In this day and age customer service is marketing. It’s PR. In the era of social media, screenshots and smartphones, a bad experience won’t lose you one customer; it could lose you hundreds. For example, Amy’s Baking Co, who had a famous meltdown after negative feedback about their appearance on TV show Kitchen Nightmares – and have now closed.
Even slow or lacklustre service can be a disaster – so here are some tips on how to turbo charge your customer service and become a cut above the rest.
Table of Contents
1) Hire the Right People
This depends on the position. If you are looking for an entry-level customer support rep, hire for personality. You can train that professional, friendly candidate to be an excellent advisor. It’s much harder to alter the behaviour and attitude of a bitter and misanthropic (but more experienced) employee.
More senior or technical roles require both. Don’t be fooled by the myth that genius balances a bad attitude. A bullying supervisor or obnoxious colleague can reduce productivity, increase staff turnover and lead to a rise in absenteeism.
2) Support Your Staff
When you’ve hired your team of all-stars, support them. Provide the right training, and ensure they have all the information they need to resolve customer issues. Giving your team nothing but a rigid script is a surefire way to generate stress and frustration for both parties.
Cheerful, caring people who genuinely empathise with customers make for excellent support reps. They’re also more likely to burn out if they live or die with the problem. Check in with them regularly and don’t assume all your staff will be motivated by the same incentives and team building initiatives.
3) Rapid Response
It is essential to avoid long wait times; customers have reported feeling frustrated after waiting for as little as 6 minutes. If there are delays, monitor and spot check how long it takes for team members to answer a call. This could highlight a need for training or an understaffed office. Skip premium numbers; they decrease customer satisfaction and can exacerbate any response issues.
Use the right software, equipment and staff to ensure a rapid response. Provide fast computers, a solid internet connection and compatible software. Avoid reps having to repeat themselves with wireless call centre headsets and noise cancelling microphones.
4) Be Straightforward
Customers are so frustrated with customer support lines that they have created online forums dedicated to ‘getting around’ customer service red tape. Consumer groups are producing complex step-by-step guides to help people get information as mundane as an accurate bill.
(While we don’t advocate script based support (see above) a set of simple, useful procedures will help your staff resolve issues quickly and effectively, to the standards you expect).
Be straightforward, helpful and accessible. Don’t put your customers in a position where they need a cheat sheet just to talk to you.
5) Feedback
Get it and give it.
Solicit reviews and send out surveys to enable you to analyse the customer experience at every stage.
Respond to positive feedback and take negative responses on board. In all cases, be gracious and go above and beyond to fix the problem. Respond to all reviews and queries quickly and compassionately (however ludicrous they may seem).
Make life easy for everyone by diversifying your customer service options. Offer instant messaging, email, phone numbers, and monitor your social media accounts.
Above all; always look for a win win solution.
About Carson Derrow
