How often have you visited a customer support desk or experience and thought to yourself “Wow, that sales representative had some serious customer service skills.”?
We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job to make the customer experience a little bit better.
Customer service is not an easy thing, and just like any other job, being the best comes from developing a set of fundamental competencies and skills. Fortunately, you can develop and nurture your customer service skills. Here are essential skills you must practice to become good in customer service:
Patience
A huge number of customers reach out to support because they are either confused, frustrated or need directions. You need to practice patience as a customer representative because you will have to listen to all the complaints and queries raised by the customer. On a daily basis, customers will come to your desk frustrated and even angry, and it is your duty to listen to them patiently, figure out what exactly they need, and offer a solution for them so they leave satisfied with service and with their issue resolved.
Empathy
Have you ever been to a customer service desk feeling frustrated and expecting a quick solution, and even though you did not get the exact solution, the way the representative handled you calmed you down and even left you feeling better? It’s important that you hold your position as a customer service representative in great esteem and approach your job with passion. When dealing with different people, especially customers, you need to practice empathy. Great support feels human and the representative should genuinely understand you as a human being. Empathizing with the customer is just as important as listening to them and offering them answers.
Listen and pay attention to what the customer is saying
You need to practice listening skills. If you want to provide good customer service, you need to learn to listen to what the customer is saying. It is not only essential to pay attention to what individual customers are saying, but also be mindful of the feedback you receive from the customers. For example, customers may not expressly tell you that something is wrong with your software dashboard, but they will use other ways to express their frustrations.
Good communication skills
You need to work on your communication skills. You should be able to handle a customer’s issue in the shortest time possible, and effective communication can help cut down on time spent with each customer. Customers do not need to hear stories from you or how you are doing, they need quick responses and solutions. You need to also learn how to effectively communicate with your customers without making errors and failing to address their needs.
Knowledge of the product
A good customer service representative is one who clearly has a deep knowledge of a product or products and how they work. Lack of deep product knowledge will prevent you from helping your customers when they run into problems with the product. You need to at least know the ins and outs of the product and how it works. This will help you to handle various issues raised by the customer relating to the product and cut down the time it takes to resolve their issues.
A good customer service representative knows how to use positive language and how to efficiently handle a customer. Practicing positive customer service skills is not only beneficial to your business, but it will always attract more customers and more returning customers. This is an incredibly important pillar of business in any industry.
Ensuring you have a strong customer service team and satisfied customers should be a main focus of your business. Companies of all sizes and across all industries use OKRs, or Objectives and Key Results, to manage their most important goals. Qualitative objectives are set by leadership and fulfilled through quantitative, trackable key results over the course of a quarter. Weekly check-ins promote accountability and bring attention to the ongoing goals of the company. An OKR for customer service can help individual employees in the company stay motivated to deliver exceptional customer service, and can also increase accountability.