7 Principles of Customer Service That Spark Small Business Growth
Editorial StaffMay 26, 2022
The most productive way for a growing business to support its customer base is to have a customer service desk. But having a customer service desk is not enough unless it is effective, which is a completely different ball game.
Having a robust and agile service desk takes a lot of hard work. But one can make it easy with a few basic principles of customer service that are more valuable over the long term than just technical training.
7 Principles of Customer Service That Spark Small Business Growth:
#1. Support Customers as a Team
In a growing business, things can get busy quickly. Supporting your customers is not just a job for the customer service team but everyone in the organization. Ideally, you’d want everyone on your team to spend some time on the front lines. Customer service software can enhance this customer-centric approach and help you stay on top of the game, access the required information quickly, and provide excellent service across all platforms.
#2. Listen To Customers (and Share Their Feedback)
They say that in sales, the one who asks the questions drives the conversation and is in control. While speaking to your customers, learn to engage them in a conversation and ask questions.
This will also help the CRM system capture insights into the customers’ preferences which are an asset to the company. Share the feedback with your team in meetings and internal training.
#3. Spend Time Building Relationships
A one-off sale never pays off in the long run because you have to spend an equal amount of time and money to acquire a new customer. But if you invest time in building a value-based relationship with your existing clients and in genuinely helping them, they become your free marketing channels and bring in more leads. This translates to lesser acquisition costs.
With the growing power of customer service software systems, your workforce does not have to spend time on repetitive tasks. You can leave the heavy lifting to the system while your team focuses on other important tasks that need human intervention.
#4. Be Honest About What You Don’t Know
Delayed information is better than wrong information. If you don’t know the answer to a technical question, it is ok to say so and call back once you have the answer.
Genuine answers always gather respect, and people remember them. Make sure you keep the customer in the loop while gathering the required information so they know that you are taking care of them.
#5. Practice Empathy
You may encounter irate customers, but what they need is empathy and a solution to their problem. In fact, empathy is such a rare quality that if your customer service team has it, it earns you an advantage over your competition.
Put yourself in the customer’s shoes and understand that their tone or words are not about you. It pays to stay calm, understand the problem, and provide a solution.
#6. Know Your Product
Know your products and services inside out. Organize training for new members of the team and refresher training for existing team members. Modern CRM systems integrate with the Knowledge Management (KM) systems which help extract the required information quickly while on the call with a customer.
#7. Remember – Every Second Counts
Efficiency and speed are equally important when you want to provide excellent customer service. Remember that your customer wants a quick resolution, and so do the others waiting in the queue.
Customer relationship management systems help speed up your response times and improve the quality of your answers. However, the speed of handling customers should never outrun the quality of service provided.
Final Thought
It is rightly said that technical skills can only take us so far; it’s the behavioral skills that take us all the way. Unfortunately, you can’t learn them from a book, but these seven tips can act as a starting point for long-term learning and improving your business’s customer service.
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