There is a reason so many people refer to calling up customer service as being sent to phone tree hell. If you can even get through to a real live human being, then you are almost sure to be put on hold while that person looks up your file, finds out what they can do to help or simply tells you to wait. This is no way to run a business.
The truth of the matter is that many businesses think of their customer service side of the company only after everything else, when it should be the other way around. Your customer service people are your main voice to the public and yet many businesses make one of these common errors when it comes to taking care of their public.
Misuse of Automation
While there are some great pieces of software out there that can be a boon to improving how quickly your customer service agents find a solution, not everything should be automated. Integrated software that works with real human beings, such as Microsoft’s dynamics crm program, can make the interaction more human as well as efficient.
While you can offer a fully automated customer service portal on your website, always give your customers the option of talking to a human being. On the whole, most of us will use the automated service when we see its value, but if we want satisfaction for correcting an error, only a human will often do the trick.
Learn to Listen
Often when a customer calls with a complaint, they more than anything else want to feel that someone at the company is hearing them. Teaching your customer service representatives about the value of being a good listener will be money well invested in the end. So many ugly lawsuits could have been prevented if someone had been there to listen when it all began.
And while you are at it, why not have everyone in your organization take the workshop on learning to listen. It is a skill all of us need help developing and will only make your business more open and successful.
Correct Mistakes Immediately
While we would all love it if we never made a mistake, we are all human. Sometimes we move too quickly, sometimes we miss that one important element that might have prevented the mess. Whatever the reason, the best way to reply is by responding in a positive way and correcting the problem as quickly as possible.
A company that is capable of saying “our bad, let me make it up to you” will get forgiven far more quickly then one that insists it was never their fault. Work with customer service to help them correct the situation and let the customer know that you take what has happened seriously.
Review with Your Team
Once the problem has been solved, it is time to see how to ensure it doesn’t happen again. This is why it is always good to have the entire team meet to discuss what happened, how it happened and how to prevent it from happening again. Everyone learns from the experience, we all become better at our jobs and the negative is turned into a positive in the end.
