Auto reply are useful in many ways. Here’s why:
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Remain responsive while you’re away on your sweet holiday
Sellers are human too, we cannot stay online 24/7 to respond on all enquiries. Lucky for us, technology can. As the name ‘auto reply’ suggested, many platforms offer sellers the option to pre-set their auto reply messages when a customer engage on your chat function.
This way, your customers will know what’s going on and you could buy yourself some time to craft a thoughtful reply when it is convenient for you.
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Keep your customer informed
In many time, we find ourselves answering the same questions over and over again. For example, in fashion industry, enquiries such as “Where can I find the size chart?”, “What is the material of the goods?”, etc.… are very common. Other frequently asked questions such, “How long is the shipping going to take?”, “Can I pay with a debit card?”, etc.… are also very common.
One thing you could do to tackle these common enquiries without having your customer to wait for too long for your reply is to include them in your auto replies, and if it’s too much, lead them to the right page where they can find the information.
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Promote special offers
Good sellers keep their customers informed, great sellers turn it into a sales opportunity. A customer engage when they are interested in buying your products, so take the opportunity to promote your store special offers and direct them to the best deal they simply cannot resist. Very often that sellers run voucher campaign while customers have no idea about it, including them in your auto reply and make sure they get as much exposure as possible.
Good sellers keep their customers informed, great sellers turn it into a sales opportunity.
Now you have good reasons to draft your auto replies, but what does a professional auto reply message look like? No matter the scenario, every auto reply should contain the below four best practices:
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Set expectations
One main point of auto replies is setting expectations. When can your customer receive an answer? In a study on the psychology of waiting lines, it’s shown that a known wait feels shorter than an unknown wait.
In many auto replies, you find many them lacking a specification about the estimated time to response. “We’ll get back to you as soon as possible” isn’t very promising. Help the customers by being honest with them. If you are on a holiday and could not reply within a time period, let them know. Do not underpromise or overdeliver.
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Set an alternative contact option
A must-have element of any auto reply is a section for alternative contact options.
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Speak like a human
Do not use overly ‘professional’ language. I imagine that’s because you don’t know who it will be sent to, but bombastic language is never a good idea. Better yet, include different languages to cater to different ethnic groups of customers.
It is important to understand that most shoppers shop after working hours, and if you do not want to be swamped by dozen of emails and enquiries the next morning you get to work, start drafting the best auto reply and get it out your online sites as soon as possible.
Good luck and happy selling!