Ever wondered how you can improve relationships with your customers? Well, the answer is as apparent as it is often overlooked: improve customer service.
No matter how exceptional your product is or how skilled your staff is, your customers will most likely remember the interaction they have with your organization.
Hence, if your customer service is inadequate, your customers will complain about it, and you'll definitely lose them.
Bottom line? A customer service team is the face of any organization, and the customers' experiences will depend on the skill and quality of the support they get.
However, the good news is that it's not impossible to turn things around. Although, transforming your customer service skills from average to remarkable won't happen overnight and requires a highly committed and highly driven team of support professionals.
If you are also looking for ways to set a benchmark for your customer service, you have arrived at the right place. Read on for some proven tips on improving customer service skills.
7 tips to improve your customer service skills
A strong company will already have great customer relationships. But a competent company will always be asking, "What is good customer service?"
Well, good customer service centers around carefully listening and attending to your customers' needs and desires. If you don't look out for opportunities to improve your customer service, your relationships are likely to stagnate.
With that in mind, let's hop onto seven proven tips on how to improve customer service skills to serve customers better:
Be a good listener
Your customer needs to feel understood, heard and served well. Therefore, active listening is the key skill set you need to have. Start each conversation to learn something and pay attention to the speaker. Once the customer is done speaking, ask follow-up questions to make sure you completely understand what they’re actually saying. Lastly, end the conversation with a quick review to ensure you are on the same page as the customer.
By practicing active listening, you will not only get one step closer to becoming a truly outstanding customer service agent, but you’ll also improve your relationships outside the workspace.
Be empathetic
Empathy is trying to understand how the customer is actually feeling and where they’re originally coming from. While some people might seem like they’re born with this quality, it’s a skill that can be acquired with time.
While listening to the customer, try to see things from their eyes and picture how it makes them feel. This is pretty essential in customer service because the customer will be more open if they feel understood. Besides, it can de-escalate a conflict and build a more pleasant interaction with your organization.
Use positive language
While attending to your customers’ problems, using positive language can certainly take the stress away from the situation. Indeed, words are powerful, and they can build positive relationships with your customers.
Try to use the verbs positively. Use future tense, as it sounds positive and doesn’t dwell on the customer’s past concerns. Besides, expressions like “Excellent question, I’ll look that one for you!” and “I’d love to know more about …” can keep the customer engaged in the present.
All in all, make sure you’re true, positive, memorable, and calm while speaking to customers, even if they are angry.
Improve your technical skills
Customers might come to you with all sorts of problems, and they want answers fast. So, if you don’t know how to implement a service ticket properly, you might be wasting their and your precious time.
Therefore, you must fully understand how to use your live chat and ticketing system and learn to type fast before interacting with your customers.
Clear communication
The skill to communicate clearly, both verbally and in writing, is pretty essential in customer service, particularly if you speak to someone with a different native language. Therefore, your answers should be clear, brief, and in your natural tone.
Of course, the customers need an explanation; however, they don’t need to know every detail. If they ask for more information, you can always share, though most people want their concerns resolved quickly.
Also, always end every conversation with, “is there anything else I can do for you?” so they get one more opportunity to ask another question, and you also get assured that you’ve done everything you can to fix their issue.
Analyze customer feedback
Perhaps, the best way to understand if your customer service is top-notch is to ask your customers. Use polls to track and analyze the top customer service skills and ask specific questions from the service manager.
For instance, “how informed or uninformed would you say your service team member was?” or “how efficient or inefficient the service team member’s communication was?” And, once you fully understand which areas you shine at and which ones you still need to work on, you can concentrate on specific skills.
Be ready to learn
While this is apparently the most general skill on this list, it’s definitely one of the most important ones. After all, the willingness to learn is the ultimate foundation for improving your skills as a customer service professional.
Besides, Rome wasn't built in a day. It took years of hard work, commitment, and persistence to make it what it is today.
Customer service is no different, and to be a top-notch customer service executive, you have to be willing to work on your customer service skills and learn from your mistakes.
The Bottom Line
Remember, customer service skills are what empowers you to have loyal customers. By continually striving to improve your customer service skills, you will set yourself up for long-term success.
If you work on these customer service skills, your customers will definitely see that you are dedicated to providing top-notch, proactive customer service.
So, what are you waiting for? Follow these tips to have a bright career path in customer service and administrative department.
Editor: Richa Sharma
