Customer Service Writing Course

Available for groups as a self-paced online course, instructor-led virtual or instructor-led onsite training, and for individuals as a self-paced online course.

Download the Outline

Learn exactly how this course can help you or your customer service team quickly become a better customer service writer.

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So much of customer service is written. Emails, support tickets, knowledge base articles, etc. It’s all in writing. Customer support writing requirements are unique because both clear information that resolves a problem and a caring tone is needed.

The ability to write support requisite documents well — and an understanding of how to craft any document — results in happy clientele and loyal customers who not only stick around but share their positive experiences with others, bringing in new revenue.

This course teaches participants to write these requisite support documents and customer emails more effectively using a competent and empathetic tone. This means more satisfied, retained customers.

Participants receive detailed, individual written feedback on their actual writing.

INDIVIDUALS

$645

Online self-paced course available for individuals.

GROUPS

Online self-paced course and instructor-led training can be customized to match your needs. Group discounts apply.

Writing skills gained in this course:

  • Reduce writing time writing by at least 25% and improve response times.

  • Leave customers feeling good about the interaction while solving the problem.

  • Ensure content conveys information within a readily absorbed format.

  • Understand appropriate language and content for customer needs.

  • Write in clear, direct sentences with empathy.

  • Use correct grammar, vocabulary, and punctuation.

Individual written feedback for every student

Personal feedback from an expert instructor takes any professional writing to the next level. To truly improve writing habits and create strong writing skills, both course instruction and feedback on actual writing are needed.

Our feedback includes both subjective and objective feedback, in addition to a personal grammar diagnosis and additional helpful resources.

Objective feedback:

  • Does the message have a clear purpose and objective?
  • Is the message based fully on the customer perspective?
  • Is the message or instructions logically organized?

Subjective feedback:

  • Is the tone too blunt or too timid?
  • Is writing polite, professional, and engaging?
  • Can you cut any unnecessary words?
  • Are there any grammar errors?

View the Full Details in the Course Outline

Flexible training to meet your needs.

Online course for individuals or groups

Online, self-paced training allows individuals and customer support teams to train on their own schedule with 24/7 access to the course. This online training method has flexible deadlines for busy customer service reps and groups across different time zones to all receive the same training.

Online Customer Service Writing Course Preview

Virtual instructor-led course for groups

Virtual training allows for highly engaging instruction, exercises, and discussion in a professional setting. Learners complete activities in breakout rooms with fellow students, break down writing individually, and are encouraged to participate in conversations and ask questions.

Onsite instructor-led course for groups

In-person training is highly interactive, with many individual and shared activities. Groups od customer service agents work together at your location to deconstruct messaging, deep dive into individual writing concerns, and more.

Schedule a call to find out more about group training options
Customer Service Writing Certificate

Certificate of Completion

After completing the course, you will earn a personalized certificate. You can display your certificate in the certification section of your LinkedIn profile, download it to print, or mention it in your résumé.

What is included in this course?

This customer service writing course is split into several detailed lessons including video lessons and online resources.

Getting Started

An Introduction and Self-Assessment

This section outlines the necessary foundation for writing better customer support content and the process.

Share specific learning goals that you want to achieve by the end of the course.

Lesson 1

6 Steps to Effective Customer Support Writing

Learn the optimal business writing process that enables to you write any customer-facing document with skill and efficiency.

You will be able to create better structure while understanding the importance of reader focus, united purpose, and empathy.

Lesson 2

It’s Not “Ready, Fire, Aim”

Learn to break through blocks and write more efficient and effective customer emails.

Lesson 3

How to Deliver Bad News Effectively

This lesson exemplifies the application of the optimal 6-Step Process to a challenging internal email, like a customer complaint, an angry customer, or a frustrated customer. We help you master the skills and strategies required to deliver bad news and turn a negative experience into a positive one. This is an extremely important skill for customer service agents / customer service representatives.

You'll learn how to apply our process to any challenging communication with customers.

 
Lesson 4

Customer Service Email and Support Ticket Basics

Write messages that are easy to understand and act upon. Understand how to craft engaging openings and how to use closings effectively.

This lesson also addresses the challenge of managing a high volume of customer support emails/tickets and the pros and cons of using customer service email templates.

Lesson 5

Customer Service Writing Special Considerations

Learn the special characteristics of customer service writing, such as using reader-focused, empathetic, positive wording to improve customer experiences.

Knowledge base articles are also likely a key component of your role, whether you write them yourself or integrate them into your replies, and this lesson will explain how to do both.

Lesson 6

Examples by Industry

Customer service writing is always contextual, not formulaic. We outline industry-based examples to use as scaffolding to help you write stronger customer service emails and responses, not templates to copy and paste.

These address email responses to customer issues and customer questions and include a negative experience to help give examples of the typical subject matter of customer service agents' emails.

Lesson 7

Format for Easy Reading

In this lesson, we share the best techniques that allow a reader to scan your message, quickly absorbing the value of your information, ensuring a positive customer experience.

Additionally, learn how to present images and graphics appropriately to help improve customer satisfaction and answer potential additional questions.

Lesson 8

Clarity

Clear writing and concise answers evoke trust and respect. Clear writing makes the complex easy to understand.

In this section, learn techniques to cut bloat and jargon so your writing is vibrant, direct, and engaging.

Lesson 9

Empathetic Tone

Sharpen your active voice, learn reader focus techniques, use kind and inclusive language, and project an empathic and courteous tone that assures your readers you care about them. Perfecting this tone is key to a strong customer service team, whether communicating through digital channels or direct contact.

Present yourself as a knowledgeable and caring customer service professional to build a stronger relationship with your customers. And, write with a balanced, conversational tone that engenders trust.

Lesson 10

Grammar and Tools

Identify your particular grammatical errors and punctuation errors, and learn tactics to avoid these embarrassing mistakes.

We provide recommended tools that will ensure your writing is correct and professional.

View the full course outline and list of included resources

What will writing look like after this training?

clarity-icon
Complex information is conveyed clearly.
time-icon
Writing time is significantly reduced.
organized-icon
Well-organized, relevant content is included.
format-icon
Designed and formatted to be easy to read.
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Next steps are clearly outlined.
writing-icon
Writer’s block is avoided through planning.
readability-icon
Information is tiered appropriately.
persuasion-icon
Persuasion is clear and effective.
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Competent, clear, and professional.
grammar-icon
Grammar errors are identified and corrected.

This course’s expert instructors

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Elisabeth O'Quinn

Elisabeth has a unique combination of business and business writing acumen, with an extensive background in effective writing, editing, and marketing.

She has supported a wide range of businesses, writing blog articles, white papers, presentations, and editing business documents. She has supported many of our clients with rave reviews of her writing feedback, helping countless participants with effective communications.

Elisabeth lives in Georgia with her cat and rescue pup. In addition to writing, she loves traveling with her twin sister, learning German, and creating watercolor prints.

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Grace Cuddy

Grace has extensive experience in Instructional Solutions' online English courses and also works with individuals and groups from several international companies across Europe as a business writing coach. She is an expert in business writing and loves to help students advance their technical writing careers or new technical writing jobs.

She is bilingual in English and Spanish and has a keen sensitivity to global writing. She has a strong background in corporate communication and management plan and successfully developed cross-functional writing and communication processes in a large corporate team. She has also helped professional engineers and firms develop professional training programs.

She enjoys yoga, travel, and dance. She splits her time between New York City and Madrid.

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Bailey Lang

Bailey is a professional writer, editor, and accountability coach with more than a decade of experience.

She began her career in marketing communications for a global HR outsourcing company before taking a detour into academia. She earned her MA in rhetoric and writing at the University of Findlay and then completed her Ph.D. in rhetoric and writing studies at Bowling Green State University. Along the way, she wrote and published a book, numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, and more.

When she’s not writing or editing, you'll find her reading, hiking, or knitting.

Katie Almeida Spencer
Katie Almeida Spencer

Katie is an experienced Business Writing and English as a Second Language instructor, business writing coach, content writer, and teacher trainer. She taught Business Skills and Academic Writing at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

She is very skilled at evaluating both the substance and language of business documents. Her writing critiques, instruction, and coaching have received stellar evaluations from our clients at Chartis Consulting, DuPont, Shell, Southern Middlesex Opportunity Council, and the World Wildlife Fund, as well as our clients with the Federal Government.

She holds a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Rhode Island and an M.A. in Applied Linguistics from the University of Massachusetts Boston. Her areas of expertise include business writing and technical report writing, proposal writing, customer loyalty, and non-native writing.

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Course feedback and testimonials

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This is I think the most helpful soft skills corporate training I've ever taken (and I've taken many). The combination of videos, material to read, and very importantly instructor-reviewed exercises is a powerful one. Also, it's rare for me to walk away from a soft skills training with such clear and helpful tools for after the training, so well done!

Vice President and Team Lead
Morgan Stanley
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My instructor was so helpful and her detailed comments about my writing exercises helped me see where my writing can have more impact.

Sales Representative
FedEx
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I manage 40 remote people, so nearly all communication occurs via email. Already, I’ve seen a big improvement in communication.

Manager
Aramark Corporation

Become a better customer service writer.

Sign up today or schedule a discussion to become a stronger writer.

INDIVIDUALS

$645

Sign up today and start learning how to become a better writer.

GROUPS

We offer customized and flexible online, virtual, and onsite courses, workshops, and classes that match your company’s Customer Service Department's writing needs.