It’s no secret that customer service employees have to deal with angry customers nearly about 80% of the time. In this digital age only a few people will call your support to inquire about a product or service when most of the answers can be easily found online. While you obviously can’t control problems caused by malfunctioning products or service errors, you can control how you respond to complaining customers. The stats show why you should take them seriously: Nearly 70% of customers quit doing business with an organization because they felt they were treated rudely or with indifference. 95% of customers share bad experiences with others, 54% share bad experiences with 5+ people, 45% share negative reviews on social media. 66% of customers are most frustrated from interacting with employees who are rude or unfriendly.
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10 ‘Must-have’ Skills for Being Awesome at Customer Service
When it comes to providing outstanding customer service, it’s the people who make all the difference. While it certainly takes time, training, practice and dedication to become a rockstar in customer service, it doesn’t have to be that hard when you know where exactly to focus your efforts on. Here’s the list of 10 must-have soft skills that matter most and that everyone involved in customer service should master and use in their daily interactions with customers. # 1 Effective Listening Listening is the key to effective communication. Without the ability to listen carefully to what a customer is saying, a message could be easily misunderstood and misinterpreted. As a result, communication breaks down leaving a customer frustrated. Listening isn’t just about hearing. A good listener will not only listen to what is being said, but also what is left unsaid or partially said. Luckily, if your listening skills are weak, there are certain techniques for improving them.
Continue readingTop 15 Mistakes Made By Customer Service Professionals (Infographic)
Your customer service employees are your brand representatives, the human face and the voice of your company. Their competence, soft skills and communication habits count tremendously toward the quality of the service they provide to your customers and impact overall customer satisfaction. So what are the most common mistakes made by customer service professionals? In this infographic we’ve collected 15 most dangerous mistakes that can have negative consequences in customer satisfaction and loyalty. Is your customer support team guilty of any of them? In fact, all of the listed mistakes are easily preventable. Make sure your customer service employees are aware of what exactly they are doing wrong when interacting with customers and provide them with regular training and mentoring to help them grow their professionalism and improve their skills.
Continue readingHow to Become an Expert in Customer Service
As a customer service manager or representative, you know first hand just how important it is to provide quality, effective customer service – especially in today’s world where social media dominates. Though these media platforms have undoubtedly played a monumental role in the changing landscape of customer service communication, customer’s wants and needs remain relatively unchanged. They want to be heard, understood, and respected and they want it done on their own terms. Esteban Kolsky, founder of thinkJar, a Customer Strategy consulting and think tank, notes that it is the customers themselves who must choose and validate their customer experience.
Continue readingKey Aspects of Customer Service Agent Training
Customer experience is now winning the leadership race to become the main business differentiator. Hence, the need to create a strong customer service team which will enable the delivery of great customer experience. The need is becoming more acute and palpable. According to Gartner, by 2017, 50% of consumer product investments will be redirected to customer experience innovations. Undoubtedly, some of them will be directed to improving the customer service agent training. After all, 78% of consumers agree that competent customer service reps are most responsible for happy customer experience. Good training not only boosts productivity, but ensures a higher quality of customer service, which leads to more satisfied customers, increased customer loyalty, and happier employees as well. The benefits are innumerable.
Continue readingTop 20 Customer Service Soft Skills to Master (Infographic)
Today’s customer service involves more than a conversation face-to-face or on the phone. Email, live chat and social media have become important channels for consumers to engage with brands and seek for customer support. No matter how customer service is given to consumers, soft skills are essential for a successful customer service interaction. In fact, soft skills are even more significant than technical skills as at the end of the day what your customers will remember is how they felt about your service. It’s the soft skills that make the difference between an average customer service professional and the one who can make customers feel fantastic about the help they got from your company.
Continue readingCustomer Service Phrases That Make a Difference
Whether you talk to your customers face-to-face, over the phone or in live support chat online, what you say and how you say it matters a lot to your business. Believe it or not, the right language is truly important in Customer Service. Certain words and phrases can either make or break the whole impression and the way a customer is left to feel after the conversation. Here’s my personal list of the most powerful phrases in Customer Service that I believe can make a difference to a company’s relationships with its customers:
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