Olivia Maier
If you aren’t convinced, check out some of these surprising statistics: Why is Customer Service Important. However, if your business is just focusing on providing meaningful customer service, you may be only accounting for half of the equation. It is just as important to be effective as it is to form real connections with your customers.
Think about it, if a customer calls with a problem it is of course valuable to form a real connection with them. A personal connection can help smooth over some situations, and will lead to your customer feeling valued.
But over time, that personal connection will become strained if the customer service you are providing isn’t effective.
This doesn’t mean having the answer or the perfect resolution to every issue that comes your way. That isn’t reasonable to expect from your team. Instead, look for ways that the customer service process can be more effective so even when resolutions can’t be reached your customers won’t be more frustrated than necessary.
How to be more effective in customer service?
Review previous call information:
It would be incredibly frustrating for your customers to feel as though every time they call back they are starting at square one.
Take advantage of call tagging to easily categorize calls and caller history. Or use your CRM tools to make notes about previous calls. However you choose, make sure that your agents have access to information from previous calls. This will help them prepare better, and increase effectiveness.
Listen actively:
As basic as it may sound, active listening can help improve the overall effectiveness of your customer service. You should avoid multitasking during a customer service call, as you may miss important customer information.
Using call transcriptions and recordings is a great way to reduce or even eliminate the need to multitask during a call. Call transcriptions and recordings allow you to listen fully, knowing that you will have access to comprehensive notes and files to review once the call has ended.
Share information across platforms:
Information silos will lead to less effective customer service, especially if your CRM platform doesn’t accurately reflect your current communication.
Integrating your phone communication into CRM tools such as Salesforce or Zendesk can lead to an overall more effective customer service experience.
Your goal should be to create a comprehensive customer service strategy with your team. This is done by combining the ability to create a personal relationship, with the tools to have an effective customer service experience. Taking advantage of tools like Yodel can make it easier than ever to meet that goal.
