Do you need more help with business telephones? Of course, the best way to create a positive customer service experience is to have the right equipment. We offer a variety of phones and networking components to help your business run smoothly. We’re more than a company that sells products; we make sure our products work as well as possible by offering personalized troubleshooting services to our customers, whether you need assistance with design, installation or any other area of product use. Our knowledgeable and friendly support representatives provide 24/7 service. If you’re ready to get started with Spain Telecom, don’t hesitate to contact us today!
Excellent customer service has become an invaluable source of competitive advantage. It helps turn a bad customer experience into a positive one, boosts customer satisfaction and stimulates word of mouth without requiring large investments. However, simply hiring a team of friendly people, providing them with some tools and making them knowledgeable about your products or services is not enough.
In order to provide great customer service, you must ensure your staff masters the art of communication. Clarity is paramount to amazing service. But how do you make sure you convey to customers exactly what you mean? How do you ensure your staff understands which style of communication and which tone fit best its current task?
We know it can be difficult to handle communication in a way that is both genuine and helpful. That’s why we crafted this list of 7 customer service tips that we hope will help you develop top-quality communication standards.
1. Speak as your customers do
Using a confusing slang or jargon, or using too many colloquialisms, are some of the most common mistakes we see in customer service. In order to ensure clarity, you and your customers must speak the same language.
However, every customer is different. Not only customers can have very different personalities, interests, attitudes and behaviors, they can also have different levels of understanding of your products or services. Depending on which stage of the customer journey they are currently going through, some customers will have basic, common questions, while others might have more complex issues that need to be solved. You must be able to communicate effectively with all of them. As such, adaptability is essential.
2. Always use positive language
A second common issue concerns the use of passive-aggressive language. This happens when customer service gets defensive and it’s a signal that something is wrong in how you deal with your customers’ problems. Indeed, the tone and vocabulary used by your staff play an essential role in preventing escalations and avoiding accidental conflicts.
Using a positive language will help you manage the conversation so that both counterparts place their focus on solving the customer’s issue. Usually, when a customer feels the company representatives are competent and truly willing to help them, this helps de-escalate the tension and reduce the odds that customers will be upset. For instance, when a customer sounds confused, rather than saying “Actually…” and explaining the customer’s problem from the company perspective, customer service representatives should try saying something like “I understand this can be a little tricky”.
It is important that customers truly perceive your staff understands them, so employees should always sound collaborative and confident they can solve the customers’ issues.
3. To apologize or not to apologize
Whether you should apologize to your customers for their problems is the Hamletian dilemma of customer service.
Some say companies should always admit their mistakes and apologize when things go wrong in order to build trust and restore confidence. Companies are human organizations, and humans make mistakes, so there is nothing to be ashamed of. Sincerely apologizing shows respect and helps to refocus the customer’s attention.
However, not everyone shares this vision. While it may initially sound counter-intuitive, some customer service experts suggest to avoid apologizing, at least when facing roadblocks that employees have little control over.
Customers just want their problems to be fixed as quickly as possible. They care about the solution, rather than the apology, no matter how sincere employees try to sound. As such, when problems are not easy to solve, repeatedly apologizing might only frustrate customers.
Some will perceive the apologies from customer service representatives as an attempt from the company to disclose and maybe understate its flaws. They will get the impression that employees are not actually in control of the situation.
On the contrary, thanking customers for their patience transmits confidence that the problem can be solved. It’s a much better way to de-escalate the interaction and will help you appear more professional.
4. Know how to open and close a conversation
Customers getting in touch with customer service are usually angry and want their problems to be solved as quickly as possible. Therefore, customer service and support teams must be extremely proficient in opening and closing conversations.
When a customer gets in touch with customer service representatives, making a great first impression is essential. Employees should showcase professionalism, respect and a proactive approach since the very first moment. You can create a script to help least experienced employees while they improve their skills.
Learning how to close a conversation is equally critical. On one hand, you don’t want to cut your customers off, as leaving them with unresolved issues can lead to further unnecessary problems. As such, it should be up to the customer to determine whether his/her issues have been solved or not.
On the other hand, you might have several other customers waiting for your help, so you can’t afford to spend too much time answering aimless questions. Once a customer’s problem has been solved, ask if he/she is experiencing other issues and, if not, move on to the next case.
As business phone equipment and repair specialists, at Spain Telecom, we’re passionate about customer service. At Spain Telecom, we strive not only to meet your expectations but to exceed them in Eastern, NC. We realize that no matter how good or great a product is, it really doesn’t make a difference without exceptional service. That’s why our knowledgeable and friendly support representatives provide 24/7 service.