5 tips for writing perfect tech support emails

‘What’s the big deal with technical support emails?’ you might ask. Aren’t they simple? In theory, they are, yet many customer support agents manage to make a significant mess. Though it’d be ideal to hand-craft every email you send, it can also be time-consuming and counterproductive.

We know our share of agents in tech support, and some of the support conversations they’ve recounted have ranged from terrible to occasionally hilarious. It’s important to understand that emails are part of our communication landscape, and skilled business communicators consider them a valuable tool to connect.

Below, we’ll go over a list of best practices for writing tech support emails for various scenarios.

Access now: Your Free Customer Support Email Template Guide

Bonus content: Before learning how to write a technical support email, you must understand email etiquette. As with all writing, professional communications mandate attention to the specific writing context. 

• Open with a proper salutation. Proper salutations indicate respect. For example, use a salutation like “Hi Ms. X” (external) or “Hello Henderson” (internal). If the gender of a person is not evident, use their full name like this: “Hi Alex Arnold.”

• Include a clear, short, and specific subject line. Your subject line helps the recipient understand the gist of your email. For example, “Customer survey attached” or “Your feedback form is here.”

• Close with a signature. Identify yourself by designing a signature block that contains your name and business contact information.

• Avoid abbreviations. An email is not a text message. Thus it’s best to write like how you’d write to a higher rank in your organization.

• Use a suitable format. Divide your mail into brief paragraphs for ease of reading. A sound email should get to the point and conclude in three small sections or less.

• Reread, revise, and review. Detect and rectify spelling and grammar mistakes before you hit “send.” Alternatively, a plug-in like Grammarly could take care of that for you.

• Reply promptly. Make a habit of responding to all emails within twenty-four hours, even if only to say that you will provide the requested information in forty-eight or seventy-two hours.

• Use “Reply All” sparingly. Do not send your reply to everyone who received your initial email unless your message needs to be read by the entire group.

• Avoid using all caps. Capital letters are used on the Internet to express empathy and are considered rude.

• Test links. If you include a link, test it to ensure it is working.

• Give feedback or follow up. Suppose you don’t get a response in twenty-four hours, email or call. Spam filters may have intercepted your message, so your recipient may never have received it.

How to handle tech support over email

We’ve compiled three key things that excellent customer support and communication have in common, such as:

1. Reading and understanding their request: Before responding to your customer’s tech support request, ensure you’ve clearly understood your customer’s issue and how you can help them out. 

2. Always be empathetic: Sometimes, you might receive passive-aggressive messages from your customers, but you must understand that they’ve purchased your product and need your guidance. In such cases, put yourself in your customer’s shoes and address their situation genuinely. Take a step back and read your response carefully before sending it.

3. Ask for more information to get complete clarity: If you find the information offered by your customer isn’t clear enough for you to devise a solution, it’s always better to ask them for more details than guessing and getting it wrong. 

How to write a perfect tech support email 

• Analyze the problem from multiple angles

You’d be surprised at the number of times customers call tech support, and the agents at the other end refuse to listen. Some support agents also assume that customers know as much about their products/space. And when they build on this assumption, all hell breaks loose. 

From the customer’s perspective, nothing is more frustrating than not being heard. If a customer feels like you don’t understand their issue or request, it increases the odds they’ll turn into an angry customer down the road. 

The easiest way to get it right is by reading over the customer complaint to get a clear picture of the situation. After understanding the problem, ensure you know how much your customer knows about it. Based on this, you will be able to give them the assistance they need. Try it, and you’ll be able to see for yourself just how often your initial assumptions can end up being wrong.

• Test a solution out before offering it

While writing a customer support email, you might draft an ambiguous response. This could be an older solution or some information you garnered from a coworker on the fly. You risk turning a satisfied customer into a sore one with a small error from your end. 

Before offering any solution, test it from scratch and ensure the solution works for you to avoid this mishap. Once you get the optimal result, provide the answer to your customers with all the possible must-knows and to-dos. 

For example, temporarily, asking your customer to restart their service or computer might work. But if the same issue crops up again in the future, they aren’t going to be very happy. Instead, attempt to gain a deeper understanding of the problem and go beyond offering temporary fixes to close the customer tickets for the time being. 

• Empathize and listen 

Every customer you speak to has a genuine problem. So it’s essential to deal with them differently. Customer service skill is often as much about listening and acknowledging that there is an issue as it is about solving the problem. It would help to let the customer know that you understand and care for their situation to up the ante. Even if you already know how to fix their problem, never take their concerns lightly. 

Don’t blame your customers if the issue is due to a typical “user error,” as this may annoy or upset them more. They may be irate when they reach out for your support, so it’s essential to guide them with concise next steps. On the other hand, if the issue stems from your end, apologize and don’t procrastinate. The tone of your response carries a great deal of importance, so ensure you give it the due consideration it deserves.

When replying to their emails, ensure you resolve and answer all potential issues. This will drastically reduce the number of responses you will make to address their concerns. 

Once you have solved their issue, check back with them in a while. You can show them you care about them by contacting them again. It is also an excellent way to check if your solution works. If you don’t have the time to get in touch with them, you can send a satisfaction survey to gather feedback from them.

• Communicate in a language the customer will comprehend 

Once you have the solution to your customer’s problem, the next challenging part for you is to compose the ‘next-steps’ email in a logical and non-technical format. It would be best if you never assumed your customers know as much about your product because that is where most problems and miscommunications may arise. Not every customer understands technical jargon, so define and guide your customers at every possible turn. Be thorough and anticipate potential questions and resolve them before your customer asks. 

• Grammar and presentation matter

It might be impossible for you to ensure that every tech support email is perfect before sending them out. However, make it a point to go through every reply at least once before sending it. After all, no matter how technically proficient you might be, the quality of your reply matters just as much as your solution.  Proofreading your email for grammar mistakes is as important as finding the root cause of 

If you don’t believe in yourself to spot all the errors, trust in a tool like MS Word or Grammarly to find them for you. You can also check with your fellow support agents and get their feedback (and often corrections.)

When it comes to replying to customers, adding that personal touch can make a significant difference; using their names in your emails is straightforward yet powerful. You can also mention a particular detail you know about them or a fact about their order. Treating customers like actual people always benefits your company and your customer. They get a better interaction experience, and you can gain loyalty.

• Never say no

Your product could always use enhancements based on your customers’ feedback. However, you can’t include every user request in your roadmap for your product development. Instead, you can understand their problems to the best of your ability and suggest workarounds based on what you know and what you can implement. 

Even if you cannot provide them with a particular feature, make sure you never say a hard “no” in your email. Check with your project manager if something’s being planned, and keep them in the loop. In the meantime, they’ll appreciate whatever you can do for them. The way you word your replies to your customer requests also matters. Saying a blunt “no” is never a smart idea. Instead, offer suggestions that may function as a solution to the customer’s issue. 

You can look at some sample email templates to understand how to use these pointers and write that perfect support email. 

1. Acknowledge your customer emails.

Every time your customer sends an email looking for a product fix or needs help with onboarding, you must reply to their mail saying you’ve received it and will shortly look into it. Doing so takes away the anxiety of “Did the support team get my email? Should I send it again?”

Sample:

Hi Parson,

Thanks for getting in touch with us! This is an automatic email to let you know that we’ve received your support request. Our experts will revert shortly. We appreciate your patience. 

Best,

Thiago Alcantara

Customer Support

2. Give them clarity on feature requests

Every product team gets feature requests time and again. However, not all requests will be actioned upon. In such cases, let your customers know whether the feature they asked for will eventually be available on your product. This will help them decide if they need to move to a different product that will cater to their requirements. 

Sample:

Hi Ursula!

Thanks for using our app.

We haven’t added {FEATURE} into it yet. But our support team believes it would be a great integration. 

We’re excited to pitch it to the product team and see what they think. If you have any other questions, do let us know, and we’ll be happy to help. 

Best,

Jordan Henderson

Customer Support

3. Apologize to customers who hate your product

Saying sorry is the most effective way to turn around a bad customer experience. Because it’s so effective, knowing how to apologize accurately is a crucial skill for CS professionals. Did you know? A recent study showed that people are twice as likely to forgive a company that says sorry than one that instead offers them cash.

Sample:

Hi Manila,

Thanks for getting in touch with us. I am sorry that you’re disappointed with our product/service.

I understand how frustrating it can be to sign up for a service and have it not work the way you think it should, so hopefully, we can get this sorted out ASAP. 

Could you let me know what specific features hindered your product experience? I’d love to help where I can pass your suggestions along to our team, but I need more information before doing so. If not, I’ll be happy to issue you a refund for the money you spent on your upgrade.

I apologize for the inconvenience once again.

Happy to help,

Andy Robertson

Exceptional support emails create unique experiences.

Even if you’re a renowned customer support executive, you must have a retrospective approach to your customer support process. Evaluate your strengths and drawbacks and see what you could be doing better.

Accepting, aligning, and assuring is one of the most reliable ways to give your customer a great experience. Implement repeatable processes and tech support email templates that your fellow customer support teammates can use to guarantee success. 

You can also go through the following related blogs:

1. https://freshdesk.com/customer-service-skills/write-exceptional-support-emails-blog/
2. https://freshdesk.com/customer-support/measure-quality-support-emails-blog/
3. https://freshdesk.com/customer-service-skills/writing-awesome-emails-blog/