By Debora Guedes
When dealing with customer enquiries, we all know that timing and responsiveness is key; regardless of whether you’re using your second language or not. However, the content of your message as well as the way you interact with your customers are equally important to ensure you have an engaged client who is more likely to close a deal. We’ve put together five tips on how to write engaging and effective emails, and ensuring you have happy, returning customers to your business.
Remember: your name is not “Wall-E” and you’re not made of iron. Why do you sound like a robot, then? Customers want to speak to real people and feel like they’re getting heard and their concerns are being paid attention to. You’ll be surprised to notice how much more responsive they can be if you go the extra mile in giving them the attention they deserve. Avoid making them waste their time by having to ask extra questions that could have easily been previously answered in your initial communication and always clearly answer every single question they ask you and avoid writing any ‘open to interpretation’ comments.
We understand it, you’re confident you’re the very best in your field and can’t wait to share all the amazing things you can offer to anyone that can hear you. Well, do go ahead and do it, but be careful to keep it concise and to the point. Customers can get easily distracted or frustrated by long and overcomplicated emails, so make sure to save them as much time as possible by keeping it short and relevant.
When writing to clients, it may be easy to fall into the trap of writing in language that is too formal, affected and that might unintentionally sound pretentious. Equally, you are writing to a customer – not a friend – therefore, some level of formality is often necessary.
The tone and formality of your emails should always be determined by the target audience. Keep the reader at the forefront of your mind, and try to reproduce the tone they use with you: if they are friendly, follow their lead a reciprocate. However, remember that the tone should remain professional at all times.
If you don’t give your customer a reason to reply, chances are they won’t. Whether you ask them to send you their availability for a phone call to discuss the points you’ve made, invite them for a trial session, or at least ask their thoughts on your proposal, ensure to keep the dialogue moving forward until you have closed a good deal.
“Dear John,
Im writing, regading your previos enquiry,”
… Have I lost you yet? We appreciate this is a very basic point, but nevertheless important to always keep in mind. Read and proofread your text as many times as needed to ensure that you’re conveying a clear message with no mistakes. Equally paramount is to ensure not to misspell your customer’s name, and not to fumble dates and meeting times: I’m sure you’ll agree that there’s nothing worse than scheduling a call on Tuesday 23rd March, when the 23rd is actually a Wednesday…
Here at Language Services Direct, we can help with all aspects of your language training needs; no matter the industry, we can design bespoke courses for all world languages. Get in touch today to see what we can do for you.
As a Senior Account Manager in our corporate team, Debora manages the language training programmes of a portfolio of key clients in the banking and legal sectors predominantly.
Whilst studying Journalism at university, Debora spent three years teaching English in Brazil, her home country, and discovered a great passion for languages. Her mother tongue is Brazilian Portuguese and she also speaks fluent Spanish. Recently she has been investing time in becoming an Italian speaker too.
After graduating, Debora built her career at language schools and organisations, where she managed language training programmes and was responsible for student welfare. She also worked in business development as a sales executive.
Debora started working at Language Services Direct in April 2014. As one of the Senior Account Managers at the company, she oversees large language programmes for key corporate clients, acting as a central point of content for learners, line managers and L&D professionals.
Other aspects of her role include systems development and improvement; trainer recruitment and induction; business development; and coordination of the corporate account management team.
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