Nowadays, companies of all sizes that operate in the digital world struggle to win the attention of the consumers. That’s why businesses strive towards being able to meet consumers’ expectations, needs, as well as demands.

With that in mind, one of the most important factors when it comes to consumer expectations and needs is customer service.

Customer service has become invaluable these days.

The fact of the matter is that consumers are looking to do business with companies that can provide seamless customer experience and customer service is a vital factor in that experience.

With that in mind, every company needs to devote time and resources to their customer service and support departments, in order to improve the skills of their employees, as well as ensure customer satisfaction. Therefore, here are a few things you should know in 2021 regarding customer service skills.

What is Customer Service?

When customers interact with a company in any way, there’s bound to be at least a few misunderstandings. In addition, your customers may simply want to get informed a bit more before they decide to make a purchase.

With that in mind, any help your company provides to customers, such as resolving issues, answering questions, helping them find something, making a suggestion, and so on is considered customer service.

Back in the day, this task was entirely conducted over the phone.

Today, however, customer service has grown beyond that in a manner where companies provide self-service to customers, as well as other methods of providing aid, such as contacting a company via email, messaging apps, live chat, etc.

The very essence of customer service is not just in providing aid to customers but also in creating a unique experience that will guarantee customer satisfaction, as well as ensure their retention.

Customer Service Examples

Many entrepreneurs oftentimes wonder what a good example of customer experience is. Truth be told, the answer to that question may vary from industry to industry.

Even then, you cannot get a specific answer because it comes down to what your customers perceive as good service.

However, there are common factors that always contribute to good customer service. For example:

1. Empower your employees – Your employees in the customer service department are responsible for ensuring customer satisfaction and maintaining your company’s good reputation.
2. Empower them and appreciate their good work so they can continue to provide a good service to customers. You should even reward them with meaningful gifts. As an example, gift cards in Australia are considered a good way to say “thank you” to your employees.
3. Ask customers for feedback – If you’re not sure what your customers want, don’t hesitate to ask them. In fact, consumers prefer companies that ask for feedback. It shows them that you care. In addition, they’ll appreciate you even more if you improve your service based upon their feedback.
4. Decrease customer effort – Your leads are more likely to become your customers if they need to put less effort in achieving desired results. This is especially important when it comes to providing customer service in franchise businesses. Using this approach will provide better results since a satisfied customer will look for the same brand regardless of its location.

Customer Service Experience

Providing a seamless and exceptional customer service depends on the customers’ needs and expectations, as well as on the employees who are providing the service.

There’s no magic bullet that will ensure great service and that’s why every company has its own approach. The main issue is that companies oftentimes perceive customer service as unimportant.

After all, a customer already made a purchase so that’s enough, right? Quite wrong, actually.

Customer service tailors directly to customer satisfaction and retention, as well as customer loyalty. With that in mind, it’s 6 to 7 times more expensive to acquire a new customer than it is to retain one.

In addition, returning customers oftentimes spend as much as 67% more than new ones. If you still think customer service is irrelevant, then consider that 86% of consumers are willing to pay more for a better experience.

Customer Service Training

Providing proper training to employees is crucial for delivering exceptional customer service.

You have to ensure that your employees are savvy so they can provide accurate information about any relevant issues or questions.

What’s more, they have to be able to handle customer inquiries. It’s no secret that handling people can be quite daunting.

The amount of stress that’s involved with that job can oftentimes be overwhelming. Therefore, make sure your training includes practicing patience alongside learning about the company’s offers.

Furthermore, provide employees with the right tools and train them to use those tools effectively.  Without the right equipment, your employees cannot do their job right no matter how skilled they might be.

 

Customer Service Skills 

Not everyone can work in customer service. The job itself requires a monumental amount of patience and empathy.

Therefore, when hiring the right people for your customer service department, make sure you look for employees with good people skills.

Furthermore, aside from patience and empathy, look for employees who are creative, flexible, good with communication, adaptive, good listeners, good speakers, persuasive, able to negotiate, as well as employees with other relevant soft skills.

 

Customer Service Jobs

Customer service can encompass many business operations. If you want to hire good people, make sure you determine where you need them the most.

Job positions may vary based on the nature of the business.

Here are a few job positions for customer service;

• Call Center Agent
• Concierge  
• Client Relations Associate
• Customer Service Representative
• Technical Support Representative
• Social Media Care Associate
• Member Services Specialist
• Front Desk Receptionist
• Client Service Coordinator
• Patient Care Coordinator

Customer Service Resume

Eventually, you’ll have to go through candidate resumes to determine who is the best one for the customer service job.

This task isn’t easy and it’s also quite time-consuming. Aside from looking at skill requirements, previous experience and employment, make sure to ask candidates to answer additional questions as well.

For example:

• Did your customer service expertise result in a sales increase? 
• Did you ever receive feedback from happy customers, even though you didn’t ask for it?
• Did you earn a repeat customer’s trust or did you generate referrals as a result of your focus on customer service?
• Did any of the repeat customers request for you specifically? 
• Did you manage to help improve customer satisfaction ratings?
• Have you ever implement improvements to customize your service program?
• Did you serve a lot of customers while offering exceptional service?
• Did your employer receive positive feedback or reviews for the quality of your service? 
• Have you ever trained other workers to provide exceptional customer service? 
• Have you ever managed to resolve a challenging service issue, such as convincing a dissatisfied customer to return?
• Did you or the team that you’ve worked with receive any recognition or rewards for customer satisfaction achievements?
• Have you participated in or completed any customer service training programs?

 

Wrapping It Up

Customer service is not something that should be taken lightly neither by companies or employees, for that matter.

Nowadays, customer service is an essential factor in customer experience and you cannot afford to provide a bad experience to consumers these days.

 

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