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9 Tips & Examples to Write Effective Customer Service Emails
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by
Ludovic Armand
May 26, 2023
· Updated on
Building a business without offering an excellent customer experience is like constructing a house without a solid foundation.
In the short term, it might work, but as time goes on you’ll need that strong foundation of satisfied and loyal customers, otherwise your company will struggle to grow and succeed.
According to a recent report, even when people love your company or product, 59% of people will stop doing business with you after several bad experiences even if they love your company or product. The benefits of prioritizing customer service are well worth the investment.
And the preferred communication channel of your customer is without a doubt email.
In this article, we’ll dive into how you can improve your customer service emails and give you templates you can use to write more effective replies today.
Providing great customer service is important for the success and growth of any business. In fact, according to a report, 92% of companies that are investing to improve customer experience report better customer loyalty.
Plus, 84% of them also report an increase in revenue while 79% of businesses said customer experience also contributed to reducing their expenses.
As we can see the benefits for your business are vast. Here’s a breakdown of the most notorious advantages:
Customer satisfaction and retention isn’t only about providing quality products or services. It’s also about how easy interacting with your business is and the level of support and assistance you provide.
Clients who receive good customer service gain trust, are more likely to be satisfied, and have a positive image of your brand. They are also more likely to come back in the future.
Another benefit of offering good customer service is that you can maintain a good relationship with your customers. they are less likely to do business with your competitors based on the price or gimmicky features as they know they can trust your business support and will have a positive experience.
When your customers have a positive experience interacting with your company like receiving a fast and helpful reply, it leave them with a favorable image of your business.
In the long run the favorable impressions will help to build a strong brand reputation as your clients are likely to share their experience with others off and online.
Another benefit of providing excellent customer support is that it helps build trust can credibility. By going the extra mile to resolve your customers’ concerns and problems you build a reputation of reliability and care.
In the end, the experience your customers have when interacting with your company service can make or break the perception they have of your brand and give you a competitive advantage over your competitors.
Studies have shown that a good customer experience will most likely result in repeat business from the customer. This means a steady revenue stream for your company.
It also reduces customer acquisition costs and increases customer lifetime value since you won’t need to attract as many new customers to be profitable and they will probably spend more in the future.
CLV (Customer Lifetime Value) represents the total revenue a customer generates throughout their relationship with your business.
By providing outstanding customer service, you enhance customer satisfaction, foster loyalty, and prolong the duration of the customer-business relationship.
Another advantage of great customer service is that it can be used to upsell and cross-sell. Communicating with your customers, customer service agents will be able to identify their needs and recommend products or services that could complement their first purchase.
Customer service is the direct connection between your customers and your business, so it’s essential to provide a great experience for them.
Plus it can also play a role in employee retention as they will feel more engaged and proud to be working for a company that values its customers.
We recommend you have a look at the best practices for customer service to take it from good to great.
Customer service emails are email responses to your customers’ inquiries, complaints, or feedback. The goal is to solve their issue and to give them support for your product or service.
Some companies use automatically generated emails and others write their personalized emails to their customers. But with the advent of artificial intelligence, you can now take advantage of both worlds by using an AI email assistant.
For example, the OpenAI integration in Missive takes it a step further by enabling the AI model to use your canned response to generate personalized replies for your clients.
Emails could be used for a wide range of customer service use cases including:
By using one of the best software for your customer service emails, you can start offering great support in no time.
Despite the emergence of many new communication channels in the past decade, email is still one of the most used channels for customer service.
There are several reasons to explain this, but the main reasons are that it is widely available, easy to use, easy to keep track of, and can be used globally since an email can be sent at any time.
Here’s a quick reminder of why you should continue to use emails for your customer service:
Although real-time communication channels like live chat, phone support, and social media are popular, email brings many advantages to customer service.
By including email in your customer service communication channels, you can address the varied preferences and requirements of your customers, offering them a complete support experience.
Now that we know why customer service via email is important, here are some tips to help you offer better customer service via email.
Timely email responses show care and commitment, managing expectations and avoiding customer frustration, but it's crucial to follow stated response time guidelines.
When it comes to responding to customer emails, you must prioritize the time it takes to reply. Most customers truly value receiving prompt replies. It shows that you care and are committed to addressing their needs efficiently.
We’ve all been there, we’ve sent an email to a company for support and they took forever to reply. Even if their response resolved our issue and we received the most caring email, our experience will still be tinted by the frustration of waiting for a reply.
Having a structure in place and respecting your SLA to address inquiries or concerns will help your business and let you provide helpful and satisfactory solutions. A great way to manage your client’s expectations effectively is by setting clear guidelines regarding your response time.
This could be by sending an automatic reply when you receive an email to your support email address with the timeframe it will take before one of your customer support team members get to reply.
By doing so, you can avoid any potential frustrations or disappointments resulting from delayed replies. However, you should make sure that the guideline is respected otherwise this could result in even more frustration on your customers’ side.
Personalize email responses by using the customer's name, customizing the reply to their specific needs, and acknowledging previous interactions to build strong customer relationships.
It's important to make an effort to personalize your responses to every email you receive. Putting in that extra effort can make a difference in building a relationship with your customers. When your clients feel like you value them and don’t feel like they are numbers, they will be more engaged with your business and feel satisfied with their customer experience.
Simple things like using your customer's name in your email can show that you see them as an individual and not just another customer. You can also add a personal touch and makes the interaction feel more friendly and genuine. After all, we’re all humans being those emails.
Next, take the time to understand their unique situation or problem and tailor your email response to answer their specific needs. By creating a unique reply to answer their inquiry, you show that you're invested in helping them find a solution and care.
Additionally, if the customer previously contacted your business, acknowledge those as well. It can be as simple as mentioning a previous conversation, order, or any other relevant information. This small gesture demonstrates that you care about the relationship you’re building and have an understanding of their history with your business.
Write clear and concise emails using simple language, avoiding jargon, breaking down information, and giving step-by-step instructions so your customers understand better and minimize frustration.
It's crucial to communicate in a way that everyone can understand.
Your email responses should be clear, concise, and simple to understand. You should (almost) always write your emails so they could be understood by people in grade 9. If your business is in a technical space, you should also remember that not all customers may be familiar with technical terms or complex language.
Avoid using jargon or complicated terminology that might confuse or make your customers feel like they are not good enough. You should instead use clear and straightforward language that gets your message across effectively.
To make your emails easier to understand, break down information into smaller, skimable chunks. Long paragraphs can be overwhelming, so organize your content into smaller sections and use bullet points when possible.
Additionally, if you need to give instructions, you should offer them step-by-step. With clear and concise instructions, your customers can easily follow steps to solve their problem leaving behind any confusion.
Clear, simple, and easy-to-understand email responses, can create a positive customer experience and minimize the chances of miscommunication or frustration.
Show empathy, understand your customer concerns, and resolve their issues to build strong relationships and improve your business reputation.
Having empathy and understanding when addressing your customers’ issues is important. Even if some of your clients show frustrations or disappointments, you want to show that you understand and acknowledge their feelings.
empathy can help you connect with your customers and demonstrates that you care about their experience. Assuring them that you are fully committed to resolving the situation can also help improve their overall experience.
In your interactions, the language you use can help to show your customers that you share their concerns and understand the situation. Choose words that show empathy, acknowledging the impact the issue may have had on them.
Additionally, make it clear that their feedback is valued by your business. It will encourage them to be open to communication and shows that you are continuously striving to improve based on their experiences.
By showing empathy, understanding, and a commitment to resolving their issue, you can build long-lasting customer relationships and create a positive reputation for your business.
Improve your customer service by providing detailed information from the start, anticipating follow-up questions, and offering relevant resources to help them.
Going the extra mile by providing comprehensive and relevant information can take your customer service to the next level. Put yourself in the shoes of your customer and understand why getting all the necessary details in one go is important.
Take time to write a detailed response that leaves no questions unanswered. You can even go beyond and provide additional information or resources to help them with questions that may arise shortly. It will show that you value their time and are committed to assisting them effectively.
Anticipating follow-up questions doesn’t have to be complicated. Put yourself in the customer's position and consider what additional information they may need. You’ll save them and your company time since they won’t need to reach out again.
In addition to providing comprehensive responses, consider including relevant resources to further assist your customers. Sometimes, a link to a user guide or FAQ section can provide your customers with the in-depth information and step-by-step instructions they need.
You’ll also promote self-service and empower them to find additional information on their own at the same time. After all, 81% of customers are expecting more self-service options.
Proofread and edit your emails to avoid errors and look profesionnal. It will also make them clear and easy to understand elimanating risk of confusion.
Every message you send via email to your customers acts as your business’ shop window. You must polish and proofread your communications. Before hitting that send button, take a moment to edit your email reply and make sure it’s mistake-free.
Scan for any grammar mistakes, typos, or spelling errors that might have slipped through. With thorough review, you can ensure that it presents a professional image to your clients.
After all, a well-written and error-free email sends a message that you pay attention to the details and makes your business look more professional.
In addition to checking for errors, editing your email to make them clear and easy to understand is equally important. Read through your message to make sure it flows smoothly and that the language used is clear and understandable.
Make sure there are no confusing or ambiguous statements that might be misinterpreted. This way you are sure your customers can fully understand your message and reduce unnecessary and forth.
Let your customers that they should reach out for further assistance. It will show that their satisfactionis important to your business and that you are committed to resolving their issues.
Another tip that can improve your customer service is to encourage your customers to reach out again if they have additional questions or need more assistance. Let them know that you want them to be satisfied and that you're always available to help.
This way, you demonstrate that you care about their experience with your company and are there to resolve their issues.
Remember, offering your support beyond the initial reply is a key element of exceptional customer service that shows your clients that their satisfaction is important to you.
<Send a follow-up email to make sure your customers are satisfied, offer more support, and ask for their feedback.
You can send an email to check if the solution you provided met their needs and if you can assist them further. This personal touch can go a long way in building strong customer relationships with your clients.
During the follow-up, you can also go the extra mile by offering your assistance for any problems they might encounter in the future. By doing so, your customers will feel valued and supported, which will build loyalty for your company.
You should also remember that your customers’ feedback is really valuable to help you keep improving. You should always seek their input and value their feedback. It shows that their opinions matter to you.
Regularly analyze your customer inquiries and their feedback to identify areas that could be improved. Use it to update your resources and address common concerns for better customer service.
Keeping a close eye on your customer service email interactions is important to ensure you are continuously improving. You should always take time every other week or month to analyze the inquiries and problems your customers are facing.
It will give you valuable insights or your product or service. You’ll also be able to identify areas where your process could be improved.
By understanding common pain points or frequently asked questions, you can make informed decisions about how to better serve your customers. A good practice that we’ve implemented here at Missive is to keep track of all inquiries we get from our clients and update our website help section and improve our FAQ.
By doing so, your customers will be able to find the information they need without having to reach out for support.
If you follow previous tips, you’ll have collected tons of feedback that could be used to guide you toward areas where you could improve. It will also send a signal to your customer that you’re also paying attention to their feedback and are implementing their suggestions.
It’s also important that you don't wait for customers to raise the same concerns repeatedly before acting on them.
Creating the perfect response can be challenging. That's why we've built six customer service email examples accompanied by their ready-to-use canned response templates.
Here are our professional customer service email response templates that will make your interactions with your customers a breeze.
A good practice to put in place is to send auto-reply when you receive an email at your support alias. However, you don’t want to send an auto-reply every time you receive an email as your customers who reply to their original email will be bombarded by your automatic response.
Using a tool like Missive makes it easy for you to set a rule to achieve that.
Here is an example of what could be contained in the email.
Before using this template, you should make sure you add a link to any valuable resource on your website.
In this example, we’ll provide you we a template that can be used to reply to a customer support email that contains multiple questions.
In this example, we’ll provide you with a template that can be used to reply to negative feedback you may receive. As you’ll see we try to avoid over-apologizing because it might make the interaction seem negative and won’t resolve the issue.
In this example, we’ll provide you with a template that can be used to reply to a customer complaint. As you’ll see, it is similar to the one used to reply to negative feedback.
In this example, we’ll provide you with a template that you can use to reply to cancellation requests you may receive. We also included a section to ask for feedback.
Our last example will provide you with a template to ask your customer for feedback after they reach out to your customer service.
In conclusion, offering excellent customer service is essential for the success and growth of your business. Without satisfied and loyal customers, your company will struggle to thrive in the long term.
In the end, customer service emails are an opportunity to provide outstanding support, build customer loyalty, and differentiate your brand from competitors. By implementing the tips and using our templates, you can write more effective customer service email responses and leave a positive and lasting impression on your customers.
May 14, 2025
6 Ways to Use AI in Your Email Inbox
In a world where new AI tools are releasing every day, we're going to share some practical ways to use AI within email and your inbox.
AI and email management go hand in hand.
There are AI tools dedicated to helping you clean your inbox (like SaneBox) and plenty that help you draft emails better and/or faster.
In a world where new AI tools are releasing every day, we're going to share some practical ways to use AI within email and your inbox.
At the end of each section, we'll cover some of the best AI email tools and AI assistants that can help you be more efficient in your inbox—whether you're a Gmail or Outlook user.
Here at Missive, our users get a lot of emails—100+ in a day in some cases. We crowdsourced the most practical, helpful AI suggestions that real businesses are using to maintain a clutter-free, productive inbox.
Before we jump into the examples, these are the three broad buckets where AI is used within inboxes:
For cleaning emails, there is usually a deep purging functionality (i.e., archive all emails before a certain date) as well as a new system to keep your inbox clean after the purge (i.e., auto-categorization into folders/labels). SaneBox is a great example of this bucket.
For drafting and writing emails, you can create prompts that take into consideration your writing style, structure, and tone and add in resources for AI to pull context from—most commonly, your knowledge base or website.
For kicking off other tasks—this is the most exciting part of AI within your inbox. Certain tools (like Missive's AI-powered rules) allow you to automate a set of actions based on the context of an email. Imagine every email gets assigned to the right people, a set of tasks is created, a label or folder is applied, and an entry is made in your CRM—without a single human interaction. That’s magic!
Let's get to the AI-powered magic.
We're highlighting Missive's AI-powered rules in the examples below, but you can create your own AI email automations with your favorite tools, and we include some recommendations.
Here are the 6 best AI email workflows.
Our inboxes get inundated every day, but not every email deserves equal attention. A clean inbox needs a system of categorization.
Historically, you could set up automations based on sender, message content, etc.—but now with AI, you can understand the context of emails, which changes email management entirely.
It's like having an AI assistant read each email and then categorize it based on the context within. It's far more robust than just looking at the sender domain.
If you don't already have some form of auto-labeling, auto-folder categorization, or archiving automation running, here are a few examples to get you started:
By auto-filing certain emails out of your inbox using AI, you'll be able to focus on the ones that need your attention. And when you have some free time, you can visit your newsletter label to catch up on industry insights.
Most modern email clients have some version of this built in. If you're looking for an add-on tool for Gmail or Outlook, we cover those below as well.
Missive — Inbox collaboration for teams
Superhuman — Great for keyboard shortcut lovers
Shortwave — For an AI-first inbox
SaneBox — AI email organizer that integrates with your existing client
Unroll.me — Alternative to SaneBox, bulk email cleaner for any provider
AI can save time inside your inbox—but using it to trigger external workflows is where the magic really happens.
Example: A real estate business receives emails from both buyers and sellers in a shared inbox. Their workflows are completely different, so we used AI to identify the intent and trigger specific assignments, tasks, and summaries for the right team members.
If you have different workflows depending on the email, you can use AI to detect the context and automate accordingly.
Relay.app — AI-first workflow builder
Zapier — Classic builder, now with AI
Missive — AI rules built into the collaborative inbox
Inbox maintenance is like pruning a tree—it requires regular attention.
With AI clients, workflow builders, or Missive rules, you can automatically clean up emails without manually clicking "unsubscribe."
Set it up narrowly (specific senders or domains) or broadly (based on open behavior, like emails unread for 30+ days).
Solutions like SaneBox include versions of this, though some manual training may be required.
Say you run an accounting firm where each client has a dedicated team and inbox.
Most messages are about invoices, but occasionally, an urgent email from the CEO arrives that needs management's attention.
AI can identify urgency and escalate the message automatically to the right person.
Other tools can do this too—but may require you to create specific folders/labels and rely on manual monitoring.
This works best if you have a large, public knowledge base or help center that the AI can reference. If you do, you can use one of the newer AI models that allow you to search the web.
Here's the prompt we use at Missive for our support team:
You are an expert customer support specialist for Missive, the collaborative team inbox platform. Your job is to draft accurate, empathetic, and clear replies to customer inquiries based only on official Missive documentation.
Note: Keep all responses strictly tied to Missive's documented functionality.
Now, if you want to get crazy with it. You can create an automation where a draft is created every time an incoming email fits a specific criteria. And you can use AI to help you determine which email triggers the automation.
Don't want to pay for contact enrichment tools? Use AI to summarize new prospects.
It adds context directly to the email thread, so you can start conversations better informed.
For more robust enrichment, tools like Clay or CRMs like HubSpot and Salesforce offer AI-powered data collection.
We hope these ideas help you clean emails, draft faster, and automate smarter.
All the tools mentioned above offer a “fresh start” feature to deep clean your inbox and begin anew.
Whether you're using SaneBox with your current client or switching to an AI-first inbox—there's no reason your email shouldn’t flow to the right people and places automatically after setting a few AI-powered rules.
If you're looking for an AI-powered email client uniquely designed for teams—give Missive a try. No credit card needed, and our free trial includes access to AI rules.
February 5, 2024
How to Set Customer Service Goals for Success
Learn how to set customer service goals for success
When I took over the customer service team at my last company, it was during a period of transition.
We’d just gone through an acquisition which, although welcome, meant we needed to reassess our resources, our tools, and our team’s strategy for the foreseeable future. I was also stepping from a senior role into a management role, and while neither management nor the team were new to me, the situation was changing quickly.
This presented a challenge: quickly leading the team through setting new expectations and requirements, while still delivering the same excellent customer service experience for our customers.
It also gave us an opportunity to move from good to great — by understanding where we were, where we wanted to go, and how we might get there.
Maybe you’ve also just taken over a new team, or you’re also going through an acquisition or reorganization. Or maybe you’re just looking to level up your support team.
Regardless of why you’re here, this article will help you understand what SMART goals are in the context of customer service and how to define SMART customer service goals for your team. It includes some examples of great customer service goals, and it will show you how to measure the success of your goals so your team can continue to grow and adjust your customer service strategy as needed.
Table of Contents
Being on a ship with no destination is unpleasant and nerve-wracking for everyone aboard.
Setting solid customer service goals for your team provides a common purpose and keeps everyone moving in the same direction. It improves your odds of reaching your destination: consistent excellent customer service.
And beyond the psychological benefits of having clear goals, there are plenty of more tangible benefits too.
Clear customer service goals ensure that your team’s efforts align with the broader objectives of the company, so it’s clear how your team is contributing to business growth.
It also means both you and the company can make more informed decisions about budget and resource allocation, using the real data and trends you glean from measuring your progress against your goals.
Goals focused on customer satisfaction directly contribute to improving the overall customer experience. Satisfied customers are more likely to be loyal, to make repeat purchases, and to recommend your business to others.
Consistently meeting and exceeding your customer service goals also builds your company’s reputation for reliability and trustworthiness, which is essential for long-term brand success.
Setting specific goals and measuring how each member works toward these objectives allows customer service teams and managers to identify strengths and weaknesses. It also allows individual team members to understand and direct their own professional development.
Well-defined goals also provide teams with a clear sense of direction and purpose. Team members who understand how their work contributes to larger goals are happier and more committed to the company’s success.
You’ve probably heard of SMART goals before. It’s a handy mnemonic tool that reminds everyone that effective goals are:
But why do the goals you set for your customer service team (or that they set for themselves) need to be SMART?
The point of setting goals is to be as clear as possible about expectations:
There shouldn’t be ambiguity in customer service goals. That’s because while a well-defined goal tells your team members what success looks like, it also acts as a catalyst or guide to help you get there.
This may be from a customer standpoint (satisfaction, response time, self-service, etc.), from an individual perspective (performance or professional development), or from a company perspective (cost per customer, retention rate, expansion rate, etc.).
First, keep in mind that you usually can’t jump right into creating a goal. There’s always an assessment period first.
You need to spend some time figuring out what the current state of your customer service team is.
Some questions you can ask to guide your assessment:
Your assessment will be highly dependent on your team and company, but these questions should give you an idea of the things you should consider as you work to define your goals.
Once you’ve done the foundational work to understand what your team needs to improve on, you can begin using that information to define your goals.
Let’s break it down in the context of a real customer service SMART goal.
Any goal you set should be clear and well-defined. For example, “answer customers faster” is a nice aim, but what are the channels where you want to answer customers faster? What does “faster” mean?
A more specific goal for reducing customer wait times would be to set a target first response time for a specific channel, such as: “Send a first response to customers within 60 seconds of their initial chat message.”
Depending on your needs, you could get even more specific: “Send a response to customers inquiring about their order status in 60 seconds or less.”
Any customer service goal should be measurable, so you can understand whether you’ve achieved the goal (or not) and adjust your strategy appropriately.
Taking our example from above, a measurable target chat response time goal could be: “80% of customers will receive a response to their initial chat message within 60 seconds.”
This is the point at which your initial assessment becomes really important.
“80% of customers will receive a response to their initial chat message within 60 seconds” may sound like an achievable goal. It might be doable if you have a simple product or many agents trained and available to handle chats.
But what if you have only two chat agents and are receiving hundreds of chats each day?
Of course, you still want to strive to improve their first response times, but you’ll have to set reasonable expectations to give your agents a fair shot at success.
An attainable goal in this context might instead involve increasing the initial chat response time or decreasing the percentage of customers you’re targeting, like this:
Your context will determine what makes the most sense for your team. Just remember to aim for a goal that’s stretching, yet realistic.
This is another area in which your foundational assessment is key.
First, are your proposed customer service goals aligned with your customer service values and company’s objectives? If not, they won’t be effective or successful, no matter how well they fit the SMART parameters.
Secondly, are your goals relevant to your team? For instance, a manager with a high chat volume might adapt our example to involve implementing a chatbot in order to hit their desired initial chat response time goal.
But a manager with a low ticket volume probably can’t justify the time and expense of implementing a chatbot because the benefits will never outweigh the costs for their team.
This parameter is closely tied to being measurable. You won’t be able to determine whether you’ve succeeded unless you know when the goal needs to be achieved.
To make our example time-bound, we could edit it to read: “By the end of Q2 2024, we’ll be responding to 80% of customers within 60 seconds of their initial chat message.”
Customer service goals aren’t just about how your agents interact with your customers. Surveys have shown again and again that customers want the option to solve their own problems.
A goal for developing effective self-service could be:
“By [DATE] we’ll have launched a knowledge base with articles answering our 10 most frequently asked questions about [PRODUCT], resulting in at least a 10% reduction in tickets about those issues.”
Many knowledge base tools will have built-in ticket deflection tracking features, such as giving you the number of views for an article and the number of tickets created after the article was viewed.
You can also measure the success of this goal by tracking ticket volume for a specific category or tag over time.
Implementing a quality assurance program is a great way to improve overall customer satisfaction, response and resolution times, and brand recognition. It’s also a more objective way to measure and track agent performance and to kick-off conversations about professional development with your team.
It might look like this:
“In January 2024, develop a draft QA scorecard based on ticket reviews from the previous 3 months, so that we can begin calibration sessions with the team in February 2024.”
In this case, measuring success is relatively simple: is the draft scorecard available by February 2024 when calibration conversations must begin?
Customer satisfaction (CSAT) is crucial to your support team’s success, but also the overall success of the company. To build a customer-first organization, improving or maintaining your customer satisfaction score should be one of your main goals.
A sample goal for CSAT could be:
“Each month next quarter, maintain an overall CSAT across text channels (chat and email) of 85% or better.”
You can gather CSAT ratings using built-in tools on your customer communication platforms, or through a dedicated CSAT tool to send customer surveys. Most tools will calculate your CSAT score or percentage automatically.
As we’ve already covered, customer service agents are most engaged when they understand what their role is and can see how their contributions matter (both to their entire team and the company).
A goal for improving your customer service team’s overall engagement could be:
“Have a monthly one-on-one with each agent on my team and arrange at least one team social event a quarter, with the aim of reducing employee turnover by 10 percent by the end of the year.”
As you can see, this goal includes multiple conditions for success, and the team turnover rate is a metric that can be directly measured.
As a customer service manager, you get an especially broad view of how customers use and feel about your product. You also have the ability to take that customer feedback and put it in the hands of those who need it: your product team, your engineering team, your marketing team, and so on.
This can be as simple as implementing a public customer feature request tool where your customers can share their feedback and vote on what they want to see, or as complicated as setting up an internal, cross-functional customer feedback process.
The goal for becoming the voice of your customer could be:
“Have a bi-weekly Voice of the Customer meeting with the product development team, leading to at least one product bug fix and one new customer-requested feature release every quarter.”
You could measure this goal in a number of ways, depending on your strategy. If you have implemented a dedicated customer feedback tool, you can track customer usage against the rate of product releases and bug fixes. You could also track ticket volume in a specific category as well as any impact on CSAT ratings.
Everyone has their specialties and their weaknesses, and your customer service agents are no different. Quality assurance programs are a great way to identify areas for improvement, but you may also uncover opportunities during performance and career development conversations.
Your customer service reps can improve by seeking training in special topics, professional development courses, and peer support. Working with each team member to set and achieve goals for improvement fosters a culture of continuous learning and improvement.
A good example of goal for your agent could be:
“Get training on my weakest skills as identified by our QA reviews during the next month so that my average handle time goes down to [TARGET] by the end of the quarter.”
They can measure the success of this goal through attendance and completion of training, as well as by looking for improved QA scores and handle times.
The more customer service agents take ownership of their customers’ experience, the happier both they and the customer will be.
Owning the customer’s experience will mean something different for every team. It may look like being the customer’s one point of contact for an issue, or it may mean acting as the customer’s guide as they move through the escalation process.
It may look like answering every CSAT rating, good and bad, to thank the customer for their thoughts and solicit more feedback. Or it may mean reviewing their own customer interactions, identifying missed opportunities for exceeding customer expectations or anticipating customer needs, and devising strategies for doing so in the future.
A goal for owning the customer experience could be:
“I’ll reduce my ticket escalation rate by X percent in Q2 by being the primary agent on tickets about Y topic.”
Measuring your growth at owning the customer experience will depend a lot on what specifically that means for your company. For the example above, you’d measure the achievement by looking at the percentage of tickets you’re still escalating on the specific topic.
As you’re building out goals for yourself or your customer service team, remember to take a step back occasionally and look at the big picture.
Are these goals aligned with your company and your team’s vision? Are they clear or confusing? Are they too inter-dependent, so that if you fail at one, you fail at them all?
There’s nothing magical about setting SMART goals. They’re a fantastic tool for customer service teams, but the real key is in making goal-setting a discipline and a habit you’re regularly engaging in. Setting goals is not a one-time task — it’s an ongoing process of adaptation and growth.
The landscape of customer service is always changing, and your goals will need to evolve with it.
