Improve Customer Support with Auto-Response Messages
by Citrix Online

According to a research study conducted by The Customer Respect Group (Bellevue, WA), one-third of the 61 top computer products and services companies don’t respond to customer inquiries. When testing these Web sites for responsiveness, the study found that almost 93% of companies had some sort of system for providing a response to customers, but 32% didn’t respond to any online inquiries. Forty-five percent responded to all inquiries, and of that group, most did so within 48 hours. Just more than half of the companies use an automatic response system, and of those, 58% followed up with a full response.

Roger Fairchild, president of The Customer Respect Group, commented on the results: “Since, on average, users abandon 20% of Web sites they visit due to an unsatisfactory experience, you have to wonder why more than half of high-tech firms aren't responding to questions directly posed to them. Clearly, being technologically savvy doesn't correlate directly to providing a high-quality Web site experience."

Since auto-response messages are remarkably easy to implement, and highly effective when it comes to managing the growing flood of email-support requests, the study’s findings are surprising. At a minimum, technical support organizations should implement an auto-response function to notify customers that their communication has been received and will be acted upon.

When you write an auto-response message, make it informative. Here are a few suggestions for when and how to use auto-response messages:

• Acknowledgement of receipt -- Auto-responses are useful for acknowledging the receipt of a support request and outlining basic service-level-agreement points such as giving an estimate as to how long it will take to respond. This approach addresses the customer's expectations and eliminates some of the typical time delay. However, make sure that you meet the promised timeframe for when to expect a personal response from a support representative. If the request is received on a Friday afternoon or holiday, you won’t be able to respond within 24 hours. Therefore, it’s better to say “we will contact you within one business day” rather than promising a 24-hour response time.

• FAQs -- Auto-response messages can be useful in answering frequently asked questions. Be aware, however, that this one-size-fits-all approach won’t always work. Handling frequently asked questions with an auto-response message won’t always provide a complete answer to the question. If the customer asks several questions in one email, it’s likely that one or more of them will go unanswered, which means that the customer will have to contact you again.

• Closed cases -- Follow-up communication after a support case is closed can greatly increase customer satisfaction. Here’s a remarkably simple yet effective tip: After a call is closed for seven days, verify that the problem is resolved by automatically sending the customer a personalized message from the support representative who handled the call. Your customers will be amazed by your thoroughness and concern, and best of all, you can completely automate this process.

Last but not least, don’t measure the success of your email support by the number of messages your automatic system has sent per hour. What matters most is the quality of your response.

About Citrix Online
Citrix Online, a division of Citrix Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: CTXS), offers the leading Web-based access, support and collaboration software and services. The division offers Citrix GoToMyPC®, the easiest-to-use solution for remote, secure and managed desktop PC access over the Web; and Citrix GoToAssist™, the most secure, reliable and powerful solution for Web-based technical support and customer collaboration. Citrix Online products are used by more than 4,000 companies worldwide, including Cisco Systems, Siemens, Intuit, Cablevision and Microsoft Business Solutions. The division is based in Santa Barbara, California, and is on the Web at www.gotomypc.com, www.gotoassist.com and www.citrix.com.