If content is king, customer service is its queen. People want great products and services, and when they run into problems, they want a solution fast. Products and services also include content. Hence, great products must be backed by great customer service.
Your customer service team will be the front face that customers interact with at your company, so in many ways they are the ones who give a lasting impression. If it’s good impression, the result will be a great relationship between your company and its customers. This will lead to more sales, customer retention, and overall growth. If the impression is bad, of course, you can expect the opposite—a loss of customers and lack of overall satisfaction.
Now, no customer service team is perfect, and even if your team is doing well there are always areas that could use improvement. Whether your team is full of rockstars or is struggling to keep up, these three tips are sure to get the ball rolling, or make the ball go faster, as the case may be.
Keep everyone in sync and reaffirm company goals
No matter how talented your customer service team is, or how sophisticated your CRM is, you could use a great CRM like Microsoft dynamics or a great call center software like Bright Pattern. If everyone on your team is struggling because they are not on the same page, working in sync will help everyone along towards the same common goal.
The first step to an improved quality of customer service is to make sure everyone on the team understands the importance of good customer service, the business’s strategy to achieve that service, and the individual efforts needed to bring fruition to the plan.
This would be a good time to highlight each person’s individual strength and their importance to the company. Workers are more motivated to put in the work if they feel like their individual efforts are important and appreciated.
When everyone is on the same page and fully understands the importance of their job, you may move on to the next tip.
Analyze the current method of service delivery, then check for gaps and pitfalls
This is the time to look at your current service under a microscope and scrutinize. “Is the current service working? Are there any areas that are lacking? Can it be improved?” are some of the many questions you need to ask.
Review the entire cycle from the time customers first make contact when their complaint gets solved. Are there any gaps in service? Is there anything that needs to be implemented?
Another way to garner information is by asking customers. You can send feedback forms to customers after a session to find out how they felt about your service, or you could send out a survey to get the customer’s side of the story.
Make customer-centric improvements
Once the gaps in service and other pitfalls have been identified and customer feedback has been analyzed, it’s time to implement new systems. There are certain models and methodologies that can improve your customer care service.
On the part of the customer care agents, the team should learn and improve skills needed for pleasant interactions with customers. Skills like active listening, effective communication, attentiveness, positive speech, ability to read customers, patience, adaptivity, and knowledge of the product or service.
Great customer service is a continuous thing, so these steps are most effective when implemented repeatedly. This article is in no way exhaustive, but it is a surefire way to make improvements and get the ball rolling again.
