I came across 10 Tips for Impeccable Customer Service at Customer Service Manager. Thanks to Bill Hogg for sharing these insights, I've added some of my own comments and customer service tips along the way as well:
1. Figure out how to prevent the problem from happening again. It's not productive to just field a customer call solve their immediate, on the surface problem, then do it again and again. Something caused the problem to arise in the first place, it should be part
2. Treat customers like a human being. Ever have a call where you felt you were interrupting the support rep's day? Big no-no. Each customer should be treated with dignity and more importantly, expect them to act like responsible adults. It's amazing how when you expect someone to act a certain way, they usually do.
3. Go beyond the minimum. Taking a few extra moments to go a little further and improve the overall customer experience is going to have big payoff. Customers wont dread calling you, or even purchasing your product again because of dreaded support issues. The word of mouth you'll get wont hurt too much either.
4. Don't play the blame game. A sure fire way to get your unhappy customer even more fired up is to play the blame game. Instead of pointing the finger and blaming the customer, circumstances, vendors or anything else, simply take the steps to fix it.
5. Don't take it personal. Customers are angry at the situation, not specifically at you. When customer service reps begin to take it personally more anger gets added to the conversation and everyone loses. The problem is very unlikely to be fixed, the customer is going to hang up angry and the rep will probably answer the next call still angry. Causing a vicious cycle to start.
6. Listen. A common mistake is to hear a few buzz words and assume you know what the customer's problem is. That's not always how it works. People use different terminology when explaining things, really listen to what's going on.
7. Don't make promises you can't keep. One of the most important things sales people learn is to "under promise and over deliver." This is true for customer service departments as well. I'm not saying don't promise an excellent customer experience, but don't make promises you wont be able to keep either. Sometimes this can be a tough one, you get caught up in the call, you're trying to go the extra mile, you let the customer talk you into something the organization can't do. Remember the customer is reasonable and don't over promise.
8. Make customers a priority. It's important in every customer interaction everyone in your organization (sales, client support, etc.) allows the customer or client to feel as if they're a priority. Don't do four other things while talking to a customer. Believe me, they can tell the difference.
9. Deal with problems immediately. Putting off investigating customer complaints isn't going to make the problem go away. The only chance you have is the customer will forget - but even more likely they will get frustrated with you. And frustrated customers share their frustration with friends, family, colleagues and random people they meet in the grocery store. Why subject your organization to that kind of negative word of mouth, when you can just investigate the cause and come up with a solution.
10. Follow up. It's important to call or email customers back after the problem has been resolved, or if it's been awhile and you're still working on it. calling after a customer should have received a big order will certainly not cause a loss in any goodwill either. This is not an upsell opportunity. This is a chance for you to just see how things are going, make sure the customer is happy, show customer experience is important to you. You may even get some great customer feedback out of the interaction.
People under estimate how quality customer service can increase customer loyalty, boost customer retention program ROI and impact the bottom line. Think about it, how many good customer service experiences have you had lately?
1. Figure out how to prevent the problem from happening again. It's not productive to just field a customer call solve their immediate, on the surface problem, then do it again and again. Something caused the problem to arise in the first place, it should be part
2. Treat customers like a human being. Ever have a call where you felt you were interrupting the support rep's day? Big no-no. Each customer should be treated with dignity and more importantly, expect them to act like responsible adults. It's amazing how when you expect someone to act a certain way, they usually do.
3. Go beyond the minimum. Taking a few extra moments to go a little further and improve the overall customer experience is going to have big payoff. Customers wont dread calling you, or even purchasing your product again because of dreaded support issues. The word of mouth you'll get wont hurt too much either.
4. Don't play the blame game. A sure fire way to get your unhappy customer even more fired up is to play the blame game. Instead of pointing the finger and blaming the customer, circumstances, vendors or anything else, simply take the steps to fix it.
5. Don't take it personal. Customers are angry at the situation, not specifically at you. When customer service reps begin to take it personally more anger gets added to the conversation and everyone loses. The problem is very unlikely to be fixed, the customer is going to hang up angry and the rep will probably answer the next call still angry. Causing a vicious cycle to start.
6. Listen. A common mistake is to hear a few buzz words and assume you know what the customer's problem is. That's not always how it works. People use different terminology when explaining things, really listen to what's going on.
7. Don't make promises you can't keep. One of the most important things sales people learn is to "under promise and over deliver." This is true for customer service departments as well. I'm not saying don't promise an excellent customer experience, but don't make promises you wont be able to keep either. Sometimes this can be a tough one, you get caught up in the call, you're trying to go the extra mile, you let the customer talk you into something the organization can't do. Remember the customer is reasonable and don't over promise.
8. Make customers a priority. It's important in every customer interaction everyone in your organization (sales, client support, etc.) allows the customer or client to feel as if they're a priority. Don't do four other things while talking to a customer. Believe me, they can tell the difference.
9. Deal with problems immediately. Putting off investigating customer complaints isn't going to make the problem go away. The only chance you have is the customer will forget - but even more likely they will get frustrated with you. And frustrated customers share their frustration with friends, family, colleagues and random people they meet in the grocery store. Why subject your organization to that kind of negative word of mouth, when you can just investigate the cause and come up with a solution.
10. Follow up. It's important to call or email customers back after the problem has been resolved, or if it's been awhile and you're still working on it. calling after a customer should have received a big order will certainly not cause a loss in any goodwill either. This is not an upsell opportunity. This is a chance for you to just see how things are going, make sure the customer is happy, show customer experience is important to you. You may even get some great customer feedback out of the interaction.
People under estimate how quality customer service can increase customer loyalty, boost customer retention program ROI and impact the bottom line. Think about it, how many good customer service experiences have you had lately?
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