To offer exceptional customer service, businesses need to communicate with customers often and respond to their queries as fast as possible. This can be done by offering chat, voice, and email support. Some customers prefer to talk directly to agents, while others are more comfortable using the chat option.
It depends on businesses whether they opt for chat support outsourcing services, or train an in-house team for this purpose. However, bear in mind that good customer service is key to maintaining the customer base. Therefore, whatever option the business opts for, they need to provide the best solutions in the minimum time.
What Is Email Support?
Email support is an effective medium to resolve customer complaints without both parties being online at the same. Most customers prefer this channel when encountering an issue requiring a detailed explanation.
Businesses that consider email support a low priority may suffer from missed revenues. Being available at all channels where the customer expects the business to be is a clever strategy to retain the customer base. Imagine a customer contacting via email to know more about the product or the location of a restaurant. If the business is not active enough on this channel, it will lead to missed sales.
Benefits of an Email Support Service
No doubt, instant replies are satisfying, but for issues that need more details, email support is the ideal choice. Even though it has some limitations, it is still a common method of communication between the customer and the brand. It not only increases customer satisfaction but also reduces the operating costs of the business.
Let us have a look at some of the benefits of having an email support service these days.
Enables Large-Scale Communication
Businesses that need to send promotional messages to several customers scattered around the globe, can do so with only a few clicks. Similarly, customers residing in different time zones can also communicate their problems easily to the brand. What matters the most is the response time and quality. If the business responds on time and addresses the issue efficiently, it can win customer loyalty, which can be very beneficial for it.
Private Interactions
When customers call the contact center, a different agent answers every time. However, with email, usually, the same agent communicates with the customer until they solve the problem. This increases customers’ comfort level. Moreover, some customers do not like to post their queries on social media or are too shy to talk to a representative. Such people rely on emails; therefore, the business needs to offer assistance to them on their preferred channel.
Offers More Control
Email is a much more convenient and reliable channel than social media, chat, and voice support. Even though it is not as fast, the entire interaction takes place on the customer’s terms. Where chat support usually ends when a customer is not responsive for a few minutes, it is not the case with email. Customers can reply whenever they want without any urgency. It is also easy to track the conversation.
Easy File Sharing
Through emails, customers can attach heavy multimedia files to supplement their concerns. For example, if a customer receives a defective product, they can attach a high-resolution photo as proof along with the email. This enables businesses to quickly identify the issues and provide good reasoning.
Convenient
Email support is much more convenient than voice support. Agents must instantly respond to incoming calls but can reply to emails at their own pace. That does not mean they delay the responses, but the ability to answer back after carefully understanding the issue makes this channel much more reliable. Furthermore, several email management software is available that can make the entire process seamless. Intelligent routing, spam filters, advanced reporting, and personalization tools enable managers to assign the most suitable agents and determine which issues require an urgent solution.
Traceable
Maintaining a record of the entire customer interaction through emails is relatively easy. Whenever an agent needs to look for the background history or any such information, they can simply go through the email correspondence. This makes them offer the best solutions tailored to each customer’s specific needs. Moreover, it also provides a way for businesses to track whether an issue was resolved in time. Representatives can also use this information to propose solutions to other customers facing similar circumstances.