Sales & Conversion
Personas
Ecommerce
Time to ROI
Short-term (< 3 months)
Here's something that happened to me while working on a Shopify client's email automation that completely changed how I think about review reminders.
I was supposed to just update their abandoned cart emails to match new brand guidelines. Simple task, right? But when I opened their template—with its product grids, discount codes, and "COMPLETE YOUR ORDER NOW" buttons—something felt off. This was exactly what every other store was sending.
That's when I made a decision that would accidentally transform their customer relationships. Instead of following the "best practices" for review automation, I decided to make it feel human. The result? We doubled reply rates and turned a transactional touchpoint into actual conversations.
Most businesses are so focused on automating everything that they forget the "relationship" part of customer relationship management. While competitors are blasting generic review requests, there's a massive opportunity to stand out by being genuinely helpful.
Here's what you'll learn from this experiment:
Why automation tools from e-commerce translate perfectly to B2B SaaS
The specific email framework that turned reviews into conversations
How addressing real customer pain points beats generic requests
The surprising psychology behind why "imperfect" emails perform better
A cross-industry approach that most businesses completely overlook
This isn't about AI automation or fancy tools—it's about rethinking what automated customer communication should actually accomplish.
Industry Reality
What everyone's doing wrong with review automation
Walk into any marketing conference and you'll hear the same advice about review automation: "Reduce friction, optimize for conversions, A/B test everything." The industry has standardized around a formula that treats customers like conversion opportunities rather than humans.
Here's the conventional wisdom that everyone follows:
Send immediately after purchase - Strike while the experience is fresh
Keep it short and simple - Don't overwhelm with too much text
Use branded templates - Maintain consistent visual identity
Include star ratings - Make it easy with one-click feedback
Add incentives - Offer discounts for completed reviews
This approach exists because it's measurable and scalable. Marketing teams love metrics they can track, and these tactics generate the data points that look good in reports. Review completion rates, click-through rates, time-to-review—all easily quantified.
But here's where this conventional wisdom falls short: it treats review requests like email marketing campaigns rather than customer service touchpoints. The focus becomes collecting reviews efficiently rather than actually helping customers or building relationships.
I've seen this play out across dozens of ecommerce projects. Companies implement sophisticated automation workflows that technically "work"—they generate reviews—but they miss the bigger opportunity to create genuine customer connections.
The result? Generic emails that feel robotic, customers who comply but don't engage, and businesses that get their reviews but lose the chance to turn buyers into advocates.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
The project started innocuously enough. I was doing a complete website revamp for a Shopify client, and part of the scope included updating their email templates to match the new branding. Standard stuff—new colors, new fonts, maintain the existing flow.
But when I opened their abandoned cart email template, I had one of those moments where something just doesn't sit right. It looked exactly like every other ecommerce email I'd ever seen: product grid, "Don't miss out!" copy, big red "COMPLETE YOUR ORDER NOW" button.
My client was in a space where customers often struggled with payment validation issues—double authentication timeouts, billing ZIP code mismatches, that kind of thing. Yet their emails completely ignored this reality and just pushed for the sale.
I remember thinking: if I received this email after having payment issues, I'd be frustrated. The email was asking me to try again without acknowledging that something went wrong in the first place.
So I made a decision that wasn't part of the original scope. Instead of just updating the visual design, I completely reimagined the approach. What if this email felt like it came from a person who actually cared about solving the customer's problem?
I threw out the corporate template and wrote it in first person, as if the business owner was personally reaching out. The subject line changed from "You forgot something!" to "You had started your order..." The tone became conversational and helpful rather than pushy.
Most importantly, I addressed the elephant in the room. I added a simple troubleshooting section with three common solutions for payment issues they'd mentioned customers frequently experienced.
My client was initially skeptical. This wasn't what "professional" emails were supposed to look like. But I convinced them to test it for 30 days to see what happened.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
Here's exactly what I did to transform their generic review automation into something that actually built relationships:
Step 1: Ditched the Corporate Template
Instead of the standard ecommerce email layout, I created a newsletter-style design that felt personal. No product grids, no aggressive CTAs, just clean text with a human voice. The email looked like something you'd receive from a colleague, not a marketing department.
Step 2: Changed the Perspective
Everything was written in first person from the business owner's perspective. "Hi, I wanted to personally reach out..." instead of "Thank you for your recent purchase with [COMPANY NAME]." This immediately changed the entire dynamic from corporate to personal.
Step 3: Addressed Real Problems
Through conversations with my client, I learned their biggest customer service issue was payment validation problems. Instead of ignoring this, I made it the core of the email. I included a three-point troubleshooting guide:
Payment authentication timing out? Try keeping your bank app open during checkout
Card declined? Double-check your billing ZIP code matches exactly
Still having issues? Just reply to this email—I'll help you personally
Step 4: Made it About Service, Not Sales
The email's primary goal shifted from "complete your purchase" to "let me help you succeed." The purchase completion became a natural byproduct of solving the customer's problem rather than the aggressive focus.
Step 5: Invited Conversation
Instead of a "Buy Now" button, the main CTA was "Reply if you need help." This completely changed customer expectations from transactional to conversational.
The Email Structure That Worked:
Subject: "You had started your order with us..."
Opening: Personal greeting acknowledging they'd begun the purchase process
Problem acknowledgment: "I know checkout can sometimes be tricky"
Helpful troubleshooting: The three-point guide
Soft close: "If none of these help, just reply—I check these emails personally"
Signature: From the business owner with a real name
This approach worked because it flipped the traditional power dynamic. Instead of the business asking the customer for something (completing the purchase), the business was offering to help the customer solve a problem.
I applied this same framework to their review requests. Instead of "Please leave us a review," it became "How did everything work out? I'd love to hear about your experience—especially if you ran into any issues I can help other customers avoid."
Framework Setup
The first step was identifying real customer pain points through client conversations and support tickets
Personal Voice
Writing emails in first person from the business owner created immediate human connection
Problem-First
Leading with helpful solutions rather than sales requests completely changed customer perception
Conversation Design
Making reply the primary CTA transformed transactional emails into relationship-building touchpoints
The results were honestly better than I expected, and they came faster than traditional email optimization usually produces.
Within the first week, we saw customers actually replying to what used to be one-way automated emails. People were saying things like "Thank you for the help with the payment issue" and "I appreciate that you personally reached out." Some completed their purchases after getting personalized help.
The quantifiable improvements over 30 days:
Email reply rate increased from virtually zero to 12% (people don't usually reply to automated emails)
Customer service tickets related to payment issues decreased by 30%
Several customers became repeat buyers specifically mentioning the helpful email experience
But the qualitative results were even more interesting. My client started getting feedback they'd never received before. Customers were sharing specific issues with the checkout process, suggesting product improvements, and even recommending the store to friends.
One customer replied with a detailed explanation of why they'd abandoned their cart (shipping costs weren't clear upfront), which led to a site-wide improvement that helped other customers. Another customer had a technical issue we could fix immediately by replying with a simple solution.
The approach transformed what used to be a dead-end email into an actual customer service channel that improved the entire business operation.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
The biggest lesson here isn't about email copy—it's about choosing relationship over optimization. Every time I see businesses optimizing for metrics instead of human connection, they miss opportunities like this.
Key insights from this experiment:
Address real problems first - Leading with solutions instead of sales requests completely changes the dynamic
Make it personal, even at scale - Automation doesn't have to feel automated if you write like a human
Invite conversation - When customers can reply and get real help, they become advocates
Cross-industry learning works - Newsletter formats in transactional emails broke industry expectations effectively
Imperfection beats polish - Slightly informal, personal tone outperformed corporate perfection
Service-first selling - When you help first, sales become a natural byproduct
Best practices aren't always best - Sometimes being different is more valuable than being optimized
What I'd do differently: I'd implement this approach from day one rather than discovering it by accident. The framework works across any business that has ongoing customer relationships.
This approach works best when you have identifiable customer pain points and a business owner willing to personally engage with responses. It doesn't work if you're not prepared to actually help customers who reply.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS companies, apply this framework to trial abandonment and feature adoption emails. Address specific user onboarding challenges and offer personal help with setup rather than pushing for upgrades.
For your Ecommerce store
For ecommerce stores, focus review automation on solving post-purchase problems first. Address shipping, sizing, or usage questions before asking for feedback. Make customer success the priority over review collection.