Why you should read all Customer Support E-mail.
It is a common practice of businesses to ignore generic e-mail. Either it is from clients/customers or from other businesses. From the subject of the email to the sender, the content of the e-mail usually is guessed and discarded.
E-mail from customers are archives of important first-hand feedback from the consumers of your service or product. This is why everyone on your team needs to take out time to read the contents of e-mail sent in by consumers.
Various metrics such as the KPI’s, A/B testing, etc. are often used to bury the feelings of the customers. Numbers are great, easy to read and understand, it doesn’t lie as far as it adds up. However, extremely important insights and data are lost or suppressed.
Support e-mail provides a vast network of possibilities as well as key insights to the hearts of the consumers. Why do you need to read these emails?
Numbers are just numbers
Yes, that’s all they are. They do not convey the feelings of the customers. Yes I know, feelings, feelings, feelings, enough already. But, the metrics no matter how detailed they are, do not comprises of the customer’s background (story), it does not state his/her grievances or compliments, neither does it make up for the in-between lines meanings you can pick-up from an e-mail.
Motivation
Coupled with getting more insights to the client/customer base of your business. Reading support e-mail with your team, or encouraging them to read it motivates them to do more. Sure there will be sly comments, that will push them to do better and drive productivity. There will also be compliments that will show gratitude to the team for a job well done. An e-mail like :
“After all the clamoring about XYZ product/service, I still could not easily navigate through my PC after installation” would of course gear the team towards making the product/service better for use.
While an e-mail like: “Thank you so much for XYZ service, ABC had always been a problem for me until XYZ company solved it”. This is sure to put a smile on the team members face and motivate them to push for more of such emails.
Status Quo of the company
Spreadsheets, presentations, dashboards, etc. cannot come close to giving insights to the feelings of customers, how happy your product or service, or their personality. Reading support e-mail will help to gather these priceless data as invaluable as they are to your business.
Real-Time Info
Support e-mails are not aggregates collated at the end of the month to give you insight into what to expect the following month. Rather, they are at the moment/real-time reports of how your product is currently being perceived in the “Market”. This information helps you react better and in time to crisis situations
Engagements
Support emails provide an avenue for engagements with consumers like no other means. Here’s how; aggrieved customers sending emails requesting for one thing or the other, are very willing to engage in a chat with you or your team. This development helps to gain further insight into customers behavior and how your products/services are perceived in reality