Examples of good customer service skills

Customer service skills are important in many careers, but what do employers consider valuable communication skills? We look at the skills you should be focusing your efforts on.

What is customer service???

Customer service is the assistance that a company offers to anyone that engages with its brand. Customer service isn’t limited to those people who are in the process of buying the goods or services a company provides; it encompasses the entire interaction an individual has with a business – before, during, and after a purchase. It’s crucial for businesses to adopt this holistic approach to customer service to help ensure customer satisfaction at every stage of the process.??

Customer service can come in all different forms. With more businesses moving their staff to a remote-first setup, digital methods such as online messaging, self-service, social media and email have all become more popular. But traditional methods such as phone calls or face-to-face interactions still hold significance in today’s tech-driven world and are even often viewed as more valuable than digital alternatives.??

Companies in all different industries rely on their employees’ customer service skills to grow the business and retain a positive reputation. Good customer service really can give one company a competitive advantage over rivals, so it’s crucial to invest the appropriate resources in this area.

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Why is customer service important??

Being able to deliver effective customer service support can offer so many benefits, to both your clients and the company itself.?

For the people using your services and products, good customer service can save them both time and money, with any issues being solved quickly and efficiently. It also helps to invoke a sense of loyalty from customers, preventing them from searching for alternative providers.???

According to one survey,?80% of people agreed?that customer experience is just as important as a company’s product or service. This demonstrates how important being able to offer a strong level of customer support is, and will go a long way to encouraging greater loyalty in your brand. It’s generally accepted that customer retention costs less than customer acquisition, so enhancing loyalty in this way can ultimately lead to recurring revenue.??

But this isn’t the only way that good customer service can improve your company’s bottom line. New business, upselling and increased conversion rates can all come as a result of a positive experience with a company’s customer service.?

After all, customer care isn’t just about strengthening relationships with existing customers – it’s also about building new ones. Stand-out customer service can even attract new eyes to your business, with positive reviews garnering more clients and greater interest in your company.

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Examples of good customer service skills?

Communication???

Communication is key to every aspect of customer service, and there are so many different communication skills anyone delivering it should possess. Here are three of the most important:?

• Persuasiveness. When you think about customer service, your mind may instantly be drawn to the negatives. Call handlers dealing with disgruntled customers making a complaint, or waiters contending with upset diners. But good customer service should be viewed as a positive thing, and could even present the opportunity to improve conversions or even loyalty amongst your customers.?

Rather than calling to make a complaint, customers could simply be inquiring about a product. In this case, persuasion skills will help you to turn interested leads into loyal customers, by assuring them that your company and service is the right fit for them.

• Empathy.?Empathy is the ability to understand emotions in others, and having this skill gives you the opportunity to see situations from a different perspective. Being able to better understand the way the customer is feeling will help you to provide a better service, and displaying this trait will only help to strengthen the relationship between customer and company. The customer will feel listened to and thus more valued, which hopefully means they’ll be more inclined to provide repeat custom and even recommendations to other people.?
• Use of supportive language.?As with any other conversation, there are certain words or phrases that when used at the wrong time are extremely unhelpful, and can create additional tension and anger.?

At best, negative language won’t help to resolve the customer’s complaint, leaving them upset with your support. At worst, the wrong language has the potential to exacerbate a situation and provoke the customer at the other end to potentially use aggressive and argumentative language in response.??

Here are a few phrases you should always look to avoid:

• “There’s nothing we can do”??
• “I’m sorry you feel that way”??
• “That doesn’t make sense”?

Try to avoid any language that abdicates responsibility on your side, or even places blame back on the customer – neither will be helpful in coming to a resolution. If you’re ever unsure on a solution, the customer doesn’t want to hear about what you can’t do to help, but instead tell them what you?will?do.

This may mean connecting them with another member of the team, or speaking through the problem yourself. It’s important to always be honest, and never make something up – this will only cause further problems for both parties.?

Problem solving and creative thinking

Problem solving is a transferable skill that’s useful in so many different aspects of the modern world of work. Having the ability to approach customer complaints with an open mind will mean you’re more likely to find a positive outcome for everyone involved.??

Usually, problem solving skills in customer service will go hand in hand with extensive knowledge of your company’s products and services. However, sometimes there’ll be a complex complaint that requires you to approach the situation with a little creativity, whilst also maintaining effective communication with the customer.

Without strong problem solving skills, you may find yourself using more of the negative phrases we mentioned above. This can ultimately undermine your authority and the customer can soon grow frustrated if they feel like they’re talking to someone who won’t be able to solve their issue.??

Having good problem solving skills is one thing, but being able to execute them effectively when under the pressure of a one-on-one conversation is key to being successful in this line of work. Being able to think on your feet to suggest alternative solutions will keep the customer on side, and ensure you’re doing all you can to retain their interest in your company and deliver a great service.?

Strong product and industry knowledge

One of the cornerstones of good customer service is a broad and comprehensive understanding of the specific products and services you’re promoting. At the simplest level, knowing the ins and outs of your products means you can provide help and advice if customers encounter any problems.?

Beyond this, it will stand you in good stead when using good customer service as a mechanism to improve your bottom line. Understanding your customer’s needs and wants will help you to potentially recommend additional products to people who have already shown an interest in your brand. It also helps to build additional layers of trust from the customer who is seeking support, instilling feelings of loyalty and confidence.

It’s important to be aware that this particular skill will develop naturally as you become more familiar with the company and the industry in which it sits. But you will find the better grasp you have on the products you’re representing, the better the experience you’ll be able to provide.?

Time management

In our tech-driven world that’s obsessed with instant gratification, customers expect almost instantaneous solutions to their problems. This demand for fast help places huge pressure on customer service teams, who will have to juggle multiple requests at any given time.

This is the main reason why time management is so important to being successful in a customer experience role. Having the ability to split your time between clients, even during busy times, will demonstrate to customers that they are valued, and prompt responses are only likely to increase conversions.

Remember, being adroit at time management doesn’t mean you work yourself tirelessly to respond to as many customers as possible in any given period of time – it also means finding the time to take regular breaks. Prioritising and delegating tasks are both key to good time management, and being able to do both of these things will help you to find more time to switch off during the day.?

It’s also important that any time you do spend working is being used in an efficient way – this means having more conversations that directly help the customer. A big part of this is having strong product knowledge, which will help you find solutions faster, going to show how these skills all go hand in hand.??

Patience?

Patience is a crucial skill to have at every stage of your career in customer service. When starting out, it may take some people a little longer to grasp the processes involved, or to establish an intricate understanding of the products and services the company provides.??

Further down the line, when speaking with customers, some may be less receptive to your recommendations than others, and many may not have all the necessary information to hand for you to be able to help. But having the ability to calmly talk them through to a solution, and potentially repeating yourself a few times to help them understand, will help to bring about a favourable outcome.?

Being impatient when communicating with customers will never be a helpful tact, and could ultimately drive away customers who have shown a clear interest in your business.?

Resilience

Though far less glamorous than being able to flaunt your superlative communication skills or your ability to think creatively, resilience is just as important in what is a highly demanding role. Unfortunately, you’ll regularly be faced with customers who will take their frustrations out on you, since you’re ultimately the face of the company in this situation. And any bad experiences they’ve previously had with other customer service assistants will instantly put you on the back foot.?

It can be demoralising and even upsetting when unruly customers vent their anger directly at you. But mirroring these emotions to customers will only create more tension and will affect your ability to find a positive outcome for both parties.?

Being able to remain calm in stressful situations, and pick up the next phone call with a clear mind will go a long way to helping you to become a more successful customer service assistant.

How to develop your skills

In what is such a varied role, when you’ll face new situations every day, you will constantly be learning on the job. But you don’t have to be working in a customer service role to develop these key transferable skills. As we mentioned earlier, learning and developing key customer service skills can be useful in so many different roles. Fortunately, there are endless opportunities in vocational situations where you can develop and improve this particular set of skills. Here are three ways you can develop your skill set:?

• Interact more with customers and clients.?When you’re not particularly confident in dealing directly with customers or clients, it’s far easier to avoid interacting with them wherever possible. But having more conversations and interactions will expose you to more challenging situations, helping you to gain more experience and confidence.??
• Shadow colleagues.?Particularly when you’re just starting out in your career, having the chance to shadow a more experienced team member can provide an invaluable opportunity to establish and develop your own skill set. If possible, take the chance to observe as many different people as possible. This will allow you to tailor your own approach by seeing what works for different colleagues and adopting your favourite elements from each individual’s process.

Learning from the people around you won’t only expose you to the skills and techniques that they’ve learned, but it can also give you a better insight into your industry, company and products.??

• Improve technical skills and company knowledge.?There aren’t any shortcuts to be had in providing good customer service. Taking the time to learn more about your specific industry, as well as your company and its products, will make it easier for you to respond to complaints. Speaking with greater authority about these things will put you in a stronger position to help customers and keep them on side.
• Be open to feedback and criticism.?It’s common for companies to ask customers directly for feedback after an interaction with a member of the team, or customers may be willing to impart this information themselves. This can be valuable in helping to guide your personal growth in the industry. The more feedback you acquire, the easier it will be to highlight your areas of strength and ways you can improve, to provide a better service and have more positive interactions with customers.?

Whether you’re working explicitly in a customer service role, or are in another line of work but feel you’d benefit from improving in this area, take note of these key skills and you will be helping yourself to help others throughout your career.??