Minimize Interactions

With each email response, you should be thinking about how to make the customer happy with the bare minimum of back-and-forth emails. 

 

How we do this:

  • We don't just answer the question they asked (unlike Q&As), we think about what their next question might be after they read our response. Do you think they might ask about a warranty? Share that information in the first response so they don't have to send you another email. 
  • If they don't give enough information to identify the exact answer, we try to answer any possible scenarios and ask them to reply if they're still having issues. For example, if someone is having issues getting their smart feeder set up but doesn't specify exactly what the problem is, you could recommend:
    • Making sure the camera fully charged
    • Bringing the camera closer to the router
    • Ensuring the router has a 2.4 GHz option
    • Ensuring that their device's operating system is on the latest version
    • Recommending they delete and reinstall the app
    • Suggest doing a restart on the camera (with a paperclip or a SIM card key)
    • Sending the FAQs or quick start guide as a link
  • If we need to ask for more information, we ask for ANYTHING we might possibly need in one email. It's better to ask for information you might not need than to have to back and forth 20 times. For example, if there's a problem with a smart feeder, you would ask for:
    • Make and model of phone
    • What operating system they are on
    • Is the camera fully charged
    • How are they away from the router
    • Is the router 2.4?
    • What was the last step they were on before things went wrong?
  • Unless we have to ask a critical question, we don't ask for any information that's not critical to our response, even if there is a Freshdesk field for it.
    • For example, if they don't mention when the product was purchased, we don't ask them. Just mark that field Unknown.
  • We give them the benefit of the doubt. If we tell them there's a one-year warranty and they reply saying they did purchase it within the last year, take their word for it. Yes, we know they might be lying, but don't bother asking for a receipt. Just send them the thing they're asking for (and then update the Date of Purchase field to correspond with their claim).

 

Remember: We aren't trying to be gate-keepers. We just want to do whatever it takes to make them happy so they don't have to keep contacting us. 

The Problem Was Already Resolved

Sometimes the customer's issue gets resolved before you get a chance to respond to the email. Sometimes it's because they called in, or they may send a second email saying they figured it out so ignore their previous email. In both of these cases, there is no need to respond. Add a note saying "NRP" (which stands for no response needed), update the ticket fields appropriately, and close the ticket.

 

In other situations, we should respond just to make sure they don't have any other questions. For example, if an email is asking about the status of an order and you see it was delivered the previous day, you should respond with this information and ask them to let you know if they have any other questions. Another example would be a smart feeder customer who is unable to pair her camera. If you see that it has been paired, you should reach out and make sure they do need any other assistance.

Multiple Emails From Same Customer

If the customer sends multiple emails about the same thing, only the first one should get a response. The agent with that ticket should add the NRP note to each of the other tickets, update the agent to themselves, and close them.

Caution: Forwarded Emails

It's not unusual to have emails forwarded to Freshdesk from someone other than the consumer. In these cases, be sure to read the entire thread carefully to understand what might have already been communicated to the consumer. In the case of forwarded emails, Freshdesk will assume that the actual consumer is not the person who sent the Freshdesk ticket, but the person right before that who sent an email. This can be handy at times. For example, if a consumer John Doe emails Customer Care instead of us, Customer Care will forward the email to Freshdesk. When you hit reply, it will automatically select John Doe's email address.

 

However, sometimes there are multiple forwards. For example, a consumer might email TSC, who could forward it to their rep at Woodstream, who forwards it to someone else, and eventually it becomes a Freshdesk ticket. In those cases, you will have to create a new ticket to email the original consumer. Be sure to cross-reference the tickets by adding a note to each one with the other ticket number.

Snail Mail Tickets

Customers will occasionally send us letters rather than email or call us. Letters are scanned and turned into Freshdesk tickets, which are then assigned to the email team. How you respond depends on how much information was included in the letter:

  • If there is an email address, email the customer with the answer to their issue
  • If there is no email address but there is a phone number, call the customer with the answer to their issue
  • If there is not an email address or a phone number, type up your response in the ticket, update all ticket fields, and change the status to Admin Follow-up
    • Someone else will print a letter and physically mail it to the customer

Undeliverable Responses

If you send a response and get a message that it was undeliverable, it is most likely due to the customer doing a typo in their email address when they submitted their question on our website. Do your best to try to determine what the correct email address may be, for example:

  • The email address provided ends with @gnail.com or @yajoo.com, you can probably determine what the correct ending should actually be
  • The email address seems to be the customer's name, but it is spelled differently than the first name provided in the ticket, such as carrolhodges@yahoo.com but in the name field she spelled it Carol Hodges

If you can't figure it out, there's nothing that can be done. Add a comment to the ticket and close it.

Spam

While we do have a spam filter in Freshdesk, sometimes spam gets through. Often it's our own brand newsletters. Other examples include shipping quotes, marketing collaboration requests offers for industry reports or email lists, etc. If you have an email assigned to you that isn't from a consumer and appears to be spam, you can mark it as spam and save yourself from having to fill out all the ticket fields. If you're not sure if it's spam, mark it as Admin Follow up and add a note, "Is this spam?" and I'll get back to you. Note: People who are trying to buy our products at wholesale/be a distributor and keep contacting us after they have been referred to "Ways to Partner With Us" and/or BE Atlas can be considered Spam. Tickets asking about if we accept guest posts or partnerships are generally spam as well. 

 

To mark a ticket as spam, hover over the three vertical dots by the Delete button and choose the Spam option. You'll then get a prompt to ask if you should mark the contact as spam. Do not click Yes. That prompt will eventually go away.

 

You do not need to add any notes to the ticket before you mark it as spam.

 

Donation Requests & Influencer Proposals

You do not have to respond to donation requests or influencers who want to team up with us. Just mark it as admin follow-up and the customer's contact info will be forwarded to the correct person at Woodstream, who will reach out to the customer directly.

Emails in Languages Other than English

Occasionally we will receive an email that is in French or another language. You may use Google Translate to read what the customer has written. All responses to the customer should be in English (when they email us, they are told that responses will be in English).

Delete Option

Don't use this. Ever.

Personal Information (PI) & Credit Cards

Personal information is defined as any information that can be used to identify, locate, or contact an individual. While it's OK to include PI in ticket fields, you should not include it ithe other parts of the ticket.

 

Credit card information can NEVER be requested by email. Anything requiring a credit card must be done over the phone.