7 Rules for Exceptional Customer Service

Customer service is one of the most evident and significant aspects to measure organisational performance. However, customer service is also the most challenging and neglected areas of management, with organisations failing to capitalise this arena.The quality of customer service helps the customer determine to purchase and particularly point of loyalty towards the service.

More often than not, customer service eludes many senior executives. Hence, they fail to gain referrals and lose out on customer retention. Here are a few ways to improve customer services, shifting focus from quantity to quality.

1. Personalization: The quest for personalization is present amongst all humans and customers are no different. Agents need to provide customers with personalised communication to build rapport.

This encourages loyalty, safeguarding long-term survival in the market. Referral to past records would not only ensure getting to the crux of the point but also induce a sense of familiarity with the customer, garnering their confidence.

2. Negative phrases should be avoided:Agents get their share of frustrated, irate customers, desperately seeking for solutions. A soothing, positive tone while communicating would not only help to deliver the desired solution but also reassure confidence. Negative answers mislead consumers to believe in the incapability of the service team. Even for those issues that do not have a constructive way out, negative phrases should be avoided.

3. A positive attitude helps: The attitude of the service team towards customers, create perceptions about the establishment. This era of augmented virtual conversations has inculcated a tendency to misinterpret information provided.

Hence, positive attitude instils faith in the minds of customers, ensuring willingness to accept assistance. Establishing a sense of ownership enables confidence in service.

4. Attentiveness: The little details reveal what the customer wants giving way for providing great service in a comprehensive manner. Not only is it significant to pay attention to individual customer interactions such as watching the language/terms that they use to describe their problems, it’s also important to keep the feedback received, in mind.

This helps in providing superior assistance with an outstanding experience.Customer may provide infrequent details but it is up to the Agent to decipher and provide the necessary solution.

5.Give thorough answers to technical questions. Customers come onboard with many questions in mind, especially about the technical aspects. Not all customers are well versed and face difficulty in handling complexities of system errors.

Therefore, Agents should make customers feel at ease when the situation is methodological and offer clear descriptions in terms the customer can comprehend.

6. Make communication clear and concise. Coming to the crux of the problem is essential. A clear, crisp conversation goes a long way in optimised customer assistance. Agents should ensure getting to the problem at hand quickly; customers don’t need personal conversations about their daily life. Being friendly is important, but know where to draw the line. Agents need to be alert about how some of their communication habits are interpreted by the customer.

7. Time management skills. Time management is the core to efficient customer service. Often, customer service agents lose track of time while providing assistance. Yet it is a common fact that customers are busy and can’t afford to have time wasted. Also, agents have a set time frame to dedicate, exceeding which can cost the company losses. Hence, time should be kept in mind while addressing a problem.

Customer service may be nothing more than a means to an end, but it can be channelized to transform into a dynamic aspect of the entire business. Great customer service locks in brand loyalty but also brings in fresh revenue, as an added incentive.The growth of the organisation can be solely measured through the assistance they provide, setting the foundation for brand loyalty.