Customer feedback is a powerful tool for companies who want to constantly improve their products and services, and ultimately grow customer loyalty and satisfaction. The most convenient and affordable way to gather this feedback is through email. This article explains the best practices in drafting an email solicitation to collect customer feedback and gives examples.
Part 1: Customer Feedback Email Request-Best Practices
1.1 Define a Purpose
Above all, know the goal of your email before you send it to your customers. Make sure you are upfront with regard to your goal and the necessity of leveraging customer input to optimize the experience. Also, talk about how customer feedback will come in handy to make actual improvements to products or services. Second, you need to make customers know that they are important, and this will go a long way to encourage them to participate and provide feedback. It should have a clear purpose in order to make their thoughts visible and establish ownership and commitment.
1.2 Personalize the Message
Personalization is how you will differentiate your e-mails to the person being received. If possible, start the request with a personal first-name greeting and mention their past experiences with your business. This will personalize the request in such a way that it will not only apply but will communicate that they are valued as people, not as consumers. It does, in turn, make sure your respondents are willing to take the time to leave their thoughts and experiences, which increases your chances of acquiring useful feedback.
1.3 Make Your Email Clear, Simple, and To The Point.
In the modern era where attention spans are shrinking, length is your friend. You will need to structure your email so that you can get your main ideas across quickly. Exhaustive messages risk being spammed or never opened. Remove everything but the necessity to convey your message, and nothing that involves blatantly selling or marketing your brand or products. The more targeted the email is, the more likely it is to be read or even respond. Remember, clarity is king. It’s very easy to write something that isn’t intuitive for a reader and in some cases, degrading.
1.4 Make Giving Feedback Easy
Easy feedback is a vital aspect of response rate. Make sure you put a direct link to your survey/feedback form in the body of the email. That means less work for the customer and that can mean more engagement. The convenience of the customers simply having to click and leave feedback. Additionally, make your surveys mobile-friendly. Because people living their lives are increasingly using their phones, it is even more critical to ensure that customer reviews are accessible to you as easily from a computer and a laptop as they are from their phones.
1.5 Provide Incentives:
You can ask the customers to share their good comments with you by giving them discounts, offers, or any other rewards for their efforts. That way, you will get feedback from the customers who wouldn’t normally give it and build up a positive sentiment towards the feedback-giving process. It’s not necessary that the incentive should be too attractive, but it needs to be substantial enough to induce action.
1.6 Search for a Perfect Time:
And at exactly the right moment, like when they have made a purchase or recently chatting with your support team. This will keep their experience fresh in the customer’s mind and make them have a better chance of getting a thoughtful response. Not all that often, not at the worst times, that is, on big holidays and when the customer’s busy.
1.7: Segment your audience:
Identify your prospective customers, and based on their purchases, demographic information, and interest, craft your request for feedback that addresses them. That way you can sometimes receive very thoughtful responses. Recommendations can be tailored as well, paying attention to the fact that you care about your customers as individuals and cultivates relationships and gives greater chances of a rise in customer satisfaction.
Part 2: Sample Email Templates
Example 1: A Simple and Clear Request For Feedback.
Sub-Context: We want your feedback so that we can improve our service.
Dear [First Name],
We are trying to continuously optimize our services and make the most out of our customers like you. To that end, we welcome your feedback.
Can you spare a few minutes to fill out this simple and anonymous questionnaire? We will build on your feedback to inform our future programs and services.
[ Surveymonkey Link ]
Thanks for taking the time and sharing your feedback!
Thanks, [ Your Name ] Goodbye…
Sample 2: Post-Purchase Feedback
Subject: Share your feedback with us and get access to the promotions coming your way.
Dear [First Name],
Thank you for making the right decision with your latest purchase. Thanks for your new [product].
We value your opinion, so we’re constantly aiming for quality beyond expectations. To show our appreciation, we’d like to give you early access to some of our upcoming promotions after completing a short survey.
[Survey link]
We value your feedback, and appreciate your time. Thank you!
Best regards, [Your Name]
Sample 3: Targeted Segmentation Request
Subject: Let us know how you can improve [your experience/service] for all of our customers.
Dear [First Name],
We are delighted that you recently used our [service or feature]. Your opinions are important to us as we strive to make things better for our cherished customers such as you.
Taking just a few minutes to fill out this simple, private survey will allow us to customize and improve [one experience or service] and make the experience more seamless for all of us.
[Survey link]
Thanks for supporting us and helping to make [Company Name] a better place for our customers!
Warm regards, [Your Name]
Conclusion:
A good customer feedback email ask requires putting a lot of effort into composing a focused and enticing message, personalizing the email request, using incentives and timing. Use the process outlined in this paper and the example email templates below to facilitate the collection of useful and valuable customer data.
