Support email templates

The five you actually need

• Acknowledgement. We have it, here is the reference, here is when to expect a reply.
• Asking for information. Specific questions, numbered, with why you need each.
• Interim update. Still working on it, here is what has happened, here is when you will hear next.
• Resolution. What was wrong, what was done, what to do if it recurs.
• Bad news. The one everyone avoids writing and everyone needs.

Leave gaps on purpose

The template that gets sent unedited is the one that reads like a template. Build them with a deliberate blank near the top – one sentence about this specific case – so sending it without thinking is impossible.

Phrases to remove

• "Unfortunately we are unable to..." – say what you can do instead.
• "As per our policy" – nobody has ever been comforted by a policy.
• "We apologise for any inconvenience caused" – apologise for the actual thing, or not at all.
• "Your ticket has been assigned to the relevant department" – say who, and when they will write.

Delivering bad news

Structure that works: the answer first, the reason second, the alternative third. Burying "no" in paragraph four does not soften it; it makes the customer read four paragraphs to be disappointed.

Keeping them current

Templates rot. Review them when the product changes and delete the ones nobody uses – an unused template is a decision somebody has to skip past every time they look for the right one.

Templates and AI

An AI draft and a template solve the same problem differently: the template is the same every time, the draft is shaped by the ticket. Use templates for the mechanical five above and drafting for everything else – see AI in customer service.