Are You Winning in the Customer Support Arena
When it comes to providing outstanding customer service/support, it’s the people who make all the difference. Remember people are your greatest and most cherished asset. When your dispatcher or call taker are professional, no matter whether it is booking a call or trying to resolve an issue, they must represent you and your company in a fashion that exudes your principles. While it certainly takes time, training, practice and dedication to become a leader in customer service/support, it doesn’t have to be that hard when you know what exactly to focus your efforts on. To win and be the “Champion” in this arena you need to have specific skills and a commitment to hone them. Commitment equals excellence, excellence equals being the leader and “Champion. Here are the skills you need to hone to achieve this.
Listening
Listening is the key to effective and coherent communication. Without the ability to listen carefully to what a customer is saying and hearing what the customer is saying, a message could be easily misunderstood and misinterpreted. As a result, communication breaks down leaving a customer frustrated and angry. A good listener will not only listen to what is being said, but also read between the lines to what is not being said. If your listening skills are weak, there are specific trainings that you can seek out for improving them. How do you become a better listener? Here are 5 techniques to start with:
- Choose to Be Intentionally Present
- Become an Other-minded Listener (create a safe environment for the other person)
- Be Empathetic and Never Judge
- Don’t Talk While the Other Person is Still Talking
- Show That You’re Actually Listening
Clear Communication
If you are not a great communicator, you will probably not go far in customer service/support. An ability to communicate clearly and effectively along with written skills are critical and essential. This also involves avoiding miscommunications that might lead to misunderstandings, frustrations and unwanted consequences. Make sure your data is clear and confirmed when it comes to important points, you need to communicate things clearly, simply and leave no doubt.
Attentiveness
Attentiveness should run through every customer service experience – during the interaction and after it’s over. How often have you contacted customer service/support and been subjected to obviously scripted responses by people who have little to no knowledge of the industry they are in. It is at these times you feel like the attention is to the script and not to your specific issue or problem. There’s nothing wrong with using canned responses, if they are personalized, used wisely and appropriately to fit the issue or problem being addressed. Being attentive shows your client that you care and understand the home service business you are representing.
Patience
Customer service/support is a stressful and challenging job at times when we must deal with frustrated and angry customers. In these situations, patience is a MUST and the way you respond to those customers will either calm them down or continue to heighten their frustration or anger. You using calmness in your voice and patience in your tone brings you to controlling and solving the issue is a calm atmosphere.
Self-control
Maintaining self-control is key in customer service/support. Apart from showing the ability to handle surprises and deal with angry customers without losing your professionalism, it also goes to treating each customer interaction separately regardless of how bad the previous one was. You just need to always keep in mind that every new customer presents a completely different issue and that the frustrated customer from the previous call has no relation to the next customer waiting to be taken care of.
Use Positive Language
The way you express yourself will affect whether your message is received positively or negatively. That is especially the case in a chat room scenario. In conversations with your customers face-to-face or over the phone, body language, face expressions and tone of voice convey far more than the meaning of the words, while in chat conversations words are all you have to convey the message. In today’s world chat is becoming more and more prevalent in all sectors of customer service/support. That is why your skill to use positive language and avoid negative terminology will more likely leave your customers feeling satisfied.
Be Persuasive
Knowing how to speak persuasively will dramatically improve your customer interactions. The silver bullet of persuasive speaking is putting the total focus of your words on what the customer is asking and needing, rather than on yourself. This means calling a customer by name, using action-oriented words, do not use past tense and avoiding statements such as I know, I think, or I believe. Putting your customers at the center of your conversation will make them feel more respected and appreciated.
Take Responsibility
When things go wrong, and they will, customers expect you to take responsibility for the problem. It starts with being able to sincerely apologize to a customer on behalf of your company, even when a problem or a situation that caused the customer’s frustration was not your fault at all or could be by an action the customer themselves took. It also means you’re ready, willing and able to do whatever it takes to make sure the issue gets fixed as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Are you willing to be a professional in the customer service/support arena?
Hone the above, teach and train the above and you will be leading the attack. Also share your “Championship” and pay it forward to all employees to keep your company, profits and reputation strong in the trade you represent.
