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7 Essential Components of Excellent Customer Service

On by Ramsey

20 tips to improve your customer service skills: for representatives and managers

16 min read
Whether you’re working in a customer-facing role, managing a team in a contact center or looking to improve customer experience on a company-wide level, use these customer service tips and skills to make sure you’re at the top of your game.

Excellent customer service isn’t just down to your frontline staff, but a customer might be won or lost there. That’s why it’s so important every employee works together to resolve issues and create memorable moments – and empower your frontline agents to be as valuable to the customer as possible. It could be the difference between the customer coming back again, or going elsewhere.

The following tips are designed to help both customer service representatives, customer service management, and operations staff to work together to make experiences that matter. Developing customer service skills is important for the whole team to thrive – and to ensure customers keep coming back.

Prioritize each customer.

Every customer deserves to be treated as the important part of your business that they are. Set this standard from the beginning to ensure your team knows that customer satisfaction is the No. 1 priority. The future of your business depends on your customers, so your team must treat everyone well at every touchpoint.

It’s vital to hang on to your customers. Talk is cheap – you have to treat each one of them like royalty at every opportunity. Your customers are the reason you are in business; it’s your job to ensure they are happy and want to come back for more. So the next time you are overwhelmed and frustrated, remember never to take it out on the customers. Retention is where the money is – customer service is more important than pricing. Your customers want to know they are valued. Provide the best service possible every time you can and hold on to your customers for dear life.

Strive for a great reputation.

No one wants to do business with a company that everyone is complaining about. If your business offers poor customer service and low-quality products, word will travel quickly and your customers will take their business elsewhere.

Make sure everyone in your company strives to do their best to give your customers an unforgettable experience. Your customers should have such good experiences with your business they want to share them. Customer service is where the magic happens – each interaction gives you the chance to prove to your customers how much you care. Focus on ways to create relationships that matter by giving your customers the chance to talk with people who care and don’t just give them a generic response. Your team must embrace the philosophy that your brand’s reputation is of utmost importance.

Conclusion

While great customer service can help you become a market leader – to the level that companies are now using customer service as a way to stand out against the competition. Are you ready to do the same?

The 3 important qualities of customer service revolve around professionalism, patience, and having a “people-first” attitude. Customer service will vary from customer to customer, but as long as you’re following these 3 qualities, you will be able to support them.

You can make your customer shappy by aligning with their needs and making sure that your business is committed to helping them achieve their long-term goals. Any business that puts the customer first can make its customers happier.

Yes, it’s OK to disagree with a customer. Customers want to feel that you are listening to them, and when they know that you are, it has a calming effect on them – and it shows you are taking their problem seriously.

KEEP TABS ON YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE METRICS

#19 Monitor Performance Metrics For Your Team

Don’t rely on “It feels like we spend a lot of time addressing this issue” when customer data can easily eliminate the guesswork. All you need to do is to track the frequency of issues as well as the average handle time and it will give you the insights you need to improve your business.

#20 Solve Problems the First Time Around

One of the best ways to keep customers happy and be seen as a company that provides outstanding service is to practice first contact resolution . In other words, solve your customers’ problems the first time they call in / contact you . There’s nothing your customers will appreciate more than getting their issues addressed the first time around.

#21 Make Sure Your Customer Service Team is Happy

Your customers’ happiness and your customer service team’s happiness are equally important. Make sure you keep tabs on how your customer service team feels about their working conditions, compensation, opportunities for career advancement, training, available tools, resources, and their peers. Normalize collecting and receiving feedback for your employees so that you can set benchmarks, revise goals, and track performance metrics .

PERSONALIZE YOUR CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

#22 Revisit Your Customer Experience Strategy

Bad customer service at any point in the customer journey can hamper your relationship. We suggest that you pay critical attention to key touchpoints: customer trial periods, customer sign-ups, customer onboarding, etc. Your support team needs to have a complete view of the customer journey, or you risk bad experiences getting in the way of your business. If they discover a lapse in services, they need to escalate such issues with the management team so they can be fixed.

#23 Be Accessible

When your support team works day in and day out to add a personal touch to customer interactions, you should understand that 50% of this effort refers to being available. You have to make it easy for your customers to reach you when in need. You might be part of a digital-first business but you should try to meet your customers in person or offer a video call for face-to-face interactions. Remember, the more ways you are accessible via a phone call, a chat, text message, or email, the more trust you’ll build.

#24 Be Where Your Customers Are

Make sure your support team has the requisite customer data to craft a personalized customer journey. Be present wherever your customers are. Respond to customer concerns and posts on social media (LinkedIn/ Facebook/ Twitter/ Reviews). Don’t forget to showcase your support team pictures and bios on your website. Show your customers that your company has real people working to cater to their needs.

#25 Create a Customer Community

A great way to make your customers feel valued is to invite them to a community based around your product/ services. You r customer service team can initiate this by bringing your customers together for webinars, interactive sessions , social media forums , trade shows, and conventions. Even though your customers visit these forums to learn from you, it’s a great opportunity for you to learn from them.

#26 Add Personal Touch to Show You’re Human

We are sure that your support agents are doing their best to resolve customer issues quickly and efficiently. However, you should encourage them to identify common grounds and shared interests with the customers. They can leverage insights from a real-time dashboard of the right CRM Software and personalize the customer journey. Not only would this help them resolve conflicts more easily but promote customer loyalty.

#27 Self-Service: Help Customers Help Themselves

Good customer support should always be available, even if you aren’t. Chatbots, FAQs, and Knowledge Bases are a great way to make resources available to your customers without getting involved personally. However, your customers want to be personally catered to. Make sure you are offering a self-service helpdesk with screenshots, videos, formatted layouts, so that your customers can choose from these resources at their convenience and avail your services better.

#28 Appreciate Your Customers

Take the time to thank your customers for their faith in you and your services. This is the kind of gesture that builds rock-solid customer relationships. Customer appreciation goes a long way. Special discounts and a preview to new features for your loyal customers will continue to be a win-win strategy, helping you to improve customer retention and promote customer loyalty.

#29 Remember that Customer Service is Everyone’s Job

Everyone in your company should understand the customers’ pain points. When your whole company is encouraged to be involved in ensuring a great customer service experience, each team finds a faster way to make amends and drive your business forward. It’s simple, yet often overlooked. For companies that are just getting started, we recommend you just talk to your customers. Here’s a quick guide that might help.

Sources:

https://www.qualtrics.com/experience-management/customer/service-tips-skills/
https://www.business.com/articles/megan-totka-components-of-excellent-customer-service/
https://www.superoffice.com/blog/five-ways-to-deliver-excellent-customer-service/
https://freshdesk.com/customer-service-skills/customer-service-tips-blog/