By: Jeff Toister (submitted by Carmen Gass)

Email can be very convenient, but it can also make it difficult to understand what a customer really wants without a lot of back and forth.

Here are two tips to avoid misunderstanding a customer’s needs via email:

Tip #1: Before responding, take a deep breath, slow down, and ask, “What do they really want?”

Tip #2: If it takes more than two emails to figure out a customer’s needs, pick up the phone and call.

One of my clients, a technical support team for a software company, regularly uses these techniques when troubleshooting problems for their customers. They’ve found it helps them avoid misunderstandings and allows them to solve issues faster.