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Good customer service means replying to email immediately

If someone emails you with a problem, question, or concern and you don’t have an immediate answer, you have two choices. First, you could defer the email, and let it sit in your inbox for a couple days while you gather the information for a solid reply that answers the customer’s concerns.

Or, you could reply right away and say “Sorry, I don’t know the answer right now, but I’ll get back to you in a couple [hours,days,weeks]“. Which do you think makes the customer feel better?

Savvy companies know that the psychological need for immediate gratification is at an all time high, especially in this age of Internet-driven attention deficit. So please, don’t keep your customers in the dark, panicked, growing more disgruntled by the moment. Turn their concern with your products into their delight with your customer service by promptly answering all emails. It’s that easy to turn potential detractors into your best supporters. All it takes is a customer service culture that makes this concept a number one priority.

This is so true. As a supervisor for technical support, I can’t tell you the number of times a simple “Let me look into it and get back to you at 3pm” (or whatever time) solves any problems with the attitude of an angry customer.

Autoresponders have been around for years. Are you advocating more human sounding auto responders?

No, I think the response should be completely human and address the particular problem at hand. Autoresponders to me are as bad as not responding at all, because it means that you have no idea that your message was actually received. The response should be quick but should mention the user’s particular issue and how you’re resolving it.