No other unit of an organization directly interacts with customers more than customer service. It is the team, which is responsible for handling queries, requests, and complaints of customers at every step of the buying journey. This is why it has to be par excellence in order to retain and even, acquire new leads for revenue generation. Get more info here regarding what excellent customer service should look like.
Generally, the trend of customer service leans towards an omnichannel approach, nowadays. In other words, companies have to go above and beyond the basic phone support to inculcate more avenues of contact in their platforms, such as live chat and self-support portals. This also includes email.
An email is a textual message, which is electronically sent by a user to a recipient or a group over the network. It is one of the earliest and more popular means of communication in the world. A majority of consumers still prefer to interact with a brand over email.
Despite this, quite a large number of companies fail to offer this kind of support. Here are all the reasons why email support is an important part of customer service and why you as a business owner should invest in it starting today:
Asynchronous Communication
Email is the ideal example of asynchronous communication. Asynchronous means out-of-sync or not conducted in real-time. This type of communication takes place when two parties exchange information at their own pace and convenience.
Such communication works out best for customers who are caught up in tight routines and don’t have the space in their schedules to make phone calls to customer service repeatedly.
Thus, email support is integral for appeasing customers who are always on the go. They can simply drop an email to their company of choice, get back to their work, and let email support do the rest.
Documented Trail
When you’re negotiating with customer service, evidence is the key to winning. Suppose you have received a faulty product in the mail, while you paid its price in full. Supporting your complaint with images of the broken product as proof will increase your chances of being taken seriously by the company and getting a replacement rather than if you simply call the customer service phone number without substantiating your case with evidence.
Being a textual communication platform, email allows users to upload attachments and to explain their concerns in a comprehensive way, without any slips of the tongue that may occur on a phone call. Furthermore, it enables support agents to understand the queries in a detailed manner and to resolve them to the best of their abilities outright.
If they can’t, they also have the option to forward the whole documented case to another email support agent, without requiring the customer to explain the issue repeatedly as they would have to on a phone call. Thus, email support is vital for a business’s customer service because it leaves a “paper trail” of documentation that quickens problem resolution and enhances customer satisfaction.
Private Channel
Not many people are comfortable expressing their problems elaborately on social media, which is open to all, including cybercriminals. These malicious hackers can sniff vulnerable users from miles away and do everything in their power to create chaos in the lives of unsuspecting users.
This is why people feel more secure communicating their problems via email, which is a one-on-one correspondence tool between a user and a support agent and is not visible to anyone else. So, email support is an important part of customer service because it creates a private channel of communication for conscious consumers.
Easy to Track
One of the best things about email support is that it can be streamlined by integrating Artificial Intelligence tools into the system. These AI mechanisms can scan the email text for contextual pointers, and then route it to the right support agents for maximizing efficiency and minimizing the sorting time.
Moreover, AI assistants can also keep a track of the emails by organizing folders and designating user IDs to individual emails, so agents can get back to their assigned emails in a seamless fashion. This may not be so easy to implement in a phone helpdesk, since AI can’t figure out human speech as accurately as text. Thus, email support is crucial for a budding business to increase response rate and decrease wait time.
Multi-Device Accessibility
Before live chat and social media stormed the world with their state-of-the-art features and specs, email held the real power. It was everyone’s go-to tool for communicating personally or professionally. Even today, email platforms are available to consumers on almost every device that is internet-enabled.
This includes smartphones, tablets, laptops, PCs, and more gadgets. Smart televisions also host email apps in their menus, which customers can access using their remote controls and read up on any new correspondence right from their HDTV screen. Thus, due to its higher accessibility, email support is something that businesses should most definitely not ignore.
Free of Cost
For people who are in a cash crunch, email is a true blessing. While phone calls to companies end up draining the monthly budget, email platforms enable free-of-cost communication. Take Gmail, for instance. Consumers don’t have to pay a monthly rental for using this service.
They can simply sign up, set up their account, and start sending emails in an instant. All they need is an internet connection, which most people already have in the current era. Since it allows cost-effective communication, email is often the preferable medium of contact for consumers, which is why companies should invest in a solid email support system right away.
Perfect for Cross-Selling
Cross-selling on a phone call may seem rushed and coercive. Cross-selling via email, on the other hand, is a whole different field. Email provides the perfect opportunity for support agents to slip in a recommendation here and there about relevant products or services of the company that the customer may find useful.
They can even attach eye-catching images or videos of the special offerings to reel the customers in. This subtle type of cross-selling has a higher chance of landing well with the users, who may choose to take up on the offer and in return, boost the company’s sales. Thus, email support may usher in new leads if done right.
Professional Touch
Companies that have an email support platform are considered more credible and trustworthy by customers. Just as phone support indicates casual and informal interaction, email support adds a professional touch to the communication between a consumer and a company representative.
This is why businesses should make email support an important part of their customer service to leave a polished and refined impression on prospective clients.
Wrapping Up
As evident by the aforementioned pointers, email support corroborates a company’s success in the market by offering multiple benefits to both the consumers and the firm. This platform should be at the forefront of all B2C or B2B communications to achieve ultimate satisfaction.
