4 Tips to Improve Customer Service

If you feel your company offers only mediocre customer service or even if it’s acceptable but not outstanding, you can make improvements. Take the level of customer service your company offers up a notch to ensure loyalty and satisfaction from those you serve. Here are four tips to help you.

1. Provide Ongoing Training

Many companies train new employees on how to provide customer service which meets company standards. However, long-term staff may need a refresher or to learn new skills which help them perform better.

Plan to hold seminars, classes or other training at least once a year. Make it mandatory to ensure everyone stays up to date on their skills. You can bring in speakers or use online training to increase interest among staff members.

2. Create a Customer Service Strategy

Take the most common call topics and create a strategy to handle each issue. This helps employees feel more prepared, and they understand how you expect things to be dealt with. At the same time, you don’t want your call centre agents to act like robots. Make sure they understand the importance of treating each caller with personal attention.

As you create your strategy, talk to the call centre representatives. Get their perspective and listen to their ideas. Being on the frontline gives them a unique perspective, which could serve well for your company.

3. Practice Situations with Staff

Make it easier for your employees to understand how to work with customers by creating practice scenarios. Have them act out different situations they find themselves in and enlist other agents to deal with the issue. This teaches call centre agents about listening, responding correctly and dealing with different emotions.

Some agents are more comfortable with certain emotions than others. For instance, someone may feel adept at dealing with an angry customer while one who cries and is upset flusters them. Teach your staff members how to handle the emotions of other people, and they will provide better customer service in all situations.

4. Empower Your Agents

While you have company standards your call centre must follow, you should give them as much independence as possible. Perhaps you can let them make decisions in specific situations. If they feel they have some power to respond to customers, they will be more involved and be able to come up with solutions to problems.

One of the challenges customers face is asking for help and being directed through two or more levels of customer service before getting an answer. If the level one or two agents are authorized to deal with normal problems, the situation can be resolved faster and more effectively for both the customer and the company.

Even if you get good marks for your customer service, you can always take things to the next level by following these four tips. Help your staff stand out in a good way to their customers by incorporating one or more of these tips into your protocol.

Ashley Meszaros is the Owner/President of We An-Ser Communications in Calgary. We An-Ser Communications provides award winning call center services in Calgary, dispatching, medical answering services, man down services, lone worker support, wireless panic services and more. They service the North American market.

Ashley Meszaros is the Owner/President of We An-Ser Communications in Calgary. http://www.wean-ser.com/calgary-call-centre-services/