Customer service is the support you offer your customers — both before and after they buy and use your products or services — that helps them have an easy and enjoyable experience with you. Offering amazing customer service is important if you want to retain customers and grow your business. Today’s customer service goes far beyond the traditional telephone support agent. It’s available via email, web, text message, and social media. Many companies also provide self-service support, so customers can find their own answers at any time day or night. Customer support is more than just providing answers; it’s an important part of the promise your brand makes to its customers.
Why is customer service important to the success of your business? Customer service is critical to competing effectively.In the past, people chose which companies they did business with based on price, or the product or service offered, but today the overall experience is often the driver.
Every person or company will have their own definition of what good customer service means. No matter how you define it, these eight tried-and-true customer service principles can help you transform your support operations and deliver the best customer service experience every time.
1. SUPPORT CUSTOMERS AS A TEAM.
Customer service is a team sport — and not just for your customer support team. Accept that you'll never have a perfect grasp of every issue coming into the support center. Keep up with the big picture by maintaining open lines of communication with your team. And train every employee on your help desk software so they can all pitch in during busy times. Sure, you’ll want to pass highly technical cases to the experts, but everyone needs to be able to help out. Successful startups can tell you that when everyone spends time on the front lines, it’s easier to stay aligned around customers and maintain service levels when things get busy.
2. LISTEN TO CUSTOMERS (AND SHARE THEIR FEEDBACK).
There's nothing like talking to a support agent who really listens on all cylinders. Take time to understand issues and how they affect the customer's business. When people know you value their needs, they're more likely to stay with your brand. Encourage service agents to ask questions when interacting with customers. The more your agents know about your customers and their needs, the more of an asset those agents are to both your company and your customers. Your customer support team can also be an amazing source of product innovation. Some successful startups have the customer support team present customer feedback at every company meeting.
3. OFFER FRIENDLY, PERSONABLE SERVICE.
Robots are cool, but people would rarely choose to have a conversation with one. Show customers you aren't a machine. At the end of the day it's how you make people feel that matters the most. Don’t be afraid to add personality to your service, and encourage agents to add it to their emails. Or to fill the quiet time when they need to pull up account information by asking customers how the weather is or who their favorite sports teams are — basically anything that adds a personal, friendly face to your support operations.
4. BE HONEST ABOUT WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW.
Nobody likes being lied to. A customer can't expect anything more than the truth. When you maintain an open dialogue and keep your customer informed at all times, you'll earn their commitment to your business. If your agents aren't sure how to troubleshoot a problem, it's okay for them to let the customer know they’ll get in touch with the right person and circle back when they have an answer. Maintain an open dialogue with your customers and keep them informed at all times; it’ll earn your customers’ respect and commitment.
5. PRACTICE EMPATHY.
Put yourself in the customers' shoes, especially in tough situations. Not only will customers appreciate it; your empathy will become a competitive advantage. A company cannot be successful with a culture of apathy. Your service agents especially must master the lost art of empathy to deliver effective customer service. Ask agents to put themselves in the shoes of the customer when working on a case. Their empathy will show, and customers will appreciate them for it.
6. KNOW YOUR PRODUCT.
The more your customer support team knows about your product, the better they’ll be at servicing it. Make training a key part of your customer support operations. Some companies onboard every new employee — not just their sales reps — with a one-week product boot camp to ensure they know their products inside and out. Be sure to prepare them for every new release, too.
7. REMEMBER THAT EVERY SECOND COUNTS.
Customers hate to wait. They gain confidence when you respond quickly and solve their problems for good, and then are more likely to have an ongoing relationship with your brand. So give your agents the tools they need to support customers as efficiently as possible. After all, reducing the time it takes to assist a customer directly reduces the time other customers must wait, too. At the same time, be sure to motivate agents to solve each problem completely; speed is important, but resolution times should never trump customer satisfaction.
8. IMPROVE AS YOU GO.
Seeing the same issues time and again? It may be that there’s an issue with your product or service, and you need to alert other teams to fix it. Or it may be a problem with your manuals or support content. Dig into what's unclear and update your knowledge base or FAQs. By clarifying your messaging, you can reduce contacts for many repetitive issues and improve customer satisfaction. Be sure to track any drop in service load and share your results.
