Quick tips for customer service.
Published in this blog 10/10/2012
"I listen and I forget, I see and remember, I experience and I understand" - a Chinese proverb
SERVICE STARTS WITH RELATIONSHIPS
Outstanding service starts with solid relationships. Here are nine ways to strengthen relationships with customers.
Principles from “How to Win Friends and Influence People”:
Enhance Relationships
Become a Friendlier Person1. Don’t criticize, condemn, or complain.
2. Give honest, sincere appreciation.
3. Arouse in the other person an eager want.
4. Become genuinely interested in other people.
5. Smile.
6. Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
7. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
8. Talk in terms of the other person’s interests.
9. Make the other person feel important— and do it sincerely.
Complaint Resolution Process
Having a process to resolve complaints helps assure that we deal with the emotional and practical aspects of the issue.
1 Greet - Always answer the phone or greet people in person as though you are happy to hear from them. Begin in a friendly way. This is easy to say, but can be difficult to do. We need to be able to “live in day-tight compartments” and separate previous negative experiences from this customer contact.
2 Listen - We often get the same kinds of complaints, so it becomes challenging to really listen to
people. Give them an opportunity to vent some of their frustration. Be empathetic. Listen for facts and feelings. Resist the temptation to start responding too quickly. Show signs of active listening, like brief
interjections or clarifying questions.
a. Elementary questions capture the basic facts of the problem. This gives us an opportunity to take some of the emotion out of the complaint.
b. Elaborative questions gather more details. This gives the customer a chance to expand on their issues and feelings. These questions should be relatively short, to encourage the customer to talk more.
c. Evaluative questions help us gain an understanding of the severity of the issue, in the mind of the customer. This is also where we evaluate what will satisfy the customer.
