I saw an email the other day announcing some changes at a credit card company. The bottom of the email read:
Please do not reply to this e-mail. If you have inquiries or comments, please write to us at MBNA America, 1100 North King Street, P.O. Box 15266, Wilmington, DE 19850.
Who responds to an email via the snail mail postal service? This would appear to be a clear attempt to avoid customer contact.
I’ve talked before about the fallacies of not allowing customers to respond to emails. Customer service blog Service Untitled outlines some of the benefits that allowing people to respond directly to your email provides:
- Usually easier for the customer.
- Customers appreciate it when companies are easy to contact.
- Representatives can tell what customer is talking about (customers can easily quote the part they are unsure about, preserve the subject, etc.)
- More chances to wow a customer with great customer service.
Sure, there may be some logistical challenges in handling the volume of customer feedback. But how you regard these challenges will tell you exactly what value you place on your customers. If you care about your customers, don’t distance yourself from them by hiding behind difficult communication channels.
If your customers aren’t able to reach you, their money may just end up reaching a competitor instead.
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TJ
December 1, 2006
At my company, all of the support requests either went through our 800 number or through our support e-mail address. About 6 months ago, we switched to a online contact form and the resilts have been nothing short of phenomenal.
With a web contact form, you can get definitive statistics on the types of problems people are having. By asking for basic information ahead of time, we can troubleshoot much faster and people are more likely to describe their issue. At least once a day we would receive emails saying only “it does not work help!!!1″. Since implementing the contact form, we get these sort of requests once a week at the most.
Obviously, this move by MBNA is unacceptable. While I believe that a no-reply e-mail address is perfectly acceptable, access to support still needs to be clearly labeled and easy to access.
Joe Rawlinson
December 3, 2006
TJ: I like your solution of the web form. Getting the details of the customer issue before you even see the incoming email is definitely a boost to your productivity.
I’m sure it cuts down on the back and forth that is so common with email support. Cutting down on the number of email iterations with customers helps them get their answer quicker and saves you time and money on support.