SUPPORT WRITING GUIDE
How to shorten a support reply without losing the answer
Cut repetition and wordy phrases from a complete support draft while preserving the answer, important limits and next action.
A fictional long draft and a tighter reply
Before
Thanks for getting in touch about your return. I have had a chance to look into your request, and I can confirm that your return has been approved. What you will need to do next is use the prepaid return label attached to this email and take the parcel to the carrier by 30 October. Please make sure that you keep the carrier receipt until we confirm that the parcel has arrived. Once again, I can confirm that your return is approved.
After
Your return is approved. Use the attached prepaid return label and take the parcel to the carrier by 30 October. Keep the carrier receipt until we confirm the parcel has arrived.
Keep: approval, the attached prepaid label, the carrier deadline and the receipt instruction. Remove: the repeated approval and the preamble about checking the request. These are fictional facts for an editing exercise, not a store policy, customer message or measured Vellix output.
Mark what has to stay
Start with a draft that already answers the customer. Before cutting words, mark the decision, instructions, important conditions and next action. Those details are your keep list.
In the example, the return approval is established, the label is prepaid and attached, and 30 October is the agreed carrier deadline. Keeping the receipt has a clear end point: confirmation that the parcel arrived. Treat all four as required content for this fictional case.
The keep/remove plan is simple: retain those four details, state the approval once and remove the explanation that the agent has had a chance to check. If the customer needs a reason for a decision, keep that reason too. Brevity is not a reason to leave out an answer.
Cut repetition before cutting detail
Google’s technical-writing course recommends removing unnecessary words and keeping each sentence focused on one idea. Applying that principle to a support reply is an editorial choice: remove a repeated point or wordy lead-in before deleting something the customer needs.
In the example, “What you will need to do next is use” becomes “Use”. The second confirmation of approval disappears because the first sentence already states it. The label, deadline and receipt condition remain.
“Your return is approved. Send it back.” is shorter, but it loses the instructions that make the reply usable. A word count cannot tell you whether an edit is good. Compare the meaning instead.
Read the revised reply on its own
Gorgias places the reply composer below the conversation thread. Use the conversation to check the customer’s question, then read your edited draft as a complete answer. The customer should not need your private keep list to understand what to do.
Check that the opening still answers the question and that the next action is explicit. Keep a useful acknowledgement when the situation calls for one. Remove routine filler only when the reply still sounds considerate.
Finally, compare the shorter version with the required details. In this exercise, omitting “prepaid” changes information about the label, while dropping the receipt condition removes an instruction. Restore either detail if an edit loses it.
Sources and editorial note
Examples are fictional. Sources for the platform guidance are linked below.
- Google technical-writing guidance on one idea per sentence and removing unnecessary words. Checked 2026-10-24.
- Gorgias documentation showing the conversation thread and reply composer. Checked 2026-10-24.