Customer Service Strategy; How To Be The Best In The Business!

Customer is King! You might have heard that phrase many a times, but may not actually know its importance. However, if you want to know, just ask any owner of a famous corporate entity or better yet, just be a part of a Facebook community where the only topic of conversation is food; you’ll see what we are talking about.

So, now that you might have gotten an idea after reading the negative reviews of customers and companies making their best effort to apologize to them for their shortcomings, let’s look what should be done to resolve them or better, to stop them from happening in the first place.

Make Sure that All Your Employees have Extensive and In-depth Product Knowledge

This is important for the customer service representatives to effectively deal with all the possible questions and complaints thrown at them by inquisitive and angry customers.

If they themselves don’t know the chief characteristics and attributes of their products/services and the standard operating procedures (SOP) to deal with a specific problem, how can they be expected to effectively resolve it?

Normally, many top companies do brief their employees in this regard, especially the sales, marketing and customer service staff, as it helps them in going about their jobs in a much better and professional way.

Empower Your Employees to Take the Necessary Measures and Steps

A de-centralized structure, especially in the customer service department, can drastically reduce the time it takes to resolve a situation.

This is why it is important to empower employees to take individual action. Not only does it result in timely problem resolution, it also improves employee self-confidence through the fact that the company trusts them to make a decision that is in the best of interest of both parties; the company itself and the customer.

Do Not Promise What You Can’t Deliver

Making false promises in today’s competitive business environment, where numerous companies are fighting for their claim to fame, is as good as shooting yourself in the foot.

In the quest to cater to as many customers as they possibly can, many businesses go to such an extent that they make promises to customers which they cannot keep. 

As a result, they are not able to meet the requirements and expectations of the customers, which in turn damages the reputation of the company and results in an unsatisfied and unhappy customer; and we all know how an angry customer can bring down the entire company through negative word of mouth.

So, make sure that your customer service strategy clearly discourages the use of such tactics in order to ensure the long term success of the business.

Resolve Customer Complaints at the Earliest

Resolving customer complaints at the earliest and in a befitting manner is what every customer expects. The lesser the time it takes to resolve a problem, answer a query and acknowledge an error, the lower the chances of the customer defaulting, developing a negative perception of a product/service, and spreading negative word of mouth among his/her casual and professional social circles.

Hence, customer service representatives are urged to follow through on resolving any such case, dealing with it from start to finish. This allows the situation to be dealt with in the most effective manner as the person assigned with resolving it will have a thorough understanding of the nature of the problem and the person reporting it, and also increases accountability. Many businesses also have a live chat option for both, the problem to be reported and resolved at the earliest.

Monitoring Interactions

Many companies have incorporated this tactic into their customer service strategy in order to enhance product/service delivery and to monitor performance; hence, the statement, “this call may be monitored or recorded for quality assurance purposes” before every call you make to any company’s customer service department. 

It increases accountability on part of the members of your customer service department, making sure that they effectively deal with customer queries and complaints.

In this way, the management can effectively highlight any shortcomings, develop a plan to effectively resolve the most common problems encountered by their customers, and recognize opportunities as highlighted by the suggestions received through listening to the recordings of the calls.

http://lsaglobal.com/customer-service-strategy/