Featured article by Russell Emmenthal
Building a company needs to be done with care and precision. Something that might get overlooked is how customer service is handled.
While many workers most likely do not intend to offer poor customer service, sometimes it can happen due to miscommunication, misunderstandings, or inability to handle certain situations.
In these instances, proper training and a few other tips can help improve customer service interactions.
1. Try Some Quality Assurance
Sometimes, customer service mishaps happen when employees don’t know the quality that the company is striving for. It’s also possible that they could be inconsistent in their interactions if there is no standard procedure for customer service.
Something like a quality scorecard could act as a rubric for employees to understand how they are able to handle different situations. This will not only help them handle those situations better but give them confidence in knowing that the company is backing them up with protocol and training.
This way, if customer service interactions go awry, employees can feel safe to take the necessary steps.
2. Embrace a Cultural Ambassador
If your company sees a diverse array of customers, or even works internationally, another large cause of communication errors comes from cultural misunderstanding. It is now becoming a more recognized practice to hire a cultural ambassador to educate employees and assist them with intercultural interactions.
This way, employees can learn how to communicate with different types of people effectively. This can help avoid any cultural faux pas as well. It can also help you recognize what kind of work culture you wish to create and foster. Knowing what your workplace culture should be is a strong asset and it should not get overlooked.
3. Standardize Communication
Standardizing your communication internally is a good way to make sure that you are putting out a consistent message externally. Where a lot of customer service issues arise is in inconsistent external communications. If you do not have a protocol for something, how are your employees supposed to stay consistent?
This can cause confusion and be frustrating for customers and employees alike. However, by creating a handbook or manual, or in-depth training session, you will be able to control the narrative a little better in terms of your company’s image and how you want employees to represent it.
4. Foster Positivity
Having a positive work culture can be beneficial for your employees and customers alike. Positive employees are more likely to put customers at ease about your product or service.
In fact, much customer service is based on being likable. Science shows us that a lot of likabilities can stem from simply being positive. This will help customers leave with a better view of the company and with a good feeling. This can help in customer retention.
You can help your employees be positive by offering them support. Make sure that it is known that they are valued, listened to, and safe. This way, they can be authentic with customers – which will lead to better trust.
Everything Begins From the Inside
Even though you might expect your employees to work well with people, this is not always the case. That’s why you should have in mind that the most important rule of thumb is that you cannot pour from an empty cup. Make sure that your employees feel that their needs are being met before you ask them to meet the needs of customers.
Once you have strong foundations of trust among your employee base, then you stand a much better chance of developing their skills.
