A macro is not a reply, it is a template. You write it once for a question that keeps coming up, and your whole team reuses it, filling in the details that change each time. A macro that reads like it was written for one customer gets edited so heavily that it stops saving anyone time.
Write for every customer, not one
Do not reference a specific order, complaint, or name in the body of the macro itself. Instead, mark every detail that varies with a placeholder in square brackets, such as [customer name], [order number], or [date]. The agent’s only job when sending it should be filling in the brackets, not rewriting the message.
Keep the core content honest
Never let a macro guess at a policy, a refund window, or a process it does not actually know. If the exact detail is not settled yet, leave a clearly marked placeholder such as [insert the exact refund window here] rather than inventing a number that might be wrong. A macro with a placeholder gets checked before it is used; a macro with a confident, wrong answer gets sent as is.
Say it in as few words as possible
A macro is not sent once, it is sent hundreds of times. Every extra sentence of throat-clearing or generic empathy costs your team real time at scale. Lead with the answer, give one clear next step, and stop. Save the warmth for tone, not for word count.
Example
Common mistakes
- Writing it as a reply to one ticket, so the next agent has to rewrite half of it.
- Guessing at a policy or timeframe instead of leaving a placeholder to confirm.
- Padding it with generic empathy lines that add length but no information.