We’ve learned to embrace new tools for communication — Slack, social media, Zoom — but email continues to have a stronghold in how we choose to connect digitally. 4.2 billion people around the world use it, and experts predict it isn’t going anywhere.

Problem is, for customer service, manually responding to emails isn’t scalable. The average business receives approximately 10,500 emails a month , and high customer expectations are turning up the heat on human agents to keep pace.

At the same time, automation is changing the customer service game, making email automation a logical choice. Unfortunately, most email automation tools today run simple article searches and return a list of links. This leads to a low resolution rate, with only 10% of customer journeys fully automated.

So before you rush to choose an email automation tool to level up your customer service, here’s

a breakdown of the email automation tools that can deliver personalized automated experiences, help you hit your CSAT goals, and cut costs.

Email automation tools: Everything you need to know

Email automation has long been applied in marketing and sales. However, automating email responses for customer service (and doing it well) is relatively new. Before we get into detail on the email automation tools you can use for customer service, we’ll walk you through the differences between email automation for marketing and customer service.

Email automation for marketing

Email automation for marketing uses predefined rules to trigger messages based on specific actions customers take. Businesses use email automation tools or software to stay connected to customers, drive upsells, while at the same time conserve valuable time and save money.

Some examples of automated marketing emails include:

• Welcome emails when a customer signs up for a mailing list
• Reminder messages for abandoned carts or sale alerts
• Product recommendations or offers based on past purchasing history

Email automation for customer service

Customer service email automation is the use of software to deliver a personalized and generated reply to customer emails and resolve inquiries without involving a human agent.

When someone emails customer support, the conversational AI algorithm reads the email and parses the meaning. The algorithm searches through information resources such as your knowledge base and FAQs to find an answer to the customer’s question. Once AI finds the information, it uses generative AI and NLP to present it in a human-like tone.

There are three broad categories of emails you can automate, with many possibilities within these categories:

1. FAQs: Repetitive customer questions about things like trial periods, your refund policy, or product-specific questions. Most of this information is likely available in your knowledge base and on your website.
2. Inquiries: Various questions from customers, like during implementation or about a common error.
3. Reminders and alerts: Automatically schedule and send reminders based on ongoing interactions.

With the right email automation tool, like an AI agent, you can resolve quick responses to FAQs and address complex email inquiries in a matter of seconds. And an AI agent can keep the conversation going, engaging in multiple back-and-forth conversations, while your customer support team focuses on more impactful projects.

Why should you use an email automation tool for customer service?

You may be wondering if email automation for customer service is worth the investment, if there is legitimate ROI, and if it can increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. Let's explore some of the benefits of using email automation tools for customer service.

1. Enhanced response time

In today's fast-paced digital world, customers don't like to wait. Nearly half (46%) of e-commerce customers expect a response within 4 hours, and 12% expect a response in under 15 minutes. With competitors just a click away, 46% of customers report using multiple channels simultaneously to get a faster response.

Email automation for customer service improves response time by automatically generating customer responses. AI email automation can handle requests up to 80% faster than manual customer response with up to 90% response accuracy.

Using email automation for customer service to reduce average handle time (AHT) gives you the double benefit of faster and more accurate responses, and gives you and your agents time back to focus on higher priority tasks.

2. Reduce customer service costs

In the increasingly automated world, the drive to cut costs and maximize efficiency is more crucial than ever. Many functions can be automated or performed virtually, so businesses seize opportunities to automate services and cut costs instead of directing the much-needed resources into scaling their operations.

At current market rates, email support costs between $6.29 and $32.40, with an average of $16.13 . On the other hand, automated bot-based messaging bots cost an average of $1 per contact .

With email automation for customer service, you can cut most customer service costs, reduce cost per conversation and direct these resources where they are needed most within the value chain.

3. Utilize big data

Customer data is your company's most important asset. Using customer data, such as purchasing trends, tastes and preferences, and even demographic attributes, you can improve customer service by personalizing interactions and responses.

Email automation solutions, especially those backed by generative AI, learn and analyze patterns from existing customer data and use the output to create responses that resemble human interaction.

With automated email responses, you empower your customers to receive personalized responses based on them as an individual and increase customer loyalty.

Best email automation tools for customer service

In the increasingly competitive business environment, about 35% of customers (https://www.ada.cx/blog/the-truth-about-free-chatbots-for-customer-service/) report spending less with businesses after a poor customer experience, and as many as 15% report they stop spending money with the company after a negative interaction. This highlights the importance of excellent customer service.

The application of email automation tools and their demonstrated capacity to improve customer experience make them essential for excellent customer service.

Some of the best email automation tools you can rely on to improve your customer service include:

1. Ada

Rather than trying to match a scripted response to a unique problem, Ada’s AI Agent draws on existing knowledge sources and data from third-party tools to reason through each situation. It considers past actions and the context of the conversation to determine how to best resolve an inquiry and deliver a truly personalized resolution.

Ada for Email allows businesses to apply the same powerful generative skills of Ada’s conversational AI platform to your email support channel, ensuring all conversations are relevant, accurate, and safe. And you can meet your customers' expectations by responding to them within minutes.

With Ada, you’re immediately resolving 70% of customer interactions, and we’re en route to getting our customers to 100% Automated Resolution Rate .

2. HelpScout

HelpScout is a software program on a mission to organize your firm's customer service. It functions as a common inbox, integrating all your company's messaging channels (email marketing, live chat, and CRMs) into one platform.

They have many tools, like a knowledge-based application called Docs, a dedicated customer service widget, and an embedded customer contact widget. With AI, HelpScout can perform automated ticket assignments and email correspondence.

You will still need to spend many resources responding to customer inquiries, but it organizes everything well.

An effective email marketing campaign and contact widgets are some ways to share automatic correspondence directly with customers through emails or texts.

3. Yellow.ai

Yellow.ai is one of the leading email automation tools for customer service. It uses advanced generative AI to improve customer experience. Its Dynamic Automation Platform (DAP) structure is built on a multi-LLM architecture that continuously learns and trains on available data to improve the scale, accuracy, and speed with which it responds to and interacts with customers.

Yellow.ai’s generative AI-powered DAP platform also delivers empathetic and context-aware interactions that mimic the human experience. These enhanced interactive features have produced demonstrated results, with over 60% reduction in operation costs, a 50% increase in conversion rates, and a 40% increase in employee satisfaction (eSAT).

What makes Yellow.ai even more interesting is its zero-setup bot deployment feature. This means that setting up the platform before your customer service agents can start using it does not consume unnecessary time, boosting agents’ productivity by 50%.

4. Pega

This email automation software was developed to help produce dedicated individual emails faster and more accurately. It automates its tasks using AI-driven decision-making, machine learning, and NLP (natural language processing).

Pega is an email tool that can respond directly to emails and get them to the right person by case management workflows. They have NLP, which helps them analyze your responses to help map out information before handing off.

5. GetResponse

GetResponse uses AI to boost users' performance and improve customers' experiences. It offers data analytics, AI-based email auto-responses, behavior-triggered emails for customized messages, and user groups for effective target marketing.

Additionally, GetResponse successfully integrates cross-channel automated communication between a business and its clients by empowering consumers across different channels.

Types of emails you can automate for customer service

There are many different types of emails that email automation tools can produce, from directly responding to issues to conversation rating requests and order confirmations. Let’s dig into them in more detail:

1. Customer support

AI Agents like Ada can provide automated email responses to customers, providing a great experience and saving you time and money. It can automate email responses that address everything from FAQs to more complex and technical issues.

An AI agent like Ada’s can pull all the necessary customer data from the companies’ knowledge base and CRM, generating a professional email within seconds of receiving a ticket. People typically get frustrated when their issues aren’t resolved in under four hours, so it’s fresh air when they get an answer in the snap of a finger.

2. Reminders and Alerts

Reminder emails are generated based on the customer’s interactions with your site. They are essential in sustaining engagement with the customer, especially in ensuring they complete the actions they initiate on your website.

Automated abandoned cart emails, for example, remind your customers of the initiated shopping that they did not go through with. Automated subscription email reminders or product rating reminders can improve the business's customer service.

3. Issue Confirmation

Confirmation messages can significantly improve customer satisfaction. In an environment where 62% of companies ignore customer emails altogether, a quick and accurate response can guarantee enhanced customer engagement and satisfaction.

Your customers will greatly appreciate your acknowledgment of their emails. It shows you are dedicated to serving them and working to resolve the issue. With Ada’s AI Agent, your customers get automatic responses to their inquiries.

Looking for a powerful customer service automation platform?

Even with automation, improving customer experience remains the basis for your business’ success.

Using an AI agent is just one step toward improving customer service in your organization. The real deal lies in selecting an AI agent that delivers exceptional customer experience and ROI to your business.

You need a powerful AI agent that can learn from existing data to generate new data, content, and outputs. You also need a tool that can understand and generate responses in natural language to improve customer engagement and response to their inquiries.

If you are ready to take your customer service to the next level, Ada is your trusted AI agent.