Blog by Carolyn Burnet
We all talk about Customer Service being paramount in our business. We tell our staff that they must deliver exceptional Customer Service to every customer and we believe that if they do our customers will keep coming back to us – why would they go anywhere else? We talk about being well-presented, greeting a customer quickly and appropriately, listening to their request and having the correct answer ready, solving their problem quickly, and fare-welling with warmth. 
Is this what Customer Service is all about? Call Centre IQ asked over 100 members to describe the best Customer Service. Their answers were reduced to five most frequently selected words:
Empathy: The best service is not imposed from using a script or following a company policy. We need to make an attempt to understand how the customer feels and why the customer wants what he wants.
Satisfaction: Customer Service is about the customer. No matter how fast, friendly, innovative, or knowledgeable the service, the customer needs to feel satisfied with the transaction.
Listen: The customer doesn’t want a script guiding their interaction. He wants to be listened to and for his thoughts to guide the conversation. We need to listen to make sure it is the customer – not the protocol or policy – that is satisfied with the outcome.
Patience: We are time poor and want to be efficient in our transactions. However, the best customer service involves a complete commitment to the customer to achieve his satisfied outcome and sometimes this cannot be done quickly. We may need to spend a significant amount of time that we had not planned on to satisfy the customers’ needs. Patience must be exercised to achieve this outcome.
Caring: The best customer service occurs when the outcome truly matters to the business. It is not enough to listen and understand our customers. They want to know that we care about them.
Rapid Results recently completed a one day training programme with a large retail firm on customer service and how to handle challenging customers. Their training covered areas such as Listening Skills, Questioning Skills, Your Attitude, Building Rapport and Dealing with Difficult Customers.
Two weeks later the feedback we received was that there was a measureable reduction in unhappy customers and customer complaints. The sales team felt empowered by their new skills to listen to customers and deal with their issues in a caring and genuine manner.
If we really believe in putting our customers first then we will take time to listen to them to truly understand what they are wanting. We will care about the outcome as we want them to be satisfied enough to continue dealing with our company.
Put the customer and his needs as your first priority – that is what a customer actually wants.
Our popular and effective 1-day course will give your team practical skills to engage customers and keep them coming back to your company.
Our next 1-day programme is on Thursday 10th September, click here for more details>>>
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