One question that seems to come up frequently in business is, “Just what makes good customer service?”
It can be tricky to answer this because every person is different, and they may have different expectations of what makes good customer service. However, if we look closer, then you can define good customer service as:
- Meeting all the expectations of the customer
- Leaving them feeling satisfied with the answers that they have received
- Dealing with their query promptly
- Respecting them
If you can manage to meet all of these things, you should deliver an extraordinary level of customer service.
Good customer service can come naturally; however, we can all do with improving our soft skills and making sure that we provide the best service possible for our business. To help you learn more, we have put together some of the things that you have to remember when delivering the best customer service.
The key points of good customer service
One of the main things you need to remember when it comes to delivering the best customer service is that your customers are people. They have needs, have emotions, and are different from the last customer you dealt with. This means that you need to quickly learn the best approach to take with them and ensure that you speak to them and deal with their issue in a way that matches their wants and needs.
You should also make sure that you are as natural as possible when you deal with these customers. Of course, there will be some sense of not being entirely yourself, but this should never be obvious to the person on the other end of the phone, email or live chat facility.
You must remember that your customer should never feel that they are being rushed, that you are ready to move on to the next customer. They should think that you are there for them, even if it is just for 10 minutes before you move on.
Finally, you should always be thinking about how you can improve your customer service. You may feel that you are already doing great, but the chances are that you could improve things much more than you realise.
What skills do you need for excellent customer service?
The next question that you are likely to want to answer is, “Exactly which skills are needed for customer service and delivering a great experience to your customers?”
You need to be able to listen
One of the main points of customer service is that you listen to your customers and learn more about their issue and how you can then help them. Listening is not always the easiest thing to do, especially when you feel ready to jump in and answer the question. But, it is so vital that you keep on listening to what they have to say because you may miss a key detail, or you may end up irritating your customer when you are supposed to be helping them.
Finally, listening can also help you match your customer’s tone and conversational style, which is a great way to help improve the service they are given.
You need to stay calm
Remaining calm and patient when dealing with a customer is another key part of delivering customer service. Especially when they are irate, if you match them and start to become angry yourself, you will only make the situation worse, and you may not ever end up coming to a resolution.
Of course, it can be hard to stay calm when someone is shouting and getting angry on the other end of the phone. But doing this is incredibly vital when delivering a high level of customer service and ensuring that you have a happy customer at the end of all your efforts.
You need to have the answer
There is a good chance that a large part of customer service will be answering questions about your business and the service you provide. This means that you should always make sure that your customer service team knows what they are talking about and know the answers to some of the main questions. That way, the customer will feel that they can trust what the person on the other end is saying and think that their query has been answered.
You need to be a good actor
Not feeling like yourself? Under the weather? In a bad mood? This might be the case, but this should never be reflected in how you deal with your customers. To provide a good quality of customer service, all of the time, you need to make sure that you are the best actor that you can be. When you are at work, you are dealing with those all-important customers, and you need to turn that mood around.
You need to be sensitive
Whilst you may not understand where your customer is coming from, you must show as much empathy as possible. Emotional intelligence is when you can manage your emotions and recognise the feelings of the other person too. Showing this skill allows you to have interactions with your customers, which is beneficial to them and your business.
You need to be able to say the right thing
Whilst you may not be a sales agent, you must remember that interacting with your customer is still a chance to sell your business and what you can offer them. This means that you need to find ways to impress, upsell and under-promise on what you can do. All of which can contribute towards having some impressed customers who come back time and time again.
Whilst delivering a high level of customer service is not difficult, it is not always something that comes easily to us all. However, with some hard work, practice and a smile or two, you can deliver a level of service to your customers that will leave them feeling that they have received the very best possible experience.
Wrapping Up
Of course, if you are concerned about making sure that your customers are happy every time, why not look into outsourcing your customer service? That way, you won’t have to worry about whether or not you are getting it right, and you will have some time to focus on other aspects of your business. Speak to one of our experts today and get on with what you do best.
