It doesn’t matter how great your product is: If your customer service is poor, you will likely face a lot of problems.
Guess what? It’s not impossible to turn things around. Enhancing your customer service skills is completely possible with proper guidance & support.
What is Superior Customer Service?
Customer service means providing support to both prospective and existing customers. Customer service professionals commonly answer customer questions through almost all mediums – in-person, phone, email, chat, and social media interactions. The empathetic help of customer service keeps customers’ needs at the forefront in every interaction.
Superior customer service will take this a step forward, and make it an unforgettable experience.
Why is Customer Service Important?
Good customer service is a revenue generator. It gives customers a complete, cohesive experience that aligns with an organization’s purpose.
Let us look at some interesting Statistics.
- Companies lose more than $62 billion annually due to poor customer service.
- Seven out of 10 consumers say they have spent more money to do business with a company that delivers great service.
There are no checklist of job experience & qualifications make a perfect Customer Service Person. Instead, there are certain Key Skills a Good Customer Service person should possess.
Here are some key skills that every support professional should seek to develop, and every leader should look for when hiring new team members.
1. Patience
- Patience is crucial for customer service professionals. Because customers who reach out to support are often confused, disappointed & frustrated.
- Being listened to and handled with patience goes a long way in helping customers feel like you are going to solve their frustrations.
2. Attentiveness
- It is important to pay attention to individual customers’ experiences, be mindful and attentive to the feedback that you receive at large.
- You have to be attentive to pick up on what customers are telling you without directly saying it.
3. Ability to communicate clearly
- Your customer support team is on the front lines of problem solving for the product & will be the voice of your company to your customers. They represent the needs & thoughts of customers to your company.
- The ability to communicate clearly when working with customers is a key skill because miscommunications can result in disappointment and frustration.
- The best customer service professionals know how to keep their communications with customers simple and leave nothing to doubt.
4. Problem solving skills
- Customers do not always self-diagnose their issues. It is up to the support representative to take the initiative to reproduce the trouble at hand before navigating a solution.
- The support team is often tasked with the tough work of cleaning up other people’s mess. So, it is important that they understand how not to internalize the urgency — and potential ire — of frustrated customers.
- Instead, they know how to keep a cool head and a steady, guiding hand. Having such Problem Solving Skills is the key.
5. Time management skills
- It is good to be patient and spend a little extra time with customers to understand their problems and needs.
- But there is a limit to the amount of time you can dedicate to each customer, so your team needs to be up-skilled with Time Management training to get customers what they want in an efficient manner.
- The best customer service professionals are quick to recognize when they cannot help a customer so they can quickly get that customer to someone who can help.
6. Writing skills
- Good writing means getting as close to reality as words will allow. Without an ounce of exaggeration, being a good writer is the most overlooked, yet most necessary skill to look for when it comes to customer support.
- Effective Business Writing skill that gives a unique ability to convey nuance.
Here is an example:
How a sentence is phrased can make the difference between sounding kind of rude “You have to log out first” & sounding like you care “Logging out should help solve that problem quickly!”
Good writers also tend to use complete sentences and proper grammar — qualities that subtly gesture toward the security and trustworthiness of your company.
Not only will they enable your team to craft coherent internal documentation, they signify a person who thinks and communicates clearly.
“PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT”
Just like Swimming, you can not become good at Soft Skills like Customer Service just by reading the concepts. You need to try, experiment, implement and learn from the experience.
Learn From The Experts.
Intellisoft organizes a 1 day workshop on improving the Customer Service Communication Skills.
P.S. – According to the World Economic Forum Report, Soft Skills are the key skills required by employers. More than 50% people need re-skilling in these key skills. Make sure you are ready for the future.
