There’s a simple rule of thumb for email: The more people involved, the more likely it is to go awry. If you don’t believe me, think about the last time someone tried to set up a big group dinner through your inbox. It just doesn’t work.
In customer support, team members manage meaningful conversations at scale. To do their jobs well, they need a clear path to help people every day — not a tangle of email chains that can hinder (rather than help) their progress.
The best email management software gives customers the personal touch that they’ve come to appreciate without requiring that internal support personnel manage the perpetual chaos of an inbox. The right tool magnifies the benefits for everyone while offsetting the frustrating aspects of a shared email support strategy.
8 must-have email management software features
The best enterprise email software can make everyone’s lives easier. Ideally, the internal and customer-facing experience is greater than the sum of each individual feature. Here are the key components that enable a dynamite workflow and a caring, consistent customer experience:
1. Saved replies
When people write in with queries or questions, they’re often dealing with parallel issues to those faced by other customers. There’s no reason for support professionals to type out the same reply 10 times a day. A saved replies capability creates a shared reservoir of templates that support pros can personalize in under a minute.
Well-organized, pre-written templates save time for team members and yield faster results for customers. They also create continuity with easy-to-apply language that keeps a team on the same page, especially if there’s a significant issue like an outage or a new product release.
There are endless possibilities for saved reply topics. OnePageCRM uses these templates:
- Greeting
- Thank customer
- Brief explanation
- Link to help article for more information
- Let me know how it goes?
- Sign off
Start with the basic information you share every day and build out more complicated responses as the need arises.
2. Real-time collision detection
One of the key failings of a distribution list or shared inbox is how easy it is to send multiple messages to the same customer. There are few customer experiences more frustrating than receiving three emails — all saying different things — from the same company.
Look for a help desk with real-time collision detection that is too clear to miss. Help Scout, for example, uses Traffic Cop to stop outgoing messages. The email management software includes clear indicators that another team member is viewing or replying to a conversation. You’ll see yellow (if a teammate is viewing the conversation) or red (if a teammate is replying to the conversation). Plus, you can hover to detect which team member is on it.
