General E-mail Guidelines

  1. Our job is to make the work easy for them. If there are technical concepts they cannot comprehend, we HAVE to be sensitive and spot this in their first email response and explain the best way possible. If you feel it’s too technical, we need to break it down in verbage they can relate to.
  2. We need to be able to break down concepts to them with the current situation, what isn’t working, and OPTIONS on how we can help them. Bullet points are very effective in breaking down concepts and ideas. 
  3. We need to show we are the experts but collaborative to provide them a solution that will benefit them best instead of underestimating their ability to understand technical concepts.
  4. They need to feel taken care of instead of talking to people who just want to get the work over with.
  5. Respond with enthusiasm.
  6. Address ALL questions.
  7. Show, don’t tell. Pull out screencaps at the first sign of confusion to demonstrate and provide a clearer picture of what’s happening.

 

Questions to ask yourself before sending emails:

Assessment Emails

  • Did I address ALL their obvious/written questions?
  • Did I explain thoroughly what is currently happening and how it’s affecting the performance of the website?
  • Is my explanation plain and understandable in a regular conversation?
  • Did I recommend several options AND repercussions of each so they can choose?
  • Did I reassure them that we will try and provide them the best solution to progress thier operations?

 

Sample email layout:

Dear client,

Thank you for your patience! Our team is done assessing your website and here are our findings: 

  • Finding 1
  • Finding 2

There are a few options to approach fix these issues:

  • Solution – Repercussion (if any- could be is takes longer but more stable)
  • Solution – Repercussion (if any- could be is takes longer but more stable)

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

 

Implementation Emails

  • Did I answer ALL their obvious questions?
  • Did I break down the necessary steps we will take to implement?
  •  Did I request for a final approval so we can trigger the start of the project?
  • Did I make the client feel secure with the implementation plan by making sure that her current process will be affected as minimally as possible?
  • Did I provide a timeline and expected time of finish?
  • Did I brief the client on what to anticipate and potential issues that may arise during and after the implementation?

 

Sample 1:

 

Sample2