If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to give us a shout. Hi [customer], I am extremely sorry that you had such a terrible experience with us. To quell some of those nerves, we’ve put together a guide on the three most common types of angry customers that you’ll run into, and the best approach for handling each. There is never a one-size-fits-all solution for an angry customer—people all handle their emotions differently. Watch how customers respond to or rate each template and constantly improve them. This means that more often than not, when customers reach out for help, they’re already fuming by the time they reach an agent. It’s no secret that encountering angry, hysterical, upset, and confused customers is an occupational hazard of working at a call center. Either way, you’ve been wasting precious time. At the end of the email do not forget to mention the necessary action which you expect to be taken care of in response to your complaint. This could have happened for a range of reasons. However sometimes things don’t go as planned. “I know that having to go through multiple troubleshooting steps and not having any of them work can be a real pain, especially when you have more important things to be doing.” Lastly, let them know that you have been looking into the issue, and that you think it should be resolved: “That being said, I think we might have gotten to the bottom of this.”. In customer service, there’s an underlying fear that every single email you send might be the big one. Melissa is a CX Lead and content creator at Groove. When a customer asks for a discount that we cannot give, we send this email response: First of all, thank you so much for checking out Groove! No matter the underlying reason, how you deal with it determines the ultimate resolution. The majority of customer emails are iterations of the same question. Customer Service Email Examples. For example, if you have to tell a customer that a warranty doesn’t cover accidents, you might say: I’m sorry our warranty didn’t properly communicate its limits. Most software companies get dozens of feature requests every week—and that’s not a bad thing. And that’s really hard. Dealing with angry customers. This allows you to take culpability for the frustration, but also iterate what you think the problem actually is. This is often the most effective way to handle angry customers at the outset of the situation. Using that, I can take a look in our system and see how we can get this fixed for you.”. But, you have to start with the master of all automated scripts: your auto-reply email. Regarding difficult customer examples, researchers had this to say: “Handling angry customers is a daily task for any customer service rep. You have a strict no soliciting rule. If a customer sent an angry email even before you’ve had a chance to speak with them, you might be feeling frustrated and discouraged. “dear email customer, drop dead”? You won’t send emails that suck. Groove simplifies customer support through canned replies—preloaded emails you and your team create, drop instantly into a response, and then edit as needed. This type of email expresses dissatisfaction on a particular behavior, product, or service. Tap into the time-saving and stress-relieving power of customer service email templates. Answering angry emails is hard work. Please standby and one of my teammates will get back to you with more details ASAP. We assure you that it was shipped from our store intact but was manhandled by the delivery agent. As long as you make sure it’s not a bug, put the onus back on the customer to resolve their own issue and provide them with the resources to do so. We are very sorry for any inconvenience that this might cause. Here’s how to deal with angry customers—including examples, research, and best practices. Avoiding the “angry customer label”, training self-regulation and demonstrating empathy are all good examples that are great to keep in mind. Customer Service Email Example 1: Dissatisfied Purchase Experience. The best path in this situation is to find a way to sugar coat the refusal in some way. Using that, I can take a look in our system and see how we can get this fixed for you.” What if the customer becomes angry during the interaction. 15 samples of customer service email templates The templates below contain guidelines on tone and structure appropriate for different scenarios. Things to consider before engaging with angry customers Before you engage with angry customers, you need to get into your customer shoes to understand the reasons for their frustration. A longtime customer sends an email asking if their grandchild can come to your salon to sell Girl Scout cookies to your customers. While sometimes the customer will email back in to let you know that they are upset, more frequently they will comment in your review system. Either way, it’s up to you to resolve it. Usually, in this case, the best way to handle it is to reach back out to the customer. Let these templates guide you to create your own. Saying yes all the time sends the message that your customers should rely on you for every little thing. ... For example, here's how a customer record would look in Copper: ... “I’ll follow up directly after this call with an email with dates … Assess the urgency of the situation and encourage your support team to get more clarity. When an item is delivered damaged, customer service can handle the situation by sending the customer an email. Sooner or later, some sort of a crisis hits a company. I find that assuring them is the best focus in your email, as it lets them know that this issue won’t happen again. We have rectified the underlying problem and you should be up and running again now. But why they are angry doesn’t matter; it’s up to you to fix it. Think of them as the flour, water and eggs in your cake. However, here’s what happens as a result: Both of those things are a better alternative than having a customer who leaves feeling 100% unhappy with our product and likely to disappear for good. There are multiple studies showing about 50% of all emails are misinterpreted. You’re here. I have received angry emails from my customers, my peers and my leaders through the years. Thanks, [agent_name] and [agent_headshot]. We’ll walk through why these templates work (so you can build your own moving forward). We’ve worked really hard to build the best product out there for small businesses to deliver awesome, personal customer support. Engaging customers and satisfactorily solving problems in an email, however, can be a challenge. Listening is the first step when turning an angry customer into a happy one. There will be certain times when a customer is so angry, it is clear that there is little opportunity to try and remedy the situation directly. A screenshot would be super helpful as well. Earlier you said that I could fix the problem by doing one thing, now you’re saying that I have to do something else? If you have any additional information that you think will help us to assist you, please feel free to reply to this email. 15 samples of customer service email templates The templates below contain guidelines on tone and structure appropriate for different scenarios. Scenario: When a customer is extremely angry, it can be the most difficult customer to work with because emotions are so high. The road to a successful cold email campaign is hard. Sadly, while customers expect an immediate response to support requests (even if that’s just a friendly note saying it’s been received), the majority of businesses fail on this front. We care about serving our customers and we have always believed that we leave no stone unturned to make it possible. How to Write an Effective Apology Email to Angry Customers (with Examples) For customer support teams, a typical day at work is almost always a mixed bag of experiences . You’ll be able to shoot them out quickly when time is of the essence. How to handle angry ecommerce customers + free email templates. Thanks for subscribing to Kayako content! This example customer service response email includes a clear request to assist the customer in clarifying the complaint. Don’t let the fear of sending impersonal, robotic responses stop you. We understand how critical we are in the role of supporting your customers, and will be implementing a host of solutions to ensure that a situation like this does not occur again. Example support email: “Hi [CUSTOMER NAME], Thank you for your email and for bringing this to our attention. 1. Be empathetic, don’t place blame, and offer to make things right. Let me talk to your supervisor or someone who UNDERSTANDS HOW FRUSTRATING THIS IS AND HOW IMPORTANT MY INFORMATION THAT I LOST WAS. We too, are a small business and appreciate you checking in to see what options we have available. Don’t miss out on the latest tips, tools, and tactics at the forefront of customer support. Go for it. “I noticed that you left a review on your interaction with me that mentioned that the solution I’d offered didn’t work for you, so I wanted to reach out and see if we could get it fixed.”, “I know that you didn’t respond directly to my email and left a review instead. Today, we’re going to share five customer service email templates we use for the most challenging of situations. Here’s an example: “I can’t believe that you billed me without letting me know ahead of time! No matter what your customers are angry about, your agents can bring positive closure if they observe some basic rules in their email responses. Since email also takes away our ability to observe the customer’s facial expression or body language, empathizing in your emails is key to figuring out what you need to know so you can resolve the issue and, hopefully, help the customer move away from frustration and anger to a better emotional state. I just added you to the list for follow up, so as soon as we do have news regarding mass replies we’ll be sure to reach out. Whenever emotions come into play, take “say less” to its ultimate extreme: Just don’t write an email when you’re feeling angry or anxious or sad or ashamed. Evenings and weekends may take us a little bit longer. If you have managed to put together a great knowledge base or other self-help solution, your customers will be willing (and eager) to engage. The right words and phrases to say to an angry customer. And, you can test it out for yourself, right here… free for 15 days! If you’ve been working in the tech industry long enough, you’ve likely got a server outage story. Work to find a concrete resolution to the issue. Want the best customer support and startup content delivered straight to your inbox? The customer service representative can then follow-up with them at a later time. That said, flat-out rejection sucks. Assure them that you will help them fix the issue. If their problems aren’t answered in your knowledge base, use it as an opportunity to improve your content there. The work needs to meet the required and implied end. Otherwise, could you let me know what steps didn’t work as expected?”, “Once I have a bit more information, I’m happy to help get everything resolved for you.”. Acknowledging that you heard what they are saying and understand what they are going through can help to bring both of you back to a solid playing field. The next time you face irate customer, you’ll know what to do. At this time, we do not offer any discounts or startup pricing plans. Here at Groove though, we prefer to simply hit “snooze,” and only “forget it” for a few weeks at a time. Include personal touches, letting them know you appreciate their unique situation. Based on the language in their email, it seems they feel that you are not listening or have not understood their problem as clearly as you could. And you might still have nightmares of opening the inbox to thousands of emails from upset customers asking why the product they pay for isn’t working. Discover what, why, and how to automate customer service, without losing the personal touch—nor hefty investments in AI and supercomputers. Thanks again and we wish you the very best as your business grows. On one hand, there is the immense satisfaction of helping customers with their issues and being appreciated by them. Client's angry. Lead with empathy, find commonalities whenever possible to establish mutual respect. How can you guys get away with this!?!?”. This could be because of something you said or perhaps something they’ve experienced while using your product. In this example, Ashley was very vague when approaching the customer’s issue. best practices, communication, customer support. Any words included in brackets are placeholder text you can replace with what makes sense for your business (or … If you’ve decided that you don’t want to work through this any further, I totally understand. What if a customer says they’ll flat-out leave if you don’t build what they want you to? This needs to be fixed NOW.”. And another one-third of customers find phone support the most annoying service channel.. Because asking the customer to send a follow-up email with more detail automatically makes them think rationally. Dear Esteemed Customer, Thanks for your email to notify us of the difficulties you have been experiencing with our mall recently. Receiving a request for step-by-step support is an opportunity to teach customers how to use your services, and gives you the chance to define expectations. Everything we've learned (and are still learning) about growing a business. No one enjoys being on the receiving end of that, but you should be able to turn it around using a few quick tricks. The worst possible thing you could do is fight fire with fire. First things first. Responses for Dealing with Angry Customers. Mercer Smith-Looper – June 22, 2017 – 2 Comments. Similar to an angry customer,, a complaining customer is not exactly a ray of sunshine on your workday. In the meantime, your best bet for speeding this up would probably be to use canned replies. Acknowledging the customer’s frustration and that you hear them. Try out canned replies for yourself by signing up for a free trial of Groove, Here are all five templates in an easy to read (and copy) slide deck. Confusion and subsequent frustration on the part of the customer. You've got an angry customer. Win-win. kick off a free 15-day trial of Groove here! In my opinion professional conduct involves conducting oneself gracefully, doing one’s work diligently as a professional with devotion and aim to complete the work in time bound manner. Usually, a response that takes this approach will diffuse the anger that a customer is feeling, and will allow them to take a step back and see the situation a bit more clearly. Yes, templates let you set-it-and-forget-it. Be careful not to acquiesce to angry customer’s demands without fully understanding their problem. Angry customers consume the majority of your agents’ time at work. Customers need to feel secure. The email should mention all the factors with which you are dissatisfied. Customer support emails work best using the same three components. Occasionally, a customer will leave an interaction feeling good and then realize, after the fact, that something didn’t go as well as it could have. One of the trickiest obstacles to overcome is deciding on follow-up email samples to use after you get no response. If you do it the right way, you won’t risk offending anyone or destroying any customer relationships. And while it’s important to pay particular attention to challenging situations first, there are many typical examples of good customer service … Despite being “canned,” the response gets personal. Regarding difficult customer examples, researchers had this to say: “Handling angry customers is a daily task for any customer service rep. Remain confident in the value of your product, and your customers will follow suit. Professional Email Examples; Email Examples & Samples; When there are thank-you emails, there are also complaint emails. Want to skip directly to the template part? The next time you face irate customer, you’ll know what to do. Use that feeling to craft a response that makes the customer feel like you get it, and that you want to help. These emails should also mention the inconvenience that you have faced due to the poor product or services. In fact, saying no might be the best choice for you and your customers. Read the following emails over, copy and paste the ones you like, then tweak them to reflect your unique business proposition. And you’ll rest easy knowing that there’s nothing incriminating or potentially riot-inducing contained within them. Handling angry customers can be one of the most challenging aspects of a job. Turns out, some 75% of customers believe it takes too long to reach a live agent. Whether they confront you face-to-face, or you speak with them over the phone, chances are you are going to be met with frustration, aggressive anger, and little patience. Keep your cool and don’t let your customer’s anger influence your own behavior. A good way to do this is to say: “Thanks so much for emailing about this—I’m sorry to hear that you were caught off guard by our billing.”. Example email template. Note: Just as important as saying the right thing in this situation is making sure you actually do keep updating your customers regularly. There are three main types of angry customers: At a glance, all angry customers might appear the same but, they are not all created equal. That sort of goodwill goes a long way. It’s also possible that they are angry because they may feel “stupid” for missing something that was probably written on the site. Example support email: “Hi [CUSTOMER NAME], Thank you for your email and for bringing this to our attention. If you’d like to create and start sending your own templates through Groove’s canned replies (I’ll show you what that looks like below), you can kick off a free 15-day trial of Groove here! Although the customer service email templates we shared today cover very specific situations, the concepts in them (empathy, sharing information, promising resolutions) can be applied to just about every support situation. But the good news is that these are usually the least tricky to rectify. Even though our product might not fit their needs, the customer will know that we went out of our way to guide them towards what’s genuinely best for them. Experienced agents often develop a diplomatic approach that honors the customer’s perspective while simultaneously protecting themselves from verbal abuse. Her background spans running customer support and experience at startups to running script changes on live TV shows. You can never be quite sure whether what you say is going to solve or exacerbate the issue. I’m not sure I follow what you’re saying, any chance you could provide a little more detail? No conversations were lost during this time, but please give it a few minutes for them to flow into your inbox. For example, would you mind sending me the username associated with your account along with the date that you received the charge? Any words included in brackets are placeholder text you can replace with what makes sense for your business (or … As long as you are working your hardest to assuage their concerns and get them where they need to go, even the angriest of customers will eventually be comforted. They can make me both angry and frustrated. Hi [first_name], ... How to Deal With Angry Customers: Examples, Research, and Field-Proven Best Practices. This automatic reply is just to let you know that we received your message and we’ll get back to you with a response as quickly as possible. Customer Complaint I’m sorry to hear that you are feeling ripped off but can assure you that we are a legitimate business and operate ethically with our customer’s needs in mind. Be empathetic, apologize, and make it clear you understand that they’re upset. Both happy and angry customers will give you some feedback to act upon and improve overall. Angry Customer Response Email Template. How to Write an Effective Apology Email to Angry Customers (with Examples) For customer support teams, a typical day at work is almost always a mixed bag of experiences . Here's how you soothe angry. As a follow up to our first email template blog post, we've created five more email templates to help you respond to difficult client situations. Rapport building with angry customers is a difficult task, but we have presented you with a number of techniques in the article to help calm customers down and offer great customer service. … Refocus the conversation on the actual problem at hand. Take responsibility – Make sure the customer knows you understand the issue and where the brand failed. Customer Support Email Templates: Customer support email template No.1: By acknowledging the question or comment, you indirectly are saying you understand their pain points and feel it should be something the company can help with. Thank you for your email. Communicating with an Angry Customer. In this post, I will take you through a few good-to-know rules of writing customer service emails, along with templates you can use: https://nethunt.com/blog/how-to-work-with-upset-customers-via-email As one recent test of roughly 1,000 small, medium, and large companies found: Equally as bad, however, is an autoresponse that screams “auto.” Not necessarily in the written content but rather in the tone and, especially, mixed up dynamic insertions—like the wrong names, operating hours, or product titles. It seems like the issue that you are having is actually [X], rather than [Y] like I originally thought.”. Depending on the condition that each customer came to you in, you will need to handle the interaction differently. 15 customer service email templates to welcome, support, renew. Editor's note: This blog post was updated from its original version on 21 May 2020. My experience and your experience probably support that fact. For example, would you mind sending me the username associated with your account along with the date that you received the charge? Responding to an angry customer via email is very similar to the way you would respond to a negative review. Download and use these email templates to navigate even the most complicated scenarios and deliver great customer service. The optimal solutions will always keep the customer’s specific language and reactions in mind. If you do end up building that feature in the future, because of the way you handled the issue, you have a strong case to make for that customer to return. Rather than copying by rote, take the things that resonate with you and make sense for your customer and leave the rest. Worse, they set a poor precedent for putting a bandaid on an open wound. Rapport building with angry customers is a difficult task, but we have presented you with a number of techniques in the article to help calm customers down and offer great customer service. Above all, keep them flexible. (I won’t let you.). We’ve designed the templates below for specific situations—and use them ourselves. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, though. If you check existing article on the topic, you’ll see that they mostly concentrate on angry or difficult customer service scenarios. To show the customer you’re actively listening, paraphrase what their complaint is, ask clarifying questions, and don’t interrupt them. 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