If you have a Web site, chances are good that you offer an email link somewhere on the site for customers to use to contact the bank. While you may have put it out there intending for site visitors to use it to notify you of technical problems or to ask simple questions about rates and terms, you will undoubtedly find that you will instead get a wide range of communications and inquiries. Are you truly prepared to handle them?
Some types of messages may trigger regulatory response requirements. If you receive an email that could constitute a "qualified written request" under RESPA, for example,you are required to acknowledge the complaint or inquiry within twenty days. There are numerous other examples of types of inquiries that could give rise to a need to respond within a certain time period.
So, here's a suggestion. Create an emaill log to track customer correspondence. It doesn't have to be anything at all complex. It should suffice to structure it with the following columns:
Date email was received;
The date the customer's email indicates it was sent (if that is substantially different from when it was received, such as in a situation where a mail server problem causes a delay);
The identity of the sender. (You will at least have the sender's email address. If they identify themselves further, such as by name, also record their name, account number, or other identifying details.)
Give a brief summary of the nature of the email.
Note whether any action on the bank's part is necessary. (For example, if the email just informs the bank of a glitch on its Web site, the bank does not necessarily need to respond directly to the sender, although doing so would certainly promote good will. On the other hand, if someone writes to inform the bank of an error in their credit card statement, a response is needed.)
Indicate the disposition of the email. Who was it forwarded to within the bank to be handled? When was it forwarded?
On emails where action or a response is required, briefly note whether (and when) a response was supplied.
To simplify keeping the log, you could develop in-house codes to use for the summary of the nature of the emails and to describe the disposition of each.
Print out and retain copies of the emails you receive in a central file. Copies that relate to specific customers may need to be kept with the customer's file, too, depending upon the substance of the email. Print out and retain copies of your responses.
You may want to manage your customers' expectations of what they should be able to do via email correspondence with you by placing information on your site that explains what types of inquiries and complaints should/should not be made via email.
Emaill will grow in importance as a communication channel as more and more customers and prospective customers get wired. Start implementing systems now to keep it under control.
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