Good customer service has numerous impacts across your company, but it’s certainly the most important as it relates to your clients and their relationship to your business. Having a customer service action plan and protocol is critical to achieving your goals and constantly promoting this positive relationship.
Available Customer Service
Customer service needs to go deeper than having a company-wide commitment to putting the client first. It’s about availability and access, too. If the customer experiences challenges in getting ahold of someone quickly, that all-important relationship mentioned above can deteriorate quickly.
Having someone available right away is a key step in building the customer’s confidence in your company. Ensuring that this system is in place, as well as reviewing the metrics related to it, is the only way to ensure you’re working around the clock to keep those valuable customers. There’s nothing more frustrating than calling somewhere looking for help only to realize that no help is available or that the waiting time to get assistance is too long. One way to reduce the challenges associated with this is to have representatives always available, or at least accessible during a standard time each day.
Knowledgeable Agents
Having someone at the phone around the clock is not really valuable unless they know what they are talking about and willing to help the customer as soon as possible. If you have an agent on hand to receive complaints or help troubleshoot, a live person who is trained in the products and services of your company should be doing the work to that end.
When your clients get accurate answers from your company representatives, this makes your clients feel as though someone who can solve their problems is within research and is familiar with the products or services offered by the company.
Keep It Engaging
Once you have the solid foundation of setting up agents who are available during specific times and training them to serve your customers clearly with a knowledge about company offerings, the next stage is all about engaging with those customers.
Being engaged requires customer empathy- being able to understand why they feel the way they do. Sometimes, being engaged with a customer requires knowing when it’s best to keep the personal connection to a minimum and instead focus on solving the outstanding problem.
Provide Training
Customer service training is one of the most important ways you can connect with your customers and always foster an ongoing relationship. To that end, your agents should always be highly trained and comfortable when working with your customers. Always review the metrics for the feedback received and use it to create better and more comprehensive trainings across the board. Keeping in touch with trends and customer needs is the most effective way to bond with customers, convince them of your willingness and ability to help, and influence your interactions with them in the future. Since building customer loyalty is so essential, consider how your CRM can help you capture the relevant information.
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