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Curbing Customer Service Woes: Improving Low Support Service Quality

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Improving your contact centre’s service quality with proactive practices.

A company’s support centre is the backbone of public relations and customer satisfaction. Customer service is often the window through which consumers and the general public see any organization, and failing to deliver quality support at all times can be a business killer. In fact, 76% of consumers look at customer service as a test of their value to a brand. Fortunately, even your disgruntled customers can be swayed back to your side with the help of high quality customer service.

Four P’s of Service Quality

Building top-notch customer service doesn’t happen overnight. Here are four P’s to help improve low support service quality.

1. Patience

If an organization’s call centre staff loses their cool and “goes off” on a customer, it’s bad for business. Period. Especially in the era of social sharing, one bad experience with customer service can spark a powder keg of negative press. Patience is extremely important when it comes to properly addressing any customer service call-in, and it’s even more important when dealing with an individual face-to-face. Treating even the most frustrated, confused, or angry patrons with a professional level of respect and patience is essential for a successful customer service interaction.

Patience doesn’t come naturally to many of us. It can be a difficult skill to master. This can be doubly true in stressful situations with customers. Silently counting to 10, taking deep breaths to calm the nerves, and rephrasing a customer’s concerns to ensure them they’re understood can help diffuse the situation. Furthermore, seeing through the lens of others (being empathetic) goes a long way. There are always outside forces at work. Accept where a customer is coming from and how they’d like to see a particular problem resolved. Patiently work with them to find a mutually understood solution, and you’re one step closer to improving your service quality.

2. Personal Attention

It may seem like a no-brainer, but handling each customer experience with a one-on-one, individualized approach is what sets good customer service apart from “going-through-the-motions” customer service. When a customer feels like their concerns aren’t being addressed on a personal level, it’s difficult to instill a sense of well-being and satisfaction. Even automated messages feel less robotic when a company takes the time to include personalized touches (such as ensuring a customer’s name appears on a communication rather than “Dear sir or madam”).

The best contact centre interactions or customer service experiences unfold when the customer feels comfortable and valued. Nothing says comfort like greeting a repeat patron with a personalized message or a friendly face/voice they’re familiar with. 

3. Practice

A well-practiced employee is ready for any situation. The best customer service usually comes from employees who know the ins and outs of an organization’s policies and products. This generally takes some time to learn. There’s no substitute for practice, and with practice comes an inherent knowledge of how certain customer service interactions often play out. The 100th time a call centre staff member answers the same question, the more likely they’ll be able to provide effortless and creative solutions.

That’s right—with practice also comes the ability to improvise and problem solve in real-time. Rather than spending time tracking down part numbers or reading through error messages, practiced contact centre employees can anticipate customer needs. Often, this can lead to quick fixes and innovative answers to customer concerns.

4. Positivity

Staying positive throughout the duration of a customer service interaction goes hand-in-hand with being patient. Believe it or not, a smile can be heard over the phone, and sometimes a mere smile during a customer call is all it takes to positively sway a consumer’s opinion. Sure, there’s always more involved when it comes to solving complex problems, but being positive plays an important role in customer satisfaction.

Consumers are more likely to remember a representative’s attitude and inflection over the details of a call. With 45% of consumers unable to remember a recent positive customer service experience, leaving an impression through a good attitude can work wonders for public relations.

Better Service, Better Centre

In an age where computers and automations are quickly taking the place of person-to-person interactions, being able to provide quality customer-centric service is becoming a rare and sought-after commodity. Re-evaluating an organization’s customer contact points and improving service wherever possible can take time, but the rewards are invaluable.

When was the last time you reviewed your contact center interactions? Want to learn about some more ways to improve your service? Check out our free whitepaper!


Download the FREE Whitepaper: 10 Proven Strategies to Decrease the Costs of Your Customer Care Without Sacrificing Service Levels