Hey friends!
Today, I'm happy to share some tips to create great canned responses that will make your customers (and your team) happier! This is a collection of the best practices from our own experiences and from sales techniques for cold emails (we know how content is important for sales).
Every interaction with your customer or prospect is a make or break 😱. I know, that's strong, but go for the wrong wording, take too long to reply, leave a few typos and you've ruined all your efforts to gain their trust (and love). Don't leave this down to each individual in your team: canned responses are a great way to streamline your interactions!
When using canned responses, you don't want your customer to feel... well, being canned treated! The content you craft today will be used and updated for a long time, so give your customers a treat with canned responses that hit the sweet spot.
Make it personal
I know, it's broad, but there are a few tips to turn a plain (boring) response into a unique piece of content.
➡️ Use your first name. typedesk allows you to insert your personal info, meaning you can easily create a headline that will be shared with everyone in your team, but personalized for each agent.
My name's Mike, and I've been assigned your ticket, so you'll be in touch with me until your ticket is solved.
See what we did there? We are using our real name to create a friendly connection, and reassuring the customer that he'll be assisted throughout the whole process.
➡️ You can also use emoji and images to create engaging pieces of content and convey more with less (a picture is worth 100 words isn't it?).
Have a consistent tone
If you're like most businesses, you have created canned responses and snippets for every moment of interaction with your customer. You want to build a strong position for your brand, and every interaction has to serve this purpose.
That's why it's important to adopt a tone and keep it consistent. Make it perspire in every canned response and piece of content you design.
For instance, at typedesk, we have a casual, informal way to communicate with our community. It doesn't suit every business, but instead of:
➡️Here's your invitation to join our Facebook group for productivity tips
We might word it differently:
➡️Join the Productivity family! Tons of cool resources to step up your productivity: it all happens here!
(and BTW, that group is real, so join us if you haven't yet).
Your tone might be dictated by your industry (Bank or Insurance may not go for the cool-casual tone), but think about it as a way to stand out.
Right, you've got your tone. Go back over your canned responses, and try to fine-tune them so they stick to your brand voice. Another tip is to assign the responsibility to a single person. Anytime there's an update or a new Canned Response, that same person will ensure that the contents are in line with what you've done in the past 👍.
It's all about the blocks
If you want to be the cool kid on the block (pun intended), create reusable blocks. Imagine each section of your canned responses as a potential part that you will reuse somewhere else.
The most obvious blocks your can create are a nice, friendly opening line, a closing line, and your signature. Thanks to typedesk, you can create one signature template shared with everyone in your team.
In order to reuse existing blocks in typedesk, simply select Insert response, and select the block you want to insert.
How about going wild? Create a block with your latest updates and news that you update once for all your canned responses, or the top 5 questions in your FAQ. Or your next business events!
Don't be too clean
Okay, I admit this one takes time to process: I know you want to write this perfect response, but remember that you want to sound human. So don't over-optimize your response with fancy words, it may lead to the opposite. KISS (keep it stupid and simple). 😬
So let me put this down again: make it sound natural, you're talking to customers, so speak their language. It may sound raw at first, but it will stick longer and resonate with your customer.
Go Kondo on folders
Your canned responses should stay with you on the long run. You are probably (or should be) investing time and money into them. How about making them nice and organized so they spark joy for your whole team?
Answer: 🗂️
Split them out in folders where you'll easily find them. Could be by theme (orders, login, product), or/and by department (customer success, tech support SLA 2, outbound sales). You can even mix and match to make the sorting finer (orders + tech support SLA 2), so you can see in one glance which canned responses are created for each category.
Wrap up
Your canned responses are a real asset that can help you communicate with a unique brand voice. Take the time to apply those simple techniques and enjoy the time saved and the happy customers!
