What is a Canned Response? 15 Best Canned Response Examples

Are you considering using canned responses so that you can respond to customers much faster? ⏩

If yes, then guess what? Whether it’s responding to customer inquiries, addressing common concerns, or providing quick and consistent support, businesses can streamline their interactions with customers by using canned templates.

In this article, we are going to explore canned responses, what they are, how & where to use them, and also take a look at the fifteen best canned responses you can use in different scenarios.

Let’s get going! 🎢

What is a Canned Response?

A Canned Response is a standardized, pre-defined, or pre-written response that is generated or prepared by a company to provide immediate and prompt replies to common customer queries and frequently asked questions.

Canned responses are typically used in customer support environments to save precious time for support agents and almost to guarantee a customer gets immediate solutions to their request if it falls into a category that canned responses can handle.

Taking that into consideration, canned responses, being an assistive tool, have their own set of benefits. So, it’s time to move on to the next bit, which is exactly about it.

15 Best Canned Response Examples for Live Chat, Customer Service Team, & Technical Support Team

Considering the uncanned nature of the business environment, it is often said that “A truly effective canned response should not feel canned.”

That said, if you wish to use a canned response for your team, here is an assortment of examples & templates of canned responses that you can use:

1. Greeting a Customer

We all know that first impressions are the last ones, and on top of that, knowing your client’s mindset at the initial point of contact can be the factor that makes or breaks the situation. One way to hit both birds with a single stone is by answering a phone call professionally in a way that’s welcoming and friendly.

Here are a few of the most common templates you can use:

👉 “Good morning/afternoon/evening, [Your Name]! Thank you for reaching out. What would you like to know?”

👉 “Hi there! Happy to chat! What can I assist you with?”

👉 “Hi [Name], welcome to [Company Name]! How can I help you today?”

2. Asking for Additional Details

Details are the thing these days, whether minor or big; you gotta get everything in your grasp in the shortest of times. Well, if you have the right information at the right time as a CSR, you can provide a much better service.

And the thing is, sometimes you have to fetch that information yourself. Here are a couple of  canned response examples that you can use just for that purpose:

👉 “To better understand your issue, could you please provide some more information about [specific detail]?” 

👉 “I’m happy to help! To get started, can you describe the problem you’re experiencing in more detail?”

3. Scheduling a Demo or Appointment

This one is an easy yet crucial one, and if you run a B2B SaaS company, you’ve got to have a good (a near-perfect one) canned response running.

Having that in place gives you a chance to showcase the value of the products that your company has to offer and convert potential prospects into regular customers. Here’s a basic sample:

👉 “It is great to hear that you are interested in the product. If you’d like to see the complete demo, click here [insert link] or request a meeting with our Sales team [here].”

4. Identifying and Resolving the Issue

The goal of all customer service teams is to give their customers the best possible service to all of their clients, even if it’s identifying the issues and then resolving them yourself. What better way to use a canned response exactly for customer satisfaction?

This might sound weird, but a canned response can be written in such a way that it itself can help you identify and resolve certain issues.

You can use a set like this:

👉 “I understand you’re facing [issue]. I’ve got a few solutions in mind. Let’s try [solution 1] first.” next, “Based on your description, it seems like [possible cause]. You should try [solution 2] to see if it resolves the problem.”

5. Making Them Wait in a Queue

All in all, no matter how good or strong your support system/team is, there is always a chance that all the agents might be busy at some point, and you might need to set up a call queue. if that case occurs, you can make use of canned messages for handling queue management.

👉 “We’re currently a high volume of inquiries right now. The estimated wait time is [time]. We appreciate your patience!”

6. Handling Customer Queries and Complaints

Handling customer complaints and queries is everyday work for support teams, and guess what it can be done and dusted (a good number of times) by canned responses. To get over those ASAP, you can write canned responses like the below-mentioned based on preset rules like active listening, showing sympathy, and trying to understand the customer’s real issue:

👉 “I understand your frustration. Let’s work together to resolve this issue to your satisfaction.”

7. When you are Unavailable

Being busy and overloaded is one thing, and, well, factually, there are times when your business goes into off hours, or your support team just can’t deal with the queries, becomes unavailable, and focuses on other duties. Well, for that, you can use a canned response like these ones:

👉 “We’re closed for the day, but we’ll be back online tomorrow at [time]. You can leave your message here, and we’ll respond as soon as possible.”

👉 “We’re/I’m currently unavailable, but We/I will be back online at [time]. You can leave your message here, and We/I get back to you as soon as possible.”

8. Forwarding the Requests to Other Customer Service Reps

Also, situations do arise when a frontline rep just can’t deal with certain customer complaints and ‘has’ to forward and escalate those calls to other, much-experienced representatives. Then there is the other side: there are requests that just can be categorized and have to be forwarded to other agents of certain departments.

Having canned answers for customer service helps both agents and customers. Here’s what you can use:

👉 “Thank you for contacting us. Your request requires specialized attention, and I’ve forwarded it to our [department name] team. They’ll be in touch shortly.”

9. Saying No to Customers

There are dire situations when you or your team members just have to say no to customers. Though tough, if this situation is dealt with proficiently. It can leave an everlasting positive mark on the customer.

So, here’s a canned response for this purpose:

👉 “Hi [customer’s name], we regret to inform you that our company does not currently offer the [service] you have requested.”

10. Asking for an Apology to Customers

It’s like a universal fact that mistakes happen, and there’s nothing that can be done about it. If it’s done, that’s it, as no one can be perfect at all times.

To get over such things, the best way is to use a canned strategy to simply apologize and handle angry customers properly. Here’s a near-perfect template that you can use just for this:

👉 “Thank you for your feedback regarding our product. We are extremely sorry that you have encountered problems with it. Getting this done today will be our priority.”

11. Recommend a Refund

Guess what? Having a canned response for all cases is pretty much a must at this point! Though your business might have a different approach to dealing with such.

As long as you provide them with complete details and a good answer, that is, it will make it easier for them to determine whether you are eligible for a refund. You can use a template like this:

👉 “We’re sorry for the inconvenience you’ve faced, we’d be happy to offer a full refund. Please visit [link] or reply with your order number.”

12. Canceling a Subscription

Sometimes there are instances where there’s no escaping a cancellation. The reason for that may vary, but whatever the case, if the customer is not satisfied with the services and decides that they want to cancel the subscription. You just have to do it! You can use a canned response like this one:

👉 “We are disappointed to hear that our product was unable to meet your purpose. There’s no need to worry, and we’ll cancel your account subscription for you. Thank you so much for choosing us.”

13. Requesting Customer Feedback

It often comes down to this, as customer service agents, you have to collect real feedback on a regular basis from the customers themselves to analyze if your customer service responses are doing well. In truth, customer feedback helps you improve your management and strategy and provide better service as well.

It’s best to prepare canned replies to thank customers for their feedback. Here is an example of a canned response that you can use for this purpose.

👉 “It was my pleasure to assist you, [First Name]! Would you be able to spare 30 seconds to provide me with feedback about your experience? Click here to fill out the feedback form.”

14. Acknowledge their Purchase

Sometimes it’s a good idea to acknowledge the steps that a customer has gone through to purchase your products and make the purchase.

Doing so may make them feel valued and can also make them long-term customers. Most importantly, it is one of the best ways to reduce losing customers and clients. You can use a template that serves the following purpose:

👉 “Congratulations on your purchase! Please let us know if you have any questions about the product.”

15. Ending the Issues or Chats

Lastly, it’s again smart and also a best practice to use predefined responses when certain issues or chats have been resolved. It’s a nice touch that results in better customer satisfaction. Here’s a canned response that you can use:

👉 “It’s great to know we were able to solve this for you. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you need further assistance. Have a great day!”

What are the Benefits of Using Canned Responses for Businesses?

Canned responses offer a huge number of benefits, and for a business, it is like the edge.

And basically, while most businesses regularly fight a tug-of-war to get the upper hand in terms of better customer service delivery, the ones ‘already’ utilizing it already have a ‘canned advantage’ over the others. To illustrate that, let’s look at the benefits of using Canned Responses in a business environment.

Minimize response times

Essentially, when a business uses canned responses for customer service, the first and most visible advantage that it brings forth is that it just reduces the average handling time.

And how’s that done? Well, the answer is simple: with the right canned responses prepared and in place, agents can save time as they do not need to manually answer all the FAQs & common queries as the system itself can respond quickly to all of those.

Boost customer satisfaction 

On the same theme, likewise, these programs, merely themselves, minimize the need for manual intervention for answers to common queries.

What does that mean? That means, again, that there’s no need for any agent to waste any of their time as the system itself can provide timely solutions to all(applicable) customer inquiries with the right responses and relatively boost customer engagement and satisfaction.

Improve agent productivity

In line with its stated perks, canned responses can free up agents from typing in mundane & repetitive responses to similar queries, meaning they can use some of that saved time to focus on more meaningful work.

With the struggle of mundane tasks gone. Customer support agents can shift their focus to providing way more personalized services of greater importance to clients. And, at the same time, improve the call center’s productivity by making better use of the saved time.

Easily manage a high volume of customer

It’s a fact that a high volume of customer support requests at peak business hours can sometimes be challenging for companies to deal with. Those situations can be dealt with efficiently by responsive canned messages since they deliver quality service without compromise.

With the right, let’s say, best-canned responses(in every aspect) in use. Businesses can easily manage and deal with a high volume of customer queries during peak hours without the worry of downtimes or incorrect handling.

Deliver personalized experience

Canned Responses can and are typically built by businesses to provide responses to their clients based on their preferences. What’s more, multiple canned messages can be set up to meet and deliver more personalized responses to customers.

As a matter of fact, canned responses can be directly customized according to particular preferences, which means each customer, when receiving a response, feels like they are being valued and listened to.

Where Should You Use Canned Responses?

Remember – Canned Responses, being a versatile tool, have a broad utility and serve a variety of purposes!

Then again, these tools do have some specified use cases, and to give you some insight into all of those, here are some of those applications 👇

Social Media Pages

A typical use of canned responses is on social media platforms like Facebook or X(formerly Twitter) in personal DMs of brands. You can use these predefined responses to greet new prospective customers or to provide the same product and service information to frequent inquirers.

Sales and Marketing Outreach emails

Canned response messages can also be used to reach out to more than one customer at the same time. The context and the way in which canned responses are used can obviously be twisted to meet the needs of the situation at hand. One example is highlighting inciting promotions based on a potential customer’s request.

Customer Service emails

In the same way you easily open and close a can, canned responses can also be extremely useful or sometimes be a lifesaver in the ever-changing world of customer service delivery. In that context, canned messages can be used to provide prompt responses to customer issues.

Live Chats

You can also be used to provide answers to certain commands/queries in live chats during live streams. Streamers and businesses can set up predefined commands that customers can use to get introductory information about the products or services offered and even direct them to relevant resources or agents for a bit more complicated issues.

✅ Check Out: Professional Auto-Reply Message Samples for Business

Best Practices for Creating Canned Responses

Well, if you want to create canned responses, it’s crystal clear that they are supposed to be built to improve customer satisfaction scores. Additionally, having canned responses can help you reduce response times and deliver a consistent customer experience.

If you think you can do it, you need to follow a set of best practices. And to help you with that, we’ve got them sorted out here👇

1. Analyze Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

The process is simple; the first step is to note down all the FAQs that your sales, marketing, and customer support team faces day in and out. Once you’ve sorted and have everything ready, you can get going and create canned responses that reflect the customer’s concerns.

2. Keep it Short and Clear

No one likes long explanations for everything, especially customers, so it is better to be precise and concise. So, follow all the business phone etiquette rules with all your canned responses, and make sure to cover everything. You should also avoid using jargon or technical terms.

3. Customize the Replies with Customer Names and Relevant Details 

A basic thing to remember is that you don’t have to sound robotic with your canned responses and make sure they don’t actually sound canned, literally. You can just customize each canned response with specific customer names and other details while using those. 

4. Create Different Responses for Different Scenarios

Remember that you don’t have to follow a set format to create canned responses.

Well, every scenario requires a completely different approach to be dealt with. And in customer service, it’s mandatory! You can personalize each of them by adjusting the tone of the response to reflect the situation’s demands. 

5. Include Call to Action (CTA)

It’s also best to include a CTA to guide the customers to the ‘next steps.’ Providing a course of action is helpful for the customers as they get an idea of what to do next! You can use CTAs like “To discover more information about our services, please click on this link.”

6. Upgrade Messages Frequently Based on Customer Feedback

The final best practice to follow is (this one is used when a template is in place) to periodically review and update the canned response templates to keep up with customers’ changing needs and inquiries. 

Respond Quickly with KrispCall canned responses, aka “Macros.”

Now, when talking about using canned responses directly from your phone system, which are considered the best to use when replying to your customers, how about using KrispCall’s ‘macros’ options?

KrispCall lets you create your own canned messages in the form of macros to be used by you and your team members. As a KrispCall perk, you can share the same number with your team, and they can use all the functionalities associated with it.

To use macros as canned responses on KrispCall, 

• Simply hit the ‘#’ key in any of the chats and then set up the macro(s) to be used for repetitive replies/responses. 

• You can set up several macros to be used in different scenarios. You can use them by pressing the ‘#’ key again, which will pop up the list of all of the macros to be used as auto-replies at your discretion.

With KrispCall’s macros on hand, you are assured of better agent efficiency, reduced errors in replies, easy access to automated responses, and definitive enhanced customer satisfaction.

So, why wait? Sign up for KrispCall now and start sending canned auto-replies to your customers now!

The Wrap-up!

To sum things up, canned responses are certainly valuable tools that can redefine modern business communication as well as the methods they use to interact with their customers. That is simply because these solutions provide efficiency, consistency, and time savings.

Furthermore, with the right knowledge of these and having known how to use these as well can give your business an upper hand when it comes to delivering better customer service. By using a canned response, your business can definitely provide more accurate responses to prospects and ultimately improve service delivery.

If you’re looking to provide customer support using canned templates, you don’t need to look much further, as KrispCall‘s macros and the versatile capabilities of its cloud telephony make everything a whole lot easier. 

FAQ

What is a Good Canned Response?

A good canned response is one that effectively addresses the recipient’s needs while still sounding natural and personal. Here are some key qualities that it should have:

• It should be clear, concise, accurate, and up-to-date.
• It should sound professional, friendly, positive, and optimistic,
• It should cover all the topics related to the issue.
• It should be effective and reliable.

When should I use a Canned Response?

You can use a canned response for these purposes:

• Customer greetings.
• Consistently delivering faster responses.
• Answering inquiries about your business and its products.
• Providing standard answers to FAQs or predictable questions.
• Answering certain questions or queries based on predetermined rules.

Can You Personalize the Canned Responses? 

Yes, you can definitely personalize canned responses. You can create certain customized canned responses to add a human touch to the conversation and show that you care about your customers.