In this industry, going above and beyond to help customers is expected. Giving 500% is not unusual (no matter how unrealistic that number is). Here are 8 tips for providing stellar customer service.
IMAGE: PEXELS
1. Smile
When you go shopping and the cashier doesn’t smile at you, do you feel excited? Often, employees who don’t return my smile to them make me feel like they don’t care. Even though you may not see customers’ faces, smile anyway. People can hear a smile on the phone. (Little bit harder if it’s through a screen – but an emoji goes far.)
2. Never Stop Learning
Never stop learning. Everybody has a different problem. In this industry, you must keep learning more effective techniques for resolving every sort of issue that props up. This will prevent the number of agitated customers in the queue.
3. Live Chat
I love Amazon’s “Live Chat” function. Maybe you’ve used it – basically, it’s a service that lets you talk with a rep in real time. I’ve never waited for more than 2 minutes. Adding this one feature to your business will make it easier for you to help your customers in a quicker time. This included business text messaging, where customers can you reach you using any text messaging app.
4. Honesty
Although a large part of your job revolves around knowing your business inside out, you can’t be blamed for not knowing every little detail. The key here, when presented with an issue you don’t know how to resolve, is to admit that you don’t know – and then point the customer in the direction someone you know will help them, personally – not the department who usually handles matters in the area. There is nothing more frustrating than being tossed between 3-4 departments and re-explaining the issue repeatedly.
5. Care
All it takes is one unfortunate event to lose a customer. I read a review from a local woman about a store I frequented. The store wouldn’t refund $70 to her mother, who went through a round of chemotherapy and radiation treatments for cancer. I no longer buy from that store. Be cautious and hyper-aware of the reality that customers can—and will—leave you if you don’t take care of them.
6. Be Strong
It is crucial for you to have thick skin in this industry; there are a lot of fuming bulls out there with a lifetime of frustrations and things going wrong. One skill that is necessary in any industry is the ability to defuse a customer who’s about to blow. A large part of this business deals with calming down people who are ready to go postal. Once the tension has cleared, people tend to feel more grateful than ever when a solution is found after they’ve let off some steam.
7. ASAP
When possible, avoid “taking your time” to solve customers’ problems. It wastes everyone’s time. Practice how to solve problems more quickly. The more time you spend on one customers’ issue, the longer other people will be waiting in the queue.
8. Be Human
I went to Staples one day in search of a new laptop. I went to the cheapest one they had and flagged down a rep to help me with the purchase. He looked at the one I had my eye on and, in a hushed tone, said “I don’t think you want this one. A lot of people who bought it made a return.” He showed me that it only had 30gb of hard drive space! I ended up buying a more expensive laptop, true, but I’ve had it for 2 years so far, thanks to that unnamed Staples hero who talked me out of a bad deal. that moment, I felt special beyond belief – a feeling I try to pass on to other people who call into my business. Be human.
Conclusion
These are just a few strategies you can use for providing customers good service. How awesome customers’ experiences depends entirely on how forthcoming you are, and how well/fast you solved their problems. No matter which industry you’re a part of, we can all take a refresher course in Helping People 101.
If you are interested in even more business-related articles and information from us here at Bit Rebels, then we have a lot to choose from.
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