Putting advertisements in targeted e-mails is a significant part of Google’s revenue strategy. If your business does customer service through e-mail, you can do the same thing. Some companies dread customer service, because it means a cost. It can also mean revenue, not just in theoretical, future products, but in relatively quick turnaround upsells.

Your most targeted advertising probably comes from sending e-mails to people who are already customers. Customer service e-mail is basically an instance of this. So, what do you need to turn customer service e-mails into upsells?

1. You need relevant products that the customer sending you the e-mail doesn’t already have.

2. You want to solve whatever problem the customer has. If you do this for free, this can trigger a basic psychological mechanism in people, that works along the same lines as the one used by marketers giving free samples in grocery stores. The idea is: if someone does something for you, you want to reciprocate.

With customer service, this means that in a significant percentage of cases where you solve the customer’s problem, they will be significantly more likely to want to purchase a product.

3. Ideally, you want to solve their problem promptly.

That’s it. In theory, this process can turn customer service into a net plus in terms of the short-term revenue equation. Typically, good customer service also means satisfied customers, who will be more likely to purchase in the future and more likely to tell other people about your great products.

Now go forth and make customer service into an asset!