When people talk about Service Techniques, they won’t forget this saying, “Building A World-Class Customer Service Does Not Happen By Accident, It Happens By Design”.
A loyal customer is just like a treasure.
Try to keep it with you but hide from the world. Customer satisfaction is an important aspect to determine the position of the organization.
To be able to satisfactorily deliver to the customer, continuous efforts have to be put in the direction of serving them.
But if you aren’t careful around, they’ll be lost to your rival companies in a heartbeat.
Customers can be sometimes difficult to deal with, but regardless of any situation or circumstance, they should be handled with utmost care and sincerity.
It is the duty of us, the service providers, to act calmly and in a patient manner in every difficult situation.
Every organization wants to see their customers as happy and satisfied.
That is why we have brought to you these five most important customer service techniques that ought to do its magic!
#1. Important Service Techniques: Follow Your Customers Closely
Listening to your customer closely and following up on what he/she has to say is a very important customer skill that every company should follow.
While the idea of summarizing the words and then repeating it again to the customer might seem absurd to many but really is not!
First off, listening carefully to your customer makes sure that you don’t skip any detail. It also enables you to be able to register the words in your mind and then summarize and repeat them to the customer.
By doing so, it gives the customer the impression that he was being listened to properly and his/her problem is being understood.
By repeating their words to the customer itself, you make sure that you heard them correctly and can start with the rectification of the problem.
In this world, where people seem to have no time, it becomes very hard to go back and fix the issue, if the mistake is made.
It’s always better to take precautions than look for a cure later.
Just listening to their problem or broadcasting their words to them is not enough.
The company or the employee should take up the problem with the concerned department and should try their best to solve the problem in a particular and short time-frame.
The employee should also make sure that the follow-up process of the problem is also discussed with the customer stating the solutions involved clearly and briefly.
The customer in no cases should be left wondering as to what steps would be taken next.
The ability to be able to communicate effectively and efficiently is a much-needed skill that every employee should possess and exhibit.
By making the steps involved in resolving the problem to the customer clearly and constructively, you ensure that the customer is well-informed and is not left in confusion, which is the trait of bad customer service.
#2. Gain the Knowledge Of Your Product
Consider yourself in a situation where some customer goes up to one of your employees asking about the information on a product which is newly launched.
But he is not able to explain to the customer properly about the product because he has low or no knowledge. Wouldn’t that be insulting for you?
Additionally, wouldn’t that particular incident has the power to tarnish the reputation of your company? While it may not be damaging enough, but people are sure to look down on your company. One bad review surfaces and you lose your customers.
Because most of the customers tend to believe their ears instead of their eyes, it could cause a huge loss to your company.
See how such small things can pose an effect on your company?
To avoid instances like these, you should always keep your employees well-informed about new products that launched into the market before stacking them in your store.
Make the product training a part of the onboarding process along with the updates on refreshers which generally tend to happen.
Alternatively, you can also encourage the use of display screens in your store which would effectively and successfully explain the complex products.
#3. Mirror What They Say
According to experts, repeating the words said to you by the customer listing their needs makes them believe that you’ve understood each and everything they said.
Mirroring their words and language helps establish an understanding between the two parties and leads them to make out that you have acknowledged whatever they said.
By repeating the words to the customer, you also make sure that you only understood what they had said, nothing more, and nothing less.
As mentioned in the point above, rephrasing helps minimize the tendency to commit a mistake, if any.
The tone of the voice also plays a great role in communication between the customer and the employee.
Mirroring the tone, as long as it is not an angry or frustrated one, communicates to the customer that the employee values your sayings and that you are important to them.
Using a normal considerate tone with the customer implies that you respect them. While talking over text, it can be hard to make out the mood of the person.
Since the responses can be short and quick, it can be difficult to decide if the person is angry or cheerful. Hence, it is of great importance to choose the words wisely.
It is advised that the message should have a gentle and informative tone, let’s say you could also make the use of words like thank you and please to let the customer know that you are being respectful and gentle with them.
Keeping your patience while talking to an agitated customer is a skill that every employee should possess and exercise.
#4. Make Use of Templates Efficiently
The customer doesn’t want to feel like he’s talking to a robot instead of a person.
While the use of templates can help in providing excellent customer service with immediate responses, it should also be taken care of that the templates shouldn’t lack any kind of gentle or pleasing tone to make the customer think otherwise.
The template should be properly structured and can provide the customer with a great amount of information when used wisely.
The templates can contain a structured text, step by step responses for replying to the customer with commonly asked questions.
While it’s important for templates to contain some pre-written text, the templates should also follow certain guidelines.
The employee should make sure that he personalizes the text in the template to make it look more conversable and clearer.
This use of personalized templates will lead to the formation of a personal kind of relationship with the customer and benefit the company in the end.
#5. Know All the Customer Service Media
While the specialization of a person is restricted to only some specific areas, an employee should have the knowledge and skills of being able to handle all the customer support channels in order to handle any kind of customer service medium handed to him. He should be easily able to guide himself through any kind of situation when faced with via chat, calls, text or over social media.
Nowadays, people mostly prefer reaching customer support over text through mediums like social media, live chat or even emails. Said that, it is mandatory for agents to master the skill of communicating over the emotions correctly and effectively.
Mentioned below are the four mediums of communication that need to be mastered by every agent.
1. Email
While writing an email requires expertise in writing skills. What you write and the form of writing can convey a lot. Emails should be written in a way that is clear and short.
It shouldn’t contain any unnecessary information. Keep the information structured but brief. Make the use of templates but those should be personalized to add a little personal touch.
Respond as quickly as you can and never forget to proofread and spell-check the e-mail.
2. Phone
Communication over the phone is easier which makes it easier for emotions to get deciphered. Any rigidness or hardness in the tone can be easily detected so the agents should make sure remain calm at all the times.
Keeping their calm is a skill every agent needs to master in order to meet their customer expectations.
While talking to a customer over call always remember to patiently listen to the customer and acknowledge his problem.
Try to communicate with the customer by smiling. Smiling is a gesture which would deliver a sense of welcoming to the customer.
Repeat the customer’s language and phrases he used on the phone to tell him that you understand.
3. Social media
Social media is a great way of reaching support when other forms of communication become invalid.
Social media support is generally handled by a senior executive and requires exceptional skills.
Try and respond to your customers always and avoid lashing out upon being confronted. Use a sweet and calm tone each time.
Be careful of reacting to whatever situation as you will be in the public’s eye all the time.
4. Live chat
Live chat requires skills similar to both talking over text and an e-mail. A live chat should always be kept brief and exact.
But again, it shouldn’t be too brief to leave the customer in confusion and make him type again. Pre-empt any question that you know would be asked before the customer even goes for it. Use a decent tone and try not to multitask as it may create some confusion.
