Post summary:
- Whether you meet with sales reps or speak with customer support, you’ll find out very quickly that very few companies send follow up emails.
- Our unique research, which is based on 1,000 companies, found that less than 3% of all companies send a follow up email to their prospects or customers. But, why?
- We share 5 “copy and paste” email templates that you can use to follow up with customers immediately – including a real-life example of how Apple follows up with their customers.
Good customer service creates happy and loyal customers.
The more customers you can keep happy (and retain), the faster your business will grow.
Yet, for many companies, customer service stops once an issue has been solved.
After that, you move onto the next customer.
And then the next (and so on…).
What many companies forget to do is follow up.
Even though they’re simple, follow-ups are often neglected.
And this causes a much bigger problem than you think.
According to our own research, only 24 companies (out of 1,000) attempted to follow up with their customers.
That’s less than 3%.
Let’s take a closer look at this problem and see why following up with your customers is important.
In fact, it’s become so important that poor follow-up is now cited as the biggest customer complaint.
A study by Harvard Business Review found that 56% of customers complain about poor follow-up. While 48% of customers that experience a poor follow-up go on to tell at least 10 people or more about their bad experience.
That’s right.
Something as simple as a follow-up ruins the entire customer experience, which, according to research by Walker2020, is one of top factors for doing business with a company.
To avoid customers turning their backs on you, you need to follow up.
But, how?
How to follow up with customers
There’s are a wide range of ways you can follow up with your customers.
You can do it by phone, a letter, or even in person, but the most effective way is to follow up through email.
Email is quick to send, you can easily track comments and feedback, and best of all, it’s scalable. Whether you follow up with a select handful of clients, or have thousands of customers to contact, you can do it all by simply using good old fashioned email.
But, what kind of follow-up emails should you send?
5 follow up email templates
To help you send a follow up email to a prospective client or customer, we’ve prepared 5 business follow up email samples that you can copy and start using in your business today, including a follow up template used by Apple.
Each template covers a specific part of the customer follow-up process, so you can choose the templates that best fit the needs of your business.
1. The ‘How Did We Do?’ follow-up email
Each time a customer contacts your support team, they expect a response.
So, it’s important that you solve their issue quickly and efficiently.
Once their issue is solved, you can send the following email. This template is designed to be sent to follow up with someone after they’ve contacted the customer service and to make sure that they’re entirely satisfied.
If you don’t have the option to include a ratings scale, then encourage your customers to respond by hitting ‘reply’.
Depending on your company’s style and tone of voice, you may wish to customize the signature to fit with your brand. For example, you can personalize the email and send it from the CEO, Head of Customer Service, or even the customer service agent that they originally dealt with. Alternatively, you can use your company name.
2. The ‘Survey’ follow-up email
A ratings scale is a great way to get high volume responses, but if you’re looking for more detailed feedback, you can include a link to a survey within the follow up email.
Depending on the type of questions you ask, this template gives you the opportunity to collect voice of customer feedback, and get real insight into what your customers thinks of your company, your products, and your customer service team.
If you are unsure what to ask your customers in the survey, here are five example questions:
- Are you happy with the service that we have provided?
- Was the service knowledgeable and helpful?
- Were you served quickly?
- Did we meet your expectations?
- What is the one thing we can do better?
While it’s possible to encourage your customers to reply directly to the email, you should use a survey tool to collect all the answers your customers give you. Google, Typeform and Survey Monkey all offer free tools, so creating a survey for your customers doesn’t need to be expensive.
3. The ‘Just Checking In’ follow-up email
This purpose of this email is to delight and surprise your customers.
Far too often, businesses sell a product and then leave their customers to it.
Have you ever thought that your customers might need help or support? Maybe they are unsure quite how a product works or need some more information. This template is a great way to build a longer-term relationship. Best of all, it shows them that you care.
Unlike the first two templates, this email should be sent from a customer service agent, not a company name or from the dreaded “Do Not Reply” email address. Sending this email from a person will help the customer feel appreciated and listened to, which in turn is more likely to lead to a response.
Rather than asking your customers to complete a web form or send an email to a separate email address (feedback@company.com is not a solution), encourage them to reply directly to your team.
To create an even greater customer experience, include context by adding the product or service they’ve purchased within the email. which you can import directly from your CRM software.
4. The ‘Anything else?’ follow-up email
It’s common to solve an issue, but not hear back from the customer.
What usually happens here is that your customer support team will mark the issue as solved and close the ticket. But, what happens if the customer hasn’t had a chance to read the email, or is just busy?
The “anything else” template is a great way to close off a conversation with a customer. By sending this email, you’re giving the customer a chance to ask anything else and feel entirely satisfied with the interaction, rather than being cut off short, or feeling abandoned.
For customer service software users, this email can be sent out automatically and from a company name. However, try to provide context to the original conversation, such as using the original subject line or unique case ID/ number, so there is no confusion or miscommunication.
This email should also state what will happen to their issue if the email is not responded to within a specific period.
5. The “Thank you” follow-up email (from Apple)
Apple is renowned for being a customer service leader (scoring 93 out 100).
So, when I reached out to their customer service team recently I had high expectations.
Of course, Apple being Apple, not only did they meet my expectations, but they far exceeded them!
Do you know what made their service so great?
The follow up email(s).
Within two days, Apple had replied to my support request, followed up with my email as I hadn’t had time to respond (yes, they followed up with me!) and then, once I had responded and thanked them for their service, they followed up again with the email below.
The content of this follow up was simple. To thank me for being nice.
It’s hard to top this kind of service!
Conclusion
If you want to transform your customer service follow-up procedures and impress your customers, then start sending a follow up email to them.
We’ve outlined 4 different types of emails for you to send and follow up with customers at specific points in the customer service lifecycle, from the “how did we do?” template to the “anything else?” email.
This simple, yet effective approach is only used by 3% of all companies. This represents a huge opportunity to gain a competitive advantage – one that should not be missed!
By using these follow up templates, you’ll not only keep your existing customers happy, but it’s a great way to stand out against the competition and generate business from potential customers.
For more customer service templates, download our free guide – 7 email templates for better customer service.