Offering great customer service is one way to ensure you have happy customers who are not only loyal to your brand and keep coming back but will also speak highly of you to others. Providing a customer service experience that wows consumers and leaves them feeling seen and satisfied is likely to help you stand apart from your competition.
Creating the right customer experience, though, isn’t as simple as having a phone line and knowledgeable, friendly people to staff a call center. It’s important to pay attention to everything from your tone of voice to how you use technology and more.
We’ll discuss 15 tips for efficient customer service and talk about why good customer service is so important.
15 tips for efficient customer service
When a customer has an issue and needs help, the way your company responds can make or break that relationship. Luckily, your team can use tried-and-true tips to increase customer satisfaction and leave customers feeling good about the interaction and results. These best practices include:
- Use the right support tools
- Communicate with clarity and a good tone
- Have a deep knowledge of the products and services
- Avoid conflict by using positive language
- Project confidence in every message
- Use the customer’s first name
- Consider incentives and rewards
- Close your conversation correctly
- Be aware of response time
- Use automated filtering
- Focus on solutions
- Analyze customer feedback
- Reengage with old customers
- Always offer alternatives
- Apologize for any inconvenience
1. Use the right support tools
The good news is that technology has given us tools that often make the customer service experience not only easier for customer support teams but also better for customers. These tools include everything from templates for customer service reps to use to chatbots, FAQs, and self-service options for the customer.
One popular integration is the live chat feature. Customers are able to connect with someone to answer their questions, even while in the process of making purchases. Another way to engage customers in a positive way is with the use of a customer relationship management (CRM) tool. Using the customer data profile from the CRM, the service representative is able to fill in many of the blanks without having to ask the customer for repetitive information, thus shortening the interaction time and giving a personal touch to the support engagement.
2. Communicate with clarity and a good tone
Clarity and tone generally go a long way in avoiding conflict, especially during tense customer interactions. No matter whether a customer service representative is face to face, on the phone, or interacting with customers through online chat, if they maintain a cheerful and empathetic demeanor—while practicing active listening skills— customers are more likely to stay calm and feel that their issues are being addressed.
Clarity is also key. Make sure the customer understands exactly what you’re doing or offering. If not, misunderstandings may lead to bigger issues that then need to be addressed.
3. Have a deep knowledge of the products and services
Your customer service team should have a good knowledge base of what you’re offering so they’re well-equipped to handle most customer questions. Having said that, training should also help them recognize when the questions are becoming too technical and they need additional support.
When a rep is able to say “I don’t know” and then completes a handoff of the inquiry to someone with more detailed information, this positive action can help the customer feel that their issue is being appropriately addressed.
4. Avoid conflict by using positive language
Positive language is an important customer service tool. This means focusing on what you can do and how you can help rather than on what you can’t do. When a customer wants something that isn’t possible, positive language focuses on an alternative action that is possible and why that action is useful to the customer.
An example of positive language is explaining that a product is out of stock but will be available in a few weeks and offering to schedule the delivery for as soon as the product arrives. Or acknowledging that a product is no longer supported, but you might offer to help the customer upgrade and explain why they’ll benefit from the new product.
5. Project confidence in every message
From the first hello until the final thank-you and goodbye, your customer service representatives should project confidence that customer issues will have a solution. You can position your customer service team to do exactly that in a few ways.
First, customer service training combined with product knowledge training are important basics to help them better engage with customers. You can also help them by giving clear expectations so they understand how important their role is and have personal confidence in what they’re doing. When problems arise that are more complicated or difficult, have an escalation pathway that spells out who they should go to when they need extra help.
6. Use the customer’s first name
Train your customer service team to use the customer’s first name in conversation, in a natural way without overdoing it, of course. This is important for a couple of reasons.
First, everyone likes to be known by their name. Hearing your own name actually makes your brain respond in a way unique from hearing any other word. Using the customer’s name makes it more likely they’ll identify and respond positively to the person they’re interacting with.
This personalization is also a good way for customer service representatives to regain the customer’s attention and have them more closely listen to what they’re saying.
7. Consider incentives and rewards
Rewarding loyal customers for their business may reinforce the way they feel about you. Rewards make them feel even more valued and important. If possible, consider offering memberships, loyalty cards, and other incentives to keep your customers feeling good and coming back again and again.
8. Close your conversation correctly
No matter which way your customer engages with your customer service agents—on the phone or through live chat, email, or social media—it’s important to have a clear end to the interaction. The customer should have a good understanding of what has been discussed and why.
It’s also important to clearly communicate the next steps to the customer, especially if their issue hasn’t been resolved. The best last step is always to ask, “Is there anything else I can help you with?” and not consider the call done until you hear something along the lines of, “No, I’m all set.
9. Be aware of response time
If you’ve ever been on hold for more than a minute or two, you know that frustration with waiting builds quickly. On the other hand, sometimes solving a problem does take time.
Being aware of your response time and following up that awareness with clear communication might help mitigate customer frustrations. Each step of the way, respond as quickly as possible even if simply to acknowledge that their message has been received and is being worked on. If you anticipate longer wait times for customers calling on the phone, you may also consider adding a callback feature to your system that allows them to hang up and go about their day while waiting for you to call them back.
10. Use automated filtering
A SuperOffice benchmark study showed the majority of customers don’t receive a resolution to their issue on the first reply—meaning that most have to make multiple attempts to get a resolution from a company. Using automation is a helpful way to funnel customers to the right area and toward a faster solution for their issues.
You might be able to achieve faster resolution by using a more robust interactive voice response (IVR) phone system and ensuring reps are thoroughly trained. Another way to approach filtering is by setting up workflows for your team that nudge them or allow for keywords like “refunds” to streamline their process.
11. Focus on solutions
We all recognize that the best way to solve customer complaints is with a customer-focused solution. Exactly what that looks like might be a bit less obvious.
The easiest, fastest solution may not be the best solution if it doesn’t fully solve things for your customer. If you want your customer to have an experience that leaves them truly happy, you may need to take extra time to investigate and get to the root cause of the issue.
For example, let’s say a customer is having an issue with an online account. So far, they’ve noticed they can’t access one area of the account. You might be able to solve that specific issue, but with a little investigation, you find a larger issue in the way the account was set up. Fixing that broader issue could mean they don’t have to contact you again with another problem.
12. Allow for customer feedback
Not every customer will be satisfied at all times. Likewise, you won’t be able to anticipate every issue. Offering ways for your customers to give feedback allows you to get closer to the customer and learn what needs improving.
There are a number of ways to do this. Phone surveys at the end of a call, follow-up email surveys, or a “Contact Us” page on your website are all great ways to engage the customer early, before they make an angry phone call or give a bad online review.
13. Reengage with old customers
We all want our customers to come back again and again. The best way to achieve good customer retention is by staying engaged with your customers.
Maintaining that relationship from the time they are new customers with thank-yous, birthday offers, and more can keep them coming back. This practice also gives you an opportunity to build a more complete picture of who the customers are and what they’re purchasing, which then allows you to anticipate customer needs and suggest additional products that can help them even more.
14. Always offer alternatives
When it comes to addressing a customer’s problem, try to avoid leaving the customer with a “no.” You’ll need to do this without giving out bad information.
It’s okay to tell a customer you don’t know the answer to something, but you want to make sure to follow that up with an alternative next step. For example, you might say that you’ll find the right answer for them and either have them hold or call them back.
15. Apologize for any inconvenience
When your company has made a mistake or something has gone wrong for your customer, it’s a good idea to own the error and apologize right away. Having said that, make sure your apology isn’t just an “I’m sorry” but steers the conversation into positive territory by thanking them for being patient and then looking into what the solution will be.
The importance of good customer service
For any company, creating a positive brand image and building customer loyalty are two important goals. One thing both ideas have in common? They both involve having an excellent customer service experience. Friendly, knowledgeable, and adaptable customer service team members are crucial parts of that experience.
When customer expectations are high—and customers will, most often, give you only one chance to get it right—building the best customer service team willing to go the extra mile is crucial. Consider proven best practices to make sure you get the team you need.
