort, you strengthen your bond with each customer.

Demonstrate the validity of that bond by including some customer testimonials in your emails when appropriate. Reading about others’ similar positive interactions with your customers underscores their trust in you.

Encourage loyalty. Most of your company’s business usually comes from existing customers. Pay attention to those existing customers and maintain the same level of customer experience post-purchase via email. It can be equally crucial.

The key here is appreciating a customer’s commitment to your brand and making efforts to make them feel valued, and occasionally rewarding their support. Loyalty, once earned, can go a long way. Nearly 59% of customers confirm that a loyalty program encourages them to continue their relationship with a brand.

Reward loyalty by setting up service level agreements (SLAs) based on the lifetime value of your customers. This will help ensure faster email response times or even “white glove” treatment for your most loyal customers, which in turn keeps them coming back for more.

Re-engage with dormant customers. With time, the engagement rate of a customer is going to gradually drop to the point that they stop interacting with your emails. You are then left with two options:

• Either let them go and count it as a loss
• Send them re-engagement emails to bring them back

By going that second route, you take a step toward reviving the customer experience with a dormant customer. Entice them with special, personalized promotions. Send them actionable, engaging emails to bring them back into the fold. Use website analytics to measure open rates and test the effectiveness of different subject lines. Of course, not every recipient will reconnect, but those who do will provide you more opportunities to gain their trust and loyalty through exceptional support.

Email is an easy, familiar way to stay top-of-mind with your audience, whether they’re just starting to engage with your company or haven’t made a purchase in a while. By providing top-notch email support and developing an ongoing communication stream, you’ll go a long way toward creating a positive customer experience.