Read time: 12 minutes.
A sure-fire way to frustrate today’s consumers is to make them wait. Speed is more important than ever. According to research by Hubspot, over 80% of customers consider an “immediate response” to be essential across all touchpoints of the customer journey, from marketing and sales enquiries to customer support. Another study, from McKinsey, has found that 75% of customers expect service within five minutes of making contact online. The bottom line is that when support and engagement are slow to arrive, CSAT plummets and customers start to look elsewhere.
One of the simplest ways to speed things up, and keep customers satisfied is through the use of prewritten “canned responses” to frequently asked questions. When a customer asks a routine question, a member of the support team can quickly choose the right saved response and send it out without having to type anything. Not only do canned responses improve speed of service, they ensure consistency of service, too.
In this article, we’ll touch on why canned responses are so useful for support teams, and go over some of the best practices for writing them. Finally, we’ll look at the most common types of canned responses, and provide a cheat sheet with some handy templates for each of them.
Why use canned responses?
A library of good canned responses is one of the most useful tools in a support team’s armoury. Depending on the software being used, canned responses can be read out by a customer support agent, copied and pasted to a live chat or email, or, as is increasingly the case, added to the conversation with the touch of a button. Canned responses can also be delivered by chatbots as part of an automated reply service.
The benefits of canned responses include:
- Faster service, faster resolutions and better customer engagement. All of this contributes to a better overall customer experience. For lower-level and frequently asked questions, a quick and simple response is often all that customers need. Canned responses are perfect for recurring questions about shipping prices, payment methods, or refunds, for instance. Their use isn’t restricted just to support issues, either; canned responses can be equally useful for replying to sales and marketing related enquiries.
- More accurate and consistent answers to customer queries. With canned responses, a business has the time to fashion optimised, perfectly-worded answers to common queries, and ensure they reach every customer. The chances of miscommunication are significantly reduced.
- Happier and more productive support agents. Support agents don’t lose time and energy rewriting the same responses every day. They have more time to focus on the challenging and engaging support issues.
- From engagement to support, brand voice is reinforced across the customer journey.
In spite of all these benefits, it’s important to remember that some conversations require a more personalised response. When that’s the case, your staff need to be comfortable going “off-script” – a canned response that feels wrenched in and irrelevant is sure to annoy your customers.
What are the best practices for writing canned responses?
The best canned responses are simple and conversational. On top of that, and this is the difficult part, they shouldn’t sound like they’ve been “canned” or prewritten at all. When they sound robotic, customers no longer have the impression that their issue is being addressed by someone who genuinely cares about it.
“I believe I can provide the assistance you require. We will examine the matter now.”
This sounds awful, and completely robotic. Most customers would prefer a simpler and more personable:
“I can help with that. Let’s look into it now.”
A good guiding principle here is to write like you speak. When you’re composing your canned response, imagine you’re explaining something to a colleague.
It’s worth taking the time to really craft your canned responses. Write them well once, and you won’t have to write them again. Above all, ensure that what you write is absolutely accurate. Be courteous, but get straight to the point, and don’t waste your customers’ time.
So where should you start?
The basis of your canned response library should be the questions your customers ask most often. If you’ve already put together an FAQ section on your site, elements of this could almost certainly be repurposed. In addition, it’s a good idea to speak to your sales, marketing and front-line support teams. What questions are they asked most often? And which of those can be answered simply and accurately in a sentence or two?
A third possibility is to reach out to your customers directly with surveys to see where they need support, and what questions they would most like answers to. For something very objective, you could also check which pages of your support documentation are viewed most often.
Finally, you might get some inspiration from your competitors. If possible, engage with them through the webchat on their sites, and see what kinds of responses you receive. Is there anything you could adapt?
Template canned responses
What follows is a list of some of the most useful canned responses for 15 different situations. They are all suitable for live chat through a website, and some could also be easily adapted for email.
1. Greeting customers
A friendly greeting helps you make a good first impression with customers, and get the ball rolling. And to save you from typing out greetings over and over again, you can set up different canned responses for different visitor profiles (first-time visitor, returning customer, foreign visitor etc.). Personalisation matters at this point. Include the customer’s name, and for foreign customers, consider even using a greeting in their native languages.
Examples:
- Hello [customer name]. I’m [your name]. How can I help you today?
- Hi [customer name]. My name’s [your name]. What can I help you with today?
- Hi [customer name]. Thanks for your interest in [company name]! My name’s [your name]. What can I help you with today?
- Hello [returning customer name]. Good to see you again! My name’s [your name]. How can I help you today?
2. Asking customers to wait/ apologising for a delay
Examples:
- Thanks for your patience. Our support team is very busy right now, but someone will be with you shortly.
- All our experts are busy right now, but someone will be with you as soon as possible.
- We’re sorry to keep you waiting. Your call is important to us, and someone will be with you within [number] minutes.
- Thank you for waiting. Someone will be with you shortly.
- I’m sorry for the delay in getting back to you. We’re very busy right now. How can I help?
- Hi, I’m [name]. I’m very sorry you had to wait so long. How can I help you today?
- Would you mind waiting for a moment while I speak with one of our experts?
- I’m afraid this is taking longer than we expected. We’re working to find a solution for you, and will keep you informed of our progress.
3. Outside business hours
Examples:
- I’m sorry, but our support team isn’t available at this time. Please try again during our regular business hours: [hours].
- Unfortunately, our team isn’t available right now, as it’s outside of our regular business hours ([hours]). We’re sorry for any inconvenience.
- Thanks for your message. Our business hours are [hours], so our support agents are all offline right now. Our apologies! Someone will get back to you during the next business day.
4. Information requests
Examples:
- Thanks for getting in touch. Please can you provide some more detail, so I can connect you with the right member of our support team.
- Sure, I can help you with that. But first I need to ask you a few questions to authenticate your account.
- You can find more information on [topic] in our help centre and community forum.
- I’d be happy to help with your inquiry. Please can you let me know what specific information you’re looking for.
5. Verifying understanding
Examples:
- Please let me know if I’ve got this right; you would like to [action]?
- So you would like me to [action]. Is that correct?
- Thanks. Just to clarify, you would like to [action]. Is that right?
6. Transferring to a colleague
Examples:
- I understand. I’m going to transfer you to a colleague who’ll be able to help. They will be able to see our conversation, so you won’t have to explain everything all over again.
- I see. To get things resolved as quickly as possible, I’d like to transfer you to a colleague who’s very familiar with this issue.
- I’ll connect you with our [issue] expert now. [He/she]’s the best person to find a solution. Thanks for your patience.
7. Complaints and problem resolution
Examples:
- Thanks for bringing this to our attention. We appreciate your patience as we work to resolve the issue.
- We’re sorry for any inconvenience caused. We’ll find a solution as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience and understanding.
- We’ll look into this right away, and keep you updated on our progress. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.
- We’ll do our best to resolve this as quickly as we can. Sorry for any inconvenience it’s caused.
- I know how we can fix this. Please stay connected, and I’ll add one of my colleagues to our conversation. [He/she] should be able resolve the issue very quickly.
8. We’re working on it
Examples:
- Our team is actively working on your case. We understand how important it is to you, and will keep you updated on our progress.
- Thanks for your patience while we work to resolve your issue. We’re doing everything we can to find a solution as soon as possible.
- Hi [customer name], I just wanted to update you on the status of your support request. It’s been prioritised, and one of our experts is working on it now. I’ll keep you updated on any developments. Thanks for your patience.
- Thanks for your message. I just checked the status of your [order/support request], and can see that our team is working on it. We’ll send you an update by [day] at the very latest.
9. Closing a ticket
Examples:
- I’m pleased to say that the issue has now been resolved. I appreciate your patience, and am sorry for any inconvenience you experienced.
- We’re happy to report that we’ve now resolved the issue. We’re sorry for any frustration it may have caused.
- We’re glad to hear that the issue has been resolved. Thanks for bringing it to our attention. If you have any other questions or concerns, please let us know.
- Hi [customer name], I’m reaching out to you because we haven’t heard from you for [number] days. I’m going to mark your case as resolved, but feel free to reopen it or start a new one if you need more help.
10. Apologising and dealing with frustrated customers
Examples:
- Thanks for letting me know about the issue. I know this can be frustrating. We’ll do everything we can to resolve everything for you.
- I’m very sorry about the situation. I can see that it’s caused a lot of trouble for you. Let me try to find a solution.
- I understand your concerns. We’re taking this seriously, and will work hard to put things right.
- I’m sorry to hear that. I’ll help you find a solution now.
- I’m sorry you’ve had a negative experience with us. We’re committed to making things better, though. Please let me know how we can help.
- I’m sad to hear that you’re not happy with your purchase. Would you mind telling me a bit more about the issue you’re having?
- Hi [customer name]. I’ve reviewed your request. It looks like we made an oversight this time, and for that I’d like to apologise. One of our experts is handling the issue now, so we’ll have a resolution for you very soon. Thanks for your patience.
11. Saying No
Examples:
- I’m sorry, but unfortunately, we can’t do that. Is there anything else I can help you with?
- I’m sorry, but we’re unable to offer that at this time. However, we do have some great alternatives you might be interested in.
- I’m sorry, but our company policy doesn’t allow us to [request].
- I wish we could help, but unfortunately, we’re not able to [request] due to [reason].
- I understand that this is important for you, but I’m sorry to say that on this occasion we’re unable to help.
- I’m sorry, but we’re not able to offer a refund for this item. However, I’d be happy to help you find a solution to the issue you’re having.
12. Engaging proactively with customers
Examples:
- We have a special promotion going on right now for [new/long-standing] customers. Would you like to hear more about it?
- [Customer name], it’s great to see you again. We’ve just released a new product which we think you might like. Would you like more information about it?
- I see you just bought a product from us. That’s great! Is there anything else I can help you with?
- We have some great deals going on right now that you might be interested in.
- Hi, I just wanted to reach out and see if you had any questions about any of our products or services?
- Did you notice that we offer a range of financing options for our products? Let me know if you’re interested in learning more.
- How would you feel about getting a special discount code for the items in your cart?
13. Cancelling subscriptions
Examples:
- I’m sorry to hear that you’d like to cancel your subscription. To do so, please follow the instructions in the confirmation email you received when you first subscribed.
- I understand that you’d like to cancel your subscription. We’re sad to see you go! If there’s anything I can do to help keep you with us, please let me know. To cancel your subscription, please follow the instructions in your account settings.
- I’m sorry to hear that you’re no longer interested in our service. You can cancel your subscription from the account settings menu.
- We’re sorry to see you go. If there’s anything we can do to improve our service and keep you with us, please let me know. If you’d like to go ahead with cancelling your subscription, please provide me with your account information, and I’ll process the cancellation for you.
14. Requesting feedback
Examples:
- Thank you for choosing [company name]. We value your opinion, and would love to hear your feedback. Would you mind taking a few minutes to complete a short survey?
- Your opinion matters to us. Would you be willing to take a quick survey to let us know how we did?
- We hope you had a positive experience with us. To help us maintain our level of service, would you be willing to provide us with some feedback?
- We’re always looking for ways to improve our service, and learn from customer feedback. We’d be very grateful if you could take a moment to share your thoughts about your experience with us.
- We’d like to know what you thought about the customer service you received today. Please take a moment to rate it from 1-5 on the scale below.
15. Thanking customers for a purchase
Examples:
- Thanks for choosing [company name] for your recent purchase. We hope you enjoy your new [product/service]. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.
- Thank you for your recent purchase. We hope you had a positive shopping experience, and look forward to seeing you again soon.
- Thank you. We’re grateful for your business, and hope you enjoy your new [product/service].
- We’re delighted you chose our [product/service]. Thank you for supporting our business.
Key takeaways
Canned responses are an excellent way to speed up your service and engagement. In an age where speed is everything, canned responses can help you improve CX, which in turn drives CSAT, and ultimately boosts retention and revenue.
Write canned responses that are simple and conversational. If you can, write them so they appear not to have been prewritten at all! Use your site FAQs as the basis for your canned response library. Find out what questions your support and sales teams are asked most often, and check which pages of your support documentation get the most views.
Take your customer support to the next level
If you’re looking for a way to implement canned responses, and at the same time improve your overall customer support and engagement, make Floji your first port of call. With Floji, you get an easy-to-use yet powerful all-in-one help desk and collaboration platform. Best of all, you can stay on the free plan for as long as you like, with all core features included.
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