Writing as Customer Service

Every time you communicate with a client, partner or vendor, you are acting as your company's customer service representative. The way you communicate will go a long way toward forming the recipient's opinion of us as a company. Therefore, it's critical that we all understand the meaning of customer service in daily communication.

Just remember three simple rules -
1) Be prompt
2) Be honest
2) Keep your promise

Think about all the times you've contacted a company about some product or service. In today's instant-response world, you are impatient, are you not? You want an answer yesterday. In the long history of the world, no problem has ever been more critical than the one you're facing at the moment, right? Well, you're not alone.

If someone e-mails you and asks for assistance, the best response is a quick response, even if you don't have time to address the matter at the moment. A nice "Thank you for your message. I will be in touch with you soon to address your concern." That acknowledges the message and lets the sender know that the concern didn't just enter the Black Hole of e-mail inquiries.

Now - here's the hard part. Keep your promise. Get back to the sender as soon as possible, even if only to ask more questions or update him or her on your progress regarding the request. If there is one thing a person hates worse than being ignored, it's being lied to.

It's also important to personalize your message as much as possible. This will indicate to the sender that you actually read the message before responding.

Let's have a few examples, shall we? Tell me which of these you prefer:

"Thank you for your message. The matter has been forwarded to our customer service department, which will review your message on a first-come, first served basis. Please stay tuned for a reply and, again, thanks for writing."

OR

"Dear Tom, Just got your message. I thank you for writing. Let me review this with the team and get back to you tomorrow. Talk to you soon!"

The second answer is SO much better. Why? I'm a person with a name, and somebody noticed that. Great! Of course, if Tom doesn't here from you tomorrow, all of the goodwill you have created is gone. Keep your promises! That is critical.