Tips for improving your customer’s experience:
- If you put a caller on hold, check back with them every minute with a status report. Ask if they would prefer a call back. If so, get a phone number, a convenient time, and make sure the return call happens.
- Don’t just transfer a customer call. Make sure the person you’re transferring to is there AND can answer the question or solve the problem. It is especially important to not just transfer if the person has already “zero’d” out of someone’s mailbox.
- When waiting on a customer give them 100% of your attention. Do paperwork, organizing, and other job duties on your time rather than theirs.
- Make it your goal to understand the customer’s needs and expectations rather than just talking your way into a sale. Listen to everything the cusotmer says as if there was a test at the end. Confirm your understanding by paraphrasing: repeating back what you think they’re saying in your own words.
- Confirm that you have information such as phone number, address, name, shipping location, etc to make sure it’s correct. This solves problems down the road.
- Don’t be a robot. If you have a verbal script you need to follow, personalize the delivery. Put a little of yourself in it. Just reciting policies, procedures, and script lines make you no different than a recording.
- Fess up! Blaming others for mistakes (even if it is someone else’s fault) does not look good in the customer’s eyes. Apologize for the mistake of someone in the company as if it were your own. You will gain the customer’s respect by being honest.
- If you tell a customer you will call them back in the morning, call them back in the morning. If you don’t have the information you promised them, call them and tell them you don’t have it, but that you haven’t forgotten about it. This will help reassure the customer that they’re being taken care of.
- Walk the talk. Remember that service starts with the first few seconds of the first contact. You only get one shot at a good first impression. So, greet your customers warmly. Start phone contacts with, “Thank you for calling, may I help you?” Start face to face contacts with, “Welcome. How may I help you?” Customers take their business where they feel welcomed and appreciated.
- Acknowledge walk-up customers immediately, even if it’s only to say, “Thanks for stopping by, I’ll be able to help you in just a moment.” People are more willing to wait patiently if they know that you know they’re there.
- When customers are lined up waiting to be served, don’t yell out “Next!” Instead, make eye contact with the next person in line, smile and invite them forward.
- Develop the habit of looking at each customer as you speak to them. Maintaining eye contact helps you to focus on what the customer is saying, and it shows them that you’re interested in helping them.
- Get the customer’s name early and remember it!
- The customer will connect with you better if you tell them your name as you begin serving them.
- Smile. Rather self explanatory, don’t you think?
