Customer support email templates for software founders

Closing the loop

The emails that tell a customer where things stand: you have their message, the fix is done, you are sorry it took this long, or you need to hear back from them.

• Issue resolved email templatesCopy-ready emails for telling a customer their bug is fixed, their problem is solved, or the fix ships in the next release. Written for software founders.
• Acknowledgement email templatesAcknowledgement emails that confirm you have a customer's message and say what happens next, including a complaint acknowledgement and an honest auto-reply.
• Apology email templates for a late replyWhat to write when a customer has waited days for a reply: six apology emails for a late response, with subject lines, and what to leave out.
• Follow-up emails when a customer goes quietFollow-up emails for a customer who went quiet: after you asked for a log, after you shipped a fix, and the last one before you close the conversation.

Keeping customers informed

The emails you send before anyone asks: something is down, something is changing, something they wanted has shipped, or something is going away.

• Service outage email templatesOutage emails for a software product: the first notice while it is down, the update, the all-clear and the post-mortem, with subject lines and what not to promise.
• Scheduled maintenance email templatesPlanned maintenance and downtime notification emails: the advance notice, the reminder, the overrun and the done, written for a small software product.
• Product update email templatesProduct update and new feature announcement emails, including the one that matters most: telling the customer who asked for a feature that it shipped.
• Product sunset email templatesEmails for discontinuing a product or retiring a feature: the announcement, the reminder, the last-day notice, refunds and how to export data.

The first weeks

Welcoming a new customer and the moment a trial ends, which is where most subscriptions are won or quietly lost.

• SaaS welcome email templatesWelcome and onboarding emails for a new customer of a software product: after purchase, after sign-up, the first-week check-in and the one from the founder.
• Trial ending email templatesTrial ending emails for a subscription app: a few days before, the last day, after it lapses, and the version for a trial that was never really used.

Refunds, payments and pricing

The emails with money in them, which are the ones customers read most carefully and forward most often. Clear beats warm here, though you can be both.

• Refund confirmation email templatesRefund confirmation emails for subscriptions, one-off purchases and partial refunds, with the timing, the wording about bank delays and a subject line for each.
• How to decline a refund request politelyPolite, firm email samples for saying no to a refund request, plus the cases where refusing costs more than the refund does.
• Failed payment email templatesFailed payment emails for a subscription product: the first notice, the reminder and the final one before access stops, with subject lines that get opened.
• Subscription cancellation email templatesCancellation confirmation emails for a subscription product, a version that asks why without begging, and one for a cancellation you have to process by hand.
• Price increase email templatesPrice increase emails for a software product: grandfathered customers, a plain increase with notice, and a version for annual plans, with subject lines.
• Replies to a customer asking for a discountEmail replies to a customer asking for a discount: yes, no, and a counter-offer, for a small software business that cannot afford to haggle on every sale.
• Chargeback response templateA chargeback and dispute response template for software and subscriptions, the evidence that wins, and the email to the customer before it gets that far.
• Win-back email examplesWin-back emails for customers who cancelled a subscription: after a fix they left over, after a new feature, and the one honest question worth asking.

Reviews and thanks

Asking for a review without begging, answering a bad one in public, and thanking the people who make support worth doing.

• Review request email templatesEmails asking a customer for a review, on the App Store, Google or a review site: when to ask, how to ask once, and subject lines that get opened.
• How to reply to a negative reviewReplies to negative reviews on the App Store, Google and review sites: a bug, a price complaint, a misunderstanding and an unfair review, with what not to write.
• Thank you email templates for customersThank you emails for customers: after a purchase, after useful feedback, after a bug report, for a long-time customer, and how to reply when they thank you.

Hard conversations and requests

For the customer who is angry, the request you are going to turn down, and the one asking you to delete everything. All three go better written slowly and sent quickly.

• How to respond to an angry customer emailTemplates for replying to an angry or upset customer by email, the order to write it in, and the three sentences that make it worse.
• How to say no to a customer politelyExamples of saying no to a feature request, a custom build, a platform you do not support and a deadline you cannot meet, without losing the customer.
• Data deletion request response templatesResponses to a customer asking you to delete their data: confirming the request, verifying identity, confirming deletion, and what you are allowed to keep.

Getting the most out of a template

• Reply in the thread. The customer sees their own words under yours and does not have to remember what they asked.
• Change more than the name. One specific detail, the version, the date they wrote, the thing they were trying to do, is what makes a template read as a reply.
• Send it the same day. The best-written email is worth less than the plain one that arrives while they still care.

Questions people ask