Customer Service Best Practices: Improving Your Customers’ Experiences

A VP of operations at a large office technology dealer recently told us that one of his biggest achievements of the past year was completely turning over his four-person customer service team. They knew how to do their jobs, but their demeanor tended to escalate problems. When coaching and discipline failed, he had no choice but to replace them. He now has happier customers as a result.

Sooner or later, every customer will have a problem with a product or service you sold them. The first thing they will likely do is call your customer service department. The customer might call angry, panicked, or both, and the poor staffer taking the call needs to handle the situation appropriately.

The truth is, customer service is often seen as a low-skill job, and not all companies provide adequate training. It’s important to have smart, well-trained people with the right attitude in place. A good customer service experience enhances customer loyalty. A bad one could cost you the customer. We’ve compiled the following list of customer service best practices that will increase the chances that your customers will have a good experience.

• Provide multiple options for customers to contact you–phone, email, and online chat–and establish adequate response protocols for each. Customers with urgent problems will likely use the phone and expect an immediate response. If they use email, customers should know the maximum time to wait for a response. Similarly, anyone entering chat should be able to see the wait time if there is a backup. Since you will likely use the same people to cover all communications options, you need an internal protocol for how you route and prioritize incoming messages from each channel.

• Teach your team to listen and fully understand the problem before responding. It’s easy for a customer service rep to get a little impatient and jump to a conclusion about the problem. It’s not about solving the problem fast; it’s about solving the problem in a way that makes the customer feel like you care.

• If you made a mistake, admit it. Customers will feel disrespected if they sense that the customer service rep seems to doubt that, for example, the toner cartridges you sent aren’t the right ones. The rep should sound sympathetic and promise a solution.

• Follow through on what was promised. This could be as simple as calling back within an expected timeframe or processing a replacement for a faulty piece of equipment. Sitting on tasks that need to be done to solve a customer’s problem is one of the biggest mistakes customer service can make.

• Stay positive and maintain a good attitude. Some customers will make this very difficult, but politeness, sympathy, and commitment to resolution will go a long way toward turning a customer’s bad attitude around. This comes more naturally for some people then others, so study candidates’ attitude during the hiring process.

• Don’t try to turn a customer’s problem into a sales opportunity. Some dealers consider customer service an extension of sales. While customer service can be an effective asset to sales, making a pitch before the problem is solved will backfire. It tells customers that you care about selling to them than supporting them.