Solutions to Common Customer Service Mistakes
Learn how to prevent turning common customer service mistakes into full-blown eruptions by examining these five common mistakes.
Your team provided an excellent product. You delivered in a timely manner. Your customer’s needs were met. So why are they on the phone shouting themselves hoarse at your customer service agents?
Maybe you made a mistake and failed to deliver on a promise to them, or maybe they just finished putting out a grease fire in their kitchen while accidentally dumping their spaghetti down the drain. And wouldn’t you know it, that’s when they decide to give your contact centre a call and take their frustration out on somebody.
The good news is that your customers will generally have a high opinion of you. They’ve already chosen to do business with you, right? The bad news is, getting them as clients is only half the battle. Once you’ve begun providing them a service you’d better be able to back it up, or risk losing the client permanently.
Here are five common faux pas and some easy workarounds to guarantee an amazing customer experience.
1) A Lack of Understanding
Good customer service isn’t always about solving problems immediately. The most important step is simple — listening! Whatever their complaints, you need to take responsibility for them and make them your own.
If your customers are already angry, believe me, making them repeat themselves over and over isn’t going to help. Don’t expect them to have much patience with you if you can’t catch onto the problem quick.
In fact, in a 2013 Connecting with Consumers Report, 82 percent of customers agreed that having their issues resolved quickly was one of the most important elements of customer service. Being able to catch on to the core issue of the customer’s grievance and address their concerns will go a long way toward making them feel heard and preserving what little patience they may still have.
2) Let Me Transfer Your Call
Be wary of transfers, too. While it may be necessary to direct an angry customer to the appropriate department, this can easily add fuel to the fire.
Try to keep your interactions to as few agents as possible — that way the customer won’t have to explain themselves over and over, and will feel more like a priority instead of getting the impression that they’re being “handed off.”
3) Ignoring (Or Forgetting) Customer Call-Backs
As anybody who has ever been on a date can testify, nothing is more annoying than somebody who doesn’t call back. This is even truer for customer service. Since agents should prioritize solving their customer’s problems, neglecting to return a call or message can seem like a real slap in the face.
Relating to your customers and making them feel like valued clients is essential in working with them. The goal is to establish your investment in their situation to the point where they are willing to keep doing business with you, despite the problems that have popped up.
Building loyalty is the name of the game, and nothing kills that loyalty faster than when your customers feel that they aren’t a priority.
4) Empty Apologies
Apologizing for mistakes is great — to a certain point. While acknowledging that the problem exists and taking responsibility for it is essential in handling angry customers, you won’t win them over by asking for forgiveness alone.
The same goes for presenting “solutions” that are little more than glorified consolation prizes. Nobody who missed a flight due to overbooking will be interested in a free tote bag. If you’re going to present a solution to a customer, you’d better make sure that it’s actually something that can help them solve their problem.
5) Promises You Can’t Keep
Though it should go without saying, making guarantees that you can’t back up is a major no-no in a good customer service industry. It may be tempting to promise a quick fix when you have an angry voice blaring through your headset, but promising to deliver and then failing on that promise will cause you to lose all credibility in your customer’s eyes.
Don’t just tell them what you think they want to hear, it may be easy in the short term but it will come back to bite you sooner or later.
Customer Service is the Future
Consumers are interacting with businesses far more than they used to. Customers need agents who can listen and respond effectively to their problems, while maintaining high standards of etiquette and the ability to deliver on what they promise. These elements combined will guarantee that any customer complaints can be handled quickly and effectively within your call centre.
Want to learn even more tips on handling customer complaints with exceptional ease? Check out our free white paper.
