Customer service is an attitude not just a department. Each employee in an organization has customers. The customer may be an external one such as the buyer of a product or an internal one such as a fellow employee in a different department within the company. In either circumstance, customer service skills are necessary.
How many of you have experienced customer service that has disappointed you? I often start my classes about Customer Service or User Support by asking the class to tell us about times when they have experienced poor customer service. I also ask for instances of good customer service. These seem to pale in comparison to the examples of poor customer service.
There is no excuse for poor customer service. Yet so many businesses let themselves down very badly.
Here are 5 very important points to effective customer service:
- Listening — Active listening is vital to customer service. This type of listening involves restating the issue back to the customer which ensures the customer was heard and understood.
- Empathy — Empathy shows the customer that the representative understands the problems caused and the hardships it created for the customer.
- Courtesy — Phrases such as “please” and “thank you” show respect for the customer. Always treat the customer with dignity and respect; courtesy is a way to do this.
- Follow-up — When a customer has a request or needs a problem solved, let him know what the representative will do, who will take the next steps and what can be expected toward resolving the problem. Set expectations with the customer and fulfill those commitments.
- Availability — Customer service also consists of being available for the customers. The hours of operation for the company may need to be outside of the traditional workday in order to accommodate customers’ requests.
There is a very good E-Book called Effective Customer Service which can be found in the E-Learning Shop under Customer Service, Help Desks and Support.
