Feature request email templates with the assessment behind every reply
Feature request email templates for small teams that answer customers and decide what to build: a first reply that captures the request, replies for more detail, a workaround, under review or planned, a kind no and shipped, 4 chat replies and the scoring rules behind the Excel log. Every reply carries the same five fields.
Made by Anatolii Ulitovskyi 
Fact-checked by RH Fardin Updated 1. First reply: thank, restate the job, ask four questions
Send firstSend this within 1 business day, before anyone knows whether the request will be built. This feature request email template restates the request as the customer's job, asks what the assessment needs, and promises only that the request is logged and that a decision will be shared.
SubjectYour request: feature in their words
EmailHi first name,
Thank you for writing this up. Let me check that I have it right: you would like feature in their words, so that you can customer job.
I have logged it as a feature request, 'request title'. To help the team weigh it, could you answer four short questions? One line each is enough.
1. How often does this come up: daily, weekly or monthly?
2. What does it cost you today: time, a lost sale or something else?
3. What do you do instead right now?
4. Does it affect anyone else on your team?
What I can promise: a person reads every request, and I will write to you when there is a decision. I cannot promise whether or when it will be built, so I will not guess a date.
Your name, role
Company
Fill in before sending
- Customer job: the result they want, not the feature they named.
- Frequency: their answer, plus how many customers asked. Existing request? Add them to it.
- Business impact: revenue, churn risk or time lost, with one number.
- Workaround: if a tested one exists, send tab 3 instead.
- Promise boundary: no timing. Repeat only a date that is already public.
Never promise'Coming soon', 'on the roadmap', or that sending it 'to the developers' decides anything.
If the request is already in the logHi first name, thank you. Number customers have asked for request title, and I have added you to the list. It is under review / planned. I cannot share a date; I will email you when there is a decision or a release. Your name, company
2. Need more detail: ask for the job, not the solution
Use this when the request names a solution ('add a button') but not the problem, or when two customers use the same words for different needs. Without the customer job and the frequency, the request cannot be scored.
SubjectTwo questions about your request for feature in their words
EmailHi first name,
Thank you for the request for feature in their words. Before the team weighs it, I want to understand the job behind it, because there may be more than one way to solve it.
Could you tell me:
1. The last time you needed this: what were you trying to do, and what happened? A screenshot helps.
2. How often does it happen, and roughly how much time or money does it cost?
If it is easier to show me, pick a 15-minute slot: booking link. I will add your answers to the request and tell you where it stands by date.
Your name, role
Company
Fill in before sending
- Customer job: your best guess, marked 'to confirm'.
- Frequency and business impact: unknown until they answer. Do not score yet.
- Workaround: note it, but send it only once you know the job.
- Promise boundary: no timing. The only date is your reply date.
Never promiseThat a clearer description will get it built. Send one reminder after 5 business days; if there is still no answer, keep the request with what you have.
3. Workaround exists today: solve the job, still log it
Send this when the job can be done today with an existing setting, report or a few manual steps. Test the steps first, and log the request anyway: a workaround lowers the urgency, it does not remove the request.
SubjectYou can customer job today: here is how
EmailHi first name,
Thank you for asking about feature in their words. There is no feature today, but you can get the same result with what is already there:
1. Step one, with the exact menu names
2. Step two
3. Step three
It takes about minutes minutes. Guide with screenshots: link.
I know it is not fully automatic, so I have also logged your request as 'request title'. If the steps do not fit your case, reply with what goes wrong and I will look at it with you.
Your name, role
Company
Fill in before sending
- Customer job: check that the steps deliver that result.
- Frequency: 10 minutes every working day is close to an hour a week.
- Business impact: the time it still costs decides Yes or Partial.
- Workaround: the steps you tested today, plus the guide link.
- Promise boundary: no timing, and no hint that the steps are temporary.
Never promiseThat the real feature will follow. Never send steps you have not tested in the current version.
4. Under review or planned: an honest status, no date
Under review: the team has not decided. Planned: it has decided to build and has not published a date. Neither needs a date. Salesforce's main services agreement says customers' purchases are not contingent on the delivery of any future functionality or features1; hold support to the same rule.
SubjectWhere your request for request title stands
Email: under reviewHi first name,
A short update on request title, so you are not left guessing.
Where it stands: under review. Number customers have asked for it, and the team looks at open requests together on review day. Your example about customer job is attached to it.
Timing: there is no date yet, and I would rather say so than guess. When the team decides, I will write to you, whether the answer is yes or no.
Until then: workaround, or: there is no workaround today, I am sorry.
Your name, role
Company
Email: plannedHi first name,
Good news about request title: the team has decided to build it. You are one of number customers who asked, and your example about customer job was part of the decision.
Timing: we do not have a date we can share, because plans can change while the work is in progress. I will email you the day it is available.
Until then: workaround.
Your name, role
Company
If they ask for a rough date anywayI understand you need to plan. I do not have a date, and a guess could be wrong. I will tell you the day it is released, and if your decision depends on it, owner name will talk to you directly.
Fill in before sending
- Customer job and business impact: their own words.
- Frequency: the real number of requesters, or leave it out.
- Workaround: the one from tab 3, or say there is none.
- Promise boundary: no dates, months or 'soon'. A public date only with its link.
Never promise'On the roadmap' unless your roadmap is public and the item is on it. If a purchase or a renewal depends on the feature, the founder or the account owner replies.
5. Not planned: a kind no with a reason and an alternative
Send this once the team has decided not to build it. Say no in the first two sentences, give the real reason in one line and offer the best alternative.
SubjectA clear answer about request title
EmailHi first name,
Thank you for asking for feature in their words and for explaining how it would help you customer job. I want to give you a clear answer: we are not going to build it.
The reason: one honest sentence, for example it would help a few customers and make area harder for everyone else.
What you can do instead: a workaround, a setting or another tool that does this well. I am happy to set it up with you: booking link.
I know this is not the answer you hoped for. Please plan without it.
Your name, role
Company
If they say they will leave over itI understand. Before you decide, could owner name talk to you about customer job on day at time? If you still move, I will help you export your data.
Fill in before sending
- Customer job: name it again, so the no is about the feature, not their problem.
- Frequency and business impact: many requesters or revenue at risk means the owner approves this email.
- Workaround: the best tested alternative. Another tool is allowed.
- Promise boundary: not planned means plan without it.
Never promise'Maybe later' or 'we will keep it in mind' when the answer is no. Do not blame 'the developers': it is the company's decision.
6. Shipped: close the loop with every customer who asked
Completion checkSend this on release day to every customer on the Requesters sheet for this request, not only the latest one. The request is closed only when every requester has it.
SubjectFeature name is live: you asked for it on date asked
EmailHi first name,
On date asked you asked for a way to customer job. It is live today: feature name.
How to use it:
1. Step one, with the exact menu names
2. Step two
3. Step three
Guide: link
Thank you for the example they gave. Number customers asked for it, and examples like yours helped the team decide. You can stop old workaround now.
If something does not work the way you need, reply to this email. I read every reply.
Your name, role
Company
Fill in before sending
- Customer job: in their words, from the Requesters sheet.
- Frequency: the real number of customers who asked.
- Business impact: their own example, as the thank-you.
- Workaround: the old one they can now stop.
- Promise boundary: only what is live today.
Close the loop in four steps
- Filter Requesters by the titleOne email per row, including customers who asked months ago.
- Send and logSet Last answer sent to Shipped and enter the date.
- Update the knowledge baseReplace the known limitation with the new steps.
- Check the statusThe Request log shows Closed when nobody is waiting. Mark the task done.
Completion checkNot closed while the decision is empty, any requester is waiting, or the knowledge base still describes the old limitation.
Never promiseMore features on top of this one, unless they are decided.
7. Live chat replies for feature requests
Most requests arrive in chat as 'can it do this?'. Say whether it can today, ask one capture question and log it. Save these four as shortcuts.
7.1/feature-ack: Not today, logged
When to useNo feature and no workaround.
Never promiseThat it is coming.
ReplyNot today, I am afraid: product does not feature in their words yet. I have logged it as a request. What are you trying to get done, and how often does it come up?
7.2/feature-workaround: A way to do it today
When to useA tested workaround exists.
Never promiseThat it is temporary.
ReplyThere is no feature yet, but you can customer job like this: step one, then step two. Guide: link. I have also logged your request.
7.3/feature-status: Where it stands
When to useThe request is already in the log.
Never promiseA date that is not public.
ReplyYou are one of number customers who asked for request title. It is under review / planned. I do not have a date, and I will not guess one. You will get an email when there is a decision.
7.4/feature-handover: Revenue at stake
When to useThey will cancel, not renew or not buy without it.
Never promiseA yes to keep the customer.
ReplyThank you for telling me directly. This is a decision for owner name, so I have passed this chat on with your notes. You will hear back by date and time.
TipBefore you close the chat, tag it 'feature request' and add the customer to the Requesters sheet.
8. Feature request assessment template: score and decide
The internal half: one assessment per request. Support fills it from the replies, the person who builds adds the effort guess, and the team decides monthly. The score is a points version of the RICE method (reach, impact, confidence, effort)2: it ranks requests, people decide.
Assessment: one per request
| Field | What to write | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Request title | A short name customers recognize | Waitlist auto-fill |
| Customer job | The outcome, not the feature | Fill a canceled spot without texting the waitlist |
| Frequency | How often, how many asked | Daily; 7 studios |
| Business impact | High, Medium or Low | High: 2 studios may leave |
| Revenue at risk | Yearly value of those who may leave | $2,856 |
| Workaround | Yes, Partial or No | Partial |
| Effort guess | S: days. M: weeks. L: months | M |
| Promise boundary | What support may say about timing | No date until release |
| Decision, owner, next action | Status, who acts next, by when | Shipped; Ines; email 7 studios |
Points
| Factor | Points |
|---|---|
| Requesters | 1 per customer who asked, up to 5 |
| Frequency | Daily 3, weekly 2, monthly 1, rarely 0 |
| Business impact | High 3, medium 2, low 1 |
| Revenue at risk | 2 if $2,000 a year or more, 1 if any, 0 if none |
| Workaround | No 2, partial 1, yes 0 |
| Effort guess | S 0, M minus 2, L minus 4 |
| Score | The sum, out of 15 |
Decision rules
- 10 or more: plan candidate. Decide at the next review.
- 6 to 9: keep under review, collect more requesters.
- 5 or less: usually not planned. Send the kind no.
- Revenue at risk goes to the founder within 1 business day.
- Unknown frequency or impact: write 'unknown' and ask, never guess.
Completion checkClosed only when the decision is recorded and every requester has the answer for it.
For small sales and support teams
Answer the request in one inbox and tell every customer who asked.
In CRMsoftware.pro the chat, the contact and the task sit together. The AI agent answers known limitations from its knowledge base and hands decisions to a person.
- AI agent answers known limitations and workarounds 24/7
- Human handover and the unified inbox for website chat, WhatsApp and more
- Launch, $19 a month billed yearly for 8 users; saved replies on Growth, $49
Free plan: 3 users, AI chat, basic knowledge base and basic tasks, no credit card.
Filled example
One request from 7 customers, from first reply to closed
Bramblebook, a fictional class booking app for small fitness studios, logged the same request from 7 studios between June and September 2026. The seventh came in by chat on 22 September.
Captured: the five fields
| Customer job | Fill a canceled spot without staff texting the waitlist |
| Frequency | Daily; 7 studios, 3 June to 22 September |
| Business impact | 3 to 4 staff hours a week; 2 studios may leave, $2,856 a year |
| Workaround | Partial: Email next person, about 2 minutes per spot |
| Promise boundary | Planned, no date until release |
| Owner and next action | Ines Molina: shipped email to every requester |
Assessment and decision
| Score | 12 of 15: requesters 5, daily 3, high 3, revenue 2, partial 1, effort M minus 2 |
| Decision | Planned on 25 August, shipped on 5 October |
| Shipped email | 7 of 7 studios, on 5 and 6 October |
Completion check and CRM record
| Item | Recorded | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Decision | Shipped, 5 October 2026 | Done |
| Requesters answered | 7 of 7, last on 6 October | Done |
| Knowledge base | New steps, old limitation removed | Done |
| Task | Shipped email, Ines, deadline 6 October | Done |
| Tag, field and notes | Tag 'feature request'; field Waitlist auto-fill on 7 contacts | Done |
| Status in the log | Closed | Done |
Why it matters
How to respond to customer feature requests without overpromising
Most requests should not be built exactly as asked. Pendo analyzed feature usage across 615 software subscriptions and found that 80 percent of features in the average product are rarely or never used, while about 12 percent generate 80 percent of daily usage3. A request is a signal about a customer job, so every reply here restates the job and asks how often it comes up.
Timing promises are the expensive part. Salesforce's main services agreement says customers agree that their purchases are not contingent on the delivery of any future functionality or features1. A small team can hold support to the same rule: say what has been decided, never a date that is not public.
A score keeps the decision fair. Intercom's RICE method rates ideas by reach, impact, confidence and effort, and divides by effort, because more work lowers the priority2. The assessment tab uses a simpler points version.
80%
of features in the average software product are rarely or never used (Pendo)
5 fields
in every reply and in the assessment
1 business day
first reply target
Decisions and promises
Feature request response template: what each decision allows
Support never says more than the row for the current decision allows.
| Decision | Support may say | Never say | Reply |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under review | It is logged, how many asked, when the team reviews requests | That it is coming or likely | Tab 4 |
| Planned | The team will build it; no public date yet | A date, a month, a quarter or 'soon' | Tab 4 |
| Planned, date public | The public date, with its link | Any other date | Tab 4 |
| Not planned | No, the reason, the best alternative | 'Maybe later' | Tab 5 |
| Shipped | It is live, how to use it, thank you | That more is coming, unless decided | Tab 6 |
When a renewal or a new deal depends on a feature, the founder or the account owner replies the same business day.
Excel request log
What is in the Excel feature request log
Four sheets: Request log with the example and 6 more requests, Requesters with 22 sample customers, Summary and Lists. Opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets.
| Column | What it does |
|---|---|
| Request title, customer job | One row per request. The title links customers to it. |
| Requesters, revenue at risk Auto | Customers linked to this title, and the yearly value of those who may leave or not buy. |
| Frequency, business impact, workaround, effort guess | Picked from lists; the points per option are on the Lists sheet. |
| Score Auto | Points out of 15. Green from 10, amber from 6. |
| Decision, promise boundary, owner, next action | The status, what support may say about timing, who acts next. |
| Last reply date, requesters waiting Auto | The latest reply, and how many requesters lack the current answer. |
| Close-the-loop status Auto | Closed only when the decision is Not planned or Shipped and nobody is waiting; otherwise Open, Replies owed, Decision missing or No requesters. |
| Requesters sheet | One row per customer who asked: their words, account value, may leave, last answer sent. Reply sent turns Yes when they have the current answer. |
The Summary sheet counts requests by decision, ranks the top 5 scores and lists requesters still waiting. In the sample, 2 of 7 requests are closed and 3 requesters wait.
How to use
How to use the feature request email template
- 1
Set the rules once
The promise boundary (no dates unless public), who decides, the review day and the points.
- 2
Reply within 1 business day
Send tab 1 or a chat reply and add the customer to the Requesters sheet.
- 3
Score and decide monthly
Sort by score. Record Planned or Not planned for the top requests.
- 4
Send the decision to everyone
Filter Requesters by the title and send tab 4, 5 or 6 to each customer.
- 5
Close and clean up
Closed when nobody is waiting. Update the knowledge base.
Set it up in CRMsoftware.pro
- Create a tag: Settings > Conversation Tags > New tag, Label 'feature request'. Tag every chat with a request.
- Add a custom field: Custom Fields in the left menu > Add field. Entity type Contacts (or Deals), Field label 'Feature request', Field type Select; add your request titles with Add option, then Create field.
- Write the five fields in Notes on the contact or the deal.
- For the close-the-loop email: Tasks > New Task, Task title 'Shipped email: waitlist auto-fill', Assignee the request owner, Deadline the release day, Linked deal if a deal depends on it.
- Put known limitations and workarounds in the AI agent's knowledge base: My Bots > your bot > Basics tab > Knowledge Base. Replace the card when the feature ships.
- On Growth, save tab 1 and the chat replies as Saved Replies: Settings > Saved Replies > New reply, Shortcut (for example /feature-ack), Title, Reply body, Share with team.
There is no public roadmap, voting board or request portal in CRMsoftware.pro: keep the log in this Excel file. Free: AI chat, a basic knowledge base and basic tasks for 3 users. Human handover and the unified inbox: Launch, $19 a month billed yearly for 8 users. Saved replies: Growth, $49 a month billed yearly for 20 users.
Monthly request review, 30 minutes
- Every new request has a customer job, frequency and business impact.
- The top 5 scores have a decision with a date.
- No request shows Replies owed at the end of the week.
FAQ
Questions about feature request emails
What should a feature request email template include?
The customer job, questions about frequency and business impact, the workaround if one exists, and a promise boundary: the status, never a date that is not public. Every reply on this page carries those five fields.
How do you respond to customer feature requests?
Reply within 1 business day: thank the customer, restate the job, ask how often it comes up and what it costs, and log it. When there is a decision, send the matching answer: workaround, planned, not planned or shipped.
How do you say no to a feature request politely?
Say no in the first two sentences, give the real reason in one line, and offer the best alternative, even another tool. Avoid 'maybe later' when the answer is no.
Should I give customers a date for a planned feature?
No, unless the date is already public. Plans change, and a missed date becomes a broken promise. Salesforce's own agreement says purchases are not contingent on future functionality or features1. Say 'planned' and promise an email on release day.
What is a feature request assessment template?
An internal sheet that rates every request on the same factors. This one scores requesters, frequency, business impact, revenue at risk and workaround, minus effort, out of 15, and records the decision, owner and next action.
How do you prioritize feature requests from customers?
Score them the same way and decide at a fixed review. Intercom's RICE method uses reach, impact, confidence and effort2; a small team can use points. Here, 10 or more is a plan candidate, 6 to 9 stays under review, and 5 or less is usually a no.
Is there a Word or Excel feature request template?
Yes. The Word file has all 8 tabs. The Excel file has the Request log with score and close-the-loop status, a Requesters sheet, a Summary and the Lists with the points. Both are free.
When is a feature request closed?
Only when the decision is recorded and every customer who asked has the answer for it. Shipped with one requester still waiting is not closed.
How do I track feature requests in CRMsoftware.pro?
Tag the chat with a Conversation Tag such as 'feature request', add a Select custom field with your request titles to Contacts or Deals, write the five fields in Notes, and create a task with an Assignee and a Deadline for the close-the-loop email. The app has no public roadmap or voting board.
Can the AI agent answer feature requests?
It can say whether the product does something today and give the workaround, if known limitations are in its knowledge base. Decisions and revenue questions go to a person in Live Support, from Launch, $19 a month billed yearly.
Related templates
Free tools
Sources
- Future features in a software contract, section 3.1, read 8 October 2026: Salesforce, Main Services Agreement (last updated 1 September 2026)
- Prioritization by reach, impact, confidence and effort, read 8 October 2026: Intercom, RICE: Simple prioritization for product managers (Sean McBride, 5 January 2018)
- Feature usage across 615 software subscriptions, read 8 October 2026: Pendo, The 2019 Feature Adoption Report (5 February 2019)
- Plans and prices: CRMsoftware.pro pricing
Every customer who asked hears the answer.
Start free with 3 users, AI chat, a basic knowledge base and basic tasks. Launch, $19 a month billed yearly, adds human handover and the unified inbox; Growth, $49, adds saved replies.