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>>10
Good Customer Service Habits to Develop
Following
are some basic customer service habits that I think
every employee who interfaces with customers must
embrace to deliver the level of service customers expect
and deserve.
1. Be
enthusiastic. "Nothing great was ever achieved
without enthusiasm," said the very quotable Ralph
Waldo Emerson. I believe this same principle applies to
our communication with customers. The difference between
a mediocre phone call and a call that WOWs the customer
is enthusiasm. Enthusiasm (n) is 1: a feeling of
excitement 2: overflowing with enthusiasm [syn:
exuberance, ebullience] 3: a lively interest. Try to
convey a lively interest to your customers and that one
change will take you from mediocre to WOW in less than 5
seconds.
2. Use
customer's names. Using names shows you are
genuinely interested in your customers and makes future
dialogue or problem solving much easier because using
names helps you create rapport.
3.
Smile through the phone. You can actually hear a
smile through the telephone. When you smile, you sound
friendly, interested, and helpful. You also make the
customer feel that your sole intent is to be of service
and people really can tell the difference!
4. Get
permission before putting customers on hold. According
to a Telephone Doctor survey published in USA Today, the
one thing customers hate more than anything else
relating to the telephone is being put on hold.
Certainly, there are times when you must put a customer
on hold, but there's a right and a wrong way to do it.
Wrong way: "Please hold." The right way:
"I need to look this information up. Are you able
to hold for a moment?"
5.
Avoid saying 'No'. Sometimes the only answer to a
customer's request is 'no', but we must use diplomacy
and tact when refusing requests. Try this approach:
"I can certainly respect your desire to speak with
our president. My president has me in this position so I
can work with customers like you. Will you please give
me an opportunity to solve the problem?" this
response politely explains that there will be no
escalation to the executive office and it offers a
sincere interest in helping the customer resolve the
problem.
6.
Express empathy. Empathy can be a powerful tool used
to disarm an angry customer and show that you genuinely
care about the inconvenience the customer has
experienced. Not to be confused with sympathy, empathy
is Identification with and understanding of the
customer's situation and feelings. You can express
empathy by saying something similar to, "It must
have been very frustrating for you to have endured the
inconvenience of a potential error on your credit report
and for that I am sorry."
7.
Apologize in the wake of problems. The simple act of
apologizing to a customer can go a long way in diffusing
anger, restoring customer confidence, and regaining
goodwill. Not only that, it will most often decrease the
cost of remedying customer problems.
8.
Give customers your name and contact information. Giving
the caller your name and contact demonstrates
accountability and communicates a sincere desire to
help. It also gives customers a reference should they
need to call your company back.
9.
Thank customers. Always thank customers for doing
business with you or, in the case of problem resolution,
thank them for their feedback. Expressing appreciation
for feedback is as simple as saying, "Thank you for
taking the time to tell us about this. We appreciate
customers who let us know when things aren't
right." When you express appreciation, you are not
taking responsibility for the problem that was the fault
of the bank and you're not apologizing on the bank's
behalf. You're merely expressing appreciation. Many
customers will be shocked with your gratitude. All will
remember you with goodwill.
10.
Let the customer hang up first. It's polite to let
your caller hang up first and in most cases, your caller
will hang up within 2 - 4 seconds of the last spoken
word. If we rush to disconnect, we may cut off a
customer who had one more question or we can give the
impression that we are in a hurry (which is interpreted
as "we don't really care").
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