Customer Service Tips

Welcome

In the following lesson, you'll learn how to provide top-notch

customer support. You'll find tips for managing a customer

service team as well as providing customer service as a member

of a team.

Let's get started...

> Tips for Managing a Customer Service Team

Ensuring customer service representatives are at the top of their

game can be a difficult job so we'll start with some tips for

managers. As a manager, it is your job to make sure your team

is providing the best support to customers.

Onboarding is Key

Here are some ideas to change it up and create a positive and

welcoming environment:

Be consistent

Regardless of how often a new employee joins your

organization, have a standard orientation process and agenda in

place. This way, everyone receives the same experience, and

important details are unlikely to be missed. For a global or

otherwise remote workforce, leverage technology like Lesson.ly

to engage employees who might not be in your office to attend

orientation in person.

Don't wait for Day One

Once an offer is accepted, there are typically about 2 weeks

before the incoming new employee is ready to start the job.

During that time, most incumbents are excited and eager to

learn as much as possible about the new organization and team

he/she will be joining. Take advantage of the natural, high level of

engagement.

• What resources can you share with the person in advance,

to attack the learning curve head-on?

• Share industry and company overviews.

• Make LinkedIn introductions.

• Suggest industry thought leaders to follow on social media.

…whatever makes sense for the person, role and company.

Involve key stakeholders

Orientation shouldn't be the "HR Show" – recruit others across

your organization to be involved in orientation. Consider bringing

in an executive, your IT department, a sales organization leader

or other expert to provide an overview of their area, how they

work with other teams, or to just get acquainted with the newest

members of your team.

Leverage supplemental resources

During orientation, new employees are soaking up all of the

content being provided. Often though, there is so much content

that they are overwhelmed by the end of the session. To combat

information overload, make sure that user-friendly, accessible

training, tools and resources are readily available. If orientation

attendees know there are tools available, they will be more likely

to relax and be engaged in the session itself, rather than feeling

the need to write everything down.

Do something special and unexpected

Give new employees a reason to smile on the drive home after

orientation. Incorporate something fun or special into the first

day.

Here are a few suggestions:

• Have fresh flowers, candy or fun office supplies waiting on

the new employee's desk.

• Distribute branded t-shirts or other company swag.

• Grab your selfie-stick and snap an orientation group pic;

post it to your company's internal site or social networks.

• Bring in a catered breakfast or lunch, or provide fun snacks

during the day.

• Send new employees on a scavenger hunt to navigate the

building.

• Organize an informal welcome reception at the end of the

day – encourage employees to stop by and introduce

themselves to the new team members.

Make your new employees excited to come back for Day Two!

There is no "one size fits all" approach to new employee

orientation – every organization will put their own spin on the

experience. Find what works for your organization, team and

culture and create a welcoming orientation experience that

engages and educates your newest employees.

Reduce Turnover

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Employee turnover is a real issue on many customer service

teams for various reasons, so take a look at these tips to

hopefully reduce the costly expense of a churning workforce:

Offer More Customer Service Training

One of the main reasons turnover is so high among customer

service departments is that these workers simply don't receive

the level of training they need to be successful and confident in

their job performance. Poorly trained employees are more likely

to receive customer complaints and have a harder time following

standard operating procedures.

As a result, they're less content with their jobs and ultimately

decide to seek a job elsewhere, outside the world of customer

service.

Provide Competitive Pay and Benefits

Another all-too-common reason for high customer service

employee turnover is a lack of competitive pay and benefits. Too

often, customer service workers are viewed as being located at

the bottom of the rung. As such, they tend to have lower hourly

pay rates and less desirable benefits than employees in other

positions within the company.

In order to reduce customer service turnover rates, then,

business owners must acknowledge the value that these

workers bring to the table and better reflect that in their salaries

and benefits.

Encourage Employees & Give Feedback

Finally, customer service employees often feel a sense of

disconnect from their supervisors and management teams. As a

result, they lack engagement in their daily work and grow

disinterested, which eventually leads them to seek other

employment opportunities.

Business owners can avoid this problem by going out of their

way to provide feedback and encouragement to their customer

service teams. This can include implementing an "employee of

the month" system or even encouraging supervisors to single

out hard-working customer service employees for praise. A little

bit goes a long way in this regard, after all.

Dealing with the effects of high turnover in your customer service

department can be a struggle. The good news is that by

implementing some or all of these tips, you can take the

necessary steps to combat high turnover and ensure a greater

level of satisfaction from your hard-working employees.

Consistency

If you've spent any time around musicians, you might have

heard the old joke: How late does the band play? About half a

beat behind the drummer. Ba Dum Tsssss

One characteristic all successful bands have in common, from

rock to jazz, is that they work together to coalesce not only

around the same beat, but also around the same ideas and

styles. Bands who are not on the same page musically rarely

succeed, and if they do, it is only to secure a place on a future

episode of The Greatest One-Hit Wonders.

It's no different with our customer experience teams; without

consistency and alignment across departments and job

functions, your customer service team can fail to deliver a

customer experience that causes customers to come back and

tell their friends.

These three top-level tips will help ensure that your customer

service team keeps the same beat.

Shared Systems and ProcessesHave you ever watched a band that did not use a set list?

Instead of smoothly transitioning between songs arranged in a

carefully chosen order, they fumble about from song to song

while the audience loses interest.

Similarly, our customer experience teams must work from the

same set list by utilizing a shared set of systems and processes.

For instance, our teams should have a standardized process to

resolve customer issues. This ensures that each person knows

what part they play in the process and ensures that the

customer's experience is as smooth as possible.

Of course, having shared systems and processes does not

mean that our teams should not have flexibility. When teams are

faced with a customer service issue they should be empowered

to act and to deliver an outcome that is consistent with the

organization's goals.

When teams aren't reading from the same manual or using the

same systems, they will inevitably deliver inconsistent service.

This is a sure-fire way to be booed off stage.

Shared Culture and StrategyDo you remember the part during the movie Rock Star, when the

band members could not agree on whether they were a cover

band, a tribute band, or an original band? Our teams must know

what our organizations stand for to deliver effective and

memorable customer experiences.

Your customer experience team needs to know who they are

and why they're here. When you have a shared customer-centric

culture, your reps will know how far they can go to resolve an

issue or to delight a customer. They will be able to transcend the

shared systems and processes above to deliver truly

outstanding customer experiences that are consistent in their

approach.

A shared culture and strategy is also essential to create an

internal customer experience that makes teams want to excel,

so they will enjoy coming to work and deliver a much better

experience for our customers.

Shared TrainingShared culture and shared systems are much more effective if

they are supported by shared training.

Training gives us the common vocabulary we need to

communicate effectively. Training gives us the interaction we

need to learn each other's strengths and weaknesses. Training

gives us the ability to share best practices and to explore what

has worked and what hasn't.

They say the Beatles practiced for thousands of hours together

before they ever made it big. Our customer experience teams

are no different. You wouldn't go out on stage without

practicing, and similarly, we can't expect our teams to excel

without the right training.

Many things must come together to create an effective customer

service team. However, if you focus on these three concepts,

you can get your customer service team working to the same

beat and selling out arenas instead of singing karaoke.

Activities + Games

Trust Fall!

One of the biggest challenges a customer support team

manager faces at his or her job is ensuring that all customer

service representatives are properly trained and prepared to

handle just about any situation. Customer service training

activities offer a hands on approach to teaching and learning for

your employees.

We're not suggesting you jump off a mountain together, that

looks super dangerous, and definitely not for amateurs, but here

are a few activities that can help you get started:

The "No" Word

The word "no" is a trigger word that has been known to evoke

negative emotions in customers. It is the one word every

customer service agent should avoid using unless necessary.

Divide your group into two teams and have them come up with

different ways to say "no" without actually saying the word "no."

When done, bring both teams back together to compare

answers. Eliminate any answers that may still have a negative

impact on the a customer's problem. The team with the most

effective answers remaining will win the exercise.

Who Are You?

The ultimate goal of this customer service training activity is to

get everyone in the group working together and realizing their

similarities and differences. Knowing each others' differences will

help customer service representatives know who they can turn

to in situations they themselves are unable to successfully take

care of.

Make four sets of signs with the following words written on

them:

• Set 1: Competitive, Compromising, Collaborative,

Accommodating

• Set 2: Caring, Care Giver, Cared For, Cared About

• Set 3: Talkative, Quiet, Outgoing, Watcher

• Set 4: Tired, Confused, Happy, Eager

Reveal each set separately. For example, ask "Are you

competitive, compromising, collaborative or accommodating?"

Then, ask each participant to stand next to the sign they relate

to the most. Then, select one person in each group to explain

why he or she relates more to the word selected. Continue with

the next three sets of cards.

This is a great icebreaker for new customer service

representatives to be integrated into the group. It also helps

individuals to clearly understand their own characteristics.

Ridiculous Complaints

This activity is intended to help customer service representatives

prepare to handle complaints from customers that may, or may

not be, a bit ridiculous. To play, make a list of ridiculous

complaints that your employees have encountered in the past

and may possible encounter in the future.

Examples of ridiculous complaints include:

• "The water is too wet."

• "I bought my purse from a street vendor only to discover it

was fake. I want to return it to you."

• "The sand at the beach does not look like the sand in the

brochure."

This activity can be executed as a group or during one-on-one

training sessions. These scenarios can also be discussed

through role playing games, showing how each representative

would take care of the situation.

As a customer service team manager, you are well aware of the

importance of great customer experience and ensuring all of

your representatives are trained properly. The above listed

activities are just a sampling of what you can do with your

representatives, ensuring they are prepared to handle every

customer service situation that comes their way.

Customer Service Week

Customer service week (first week of October) is a great excuse

to reward your staff for the excellent examples of customer

experience they've provided through the year.

If you lead a customer service team and haven't planned a

celebration for#CustomerServiceWeek yet, here are a few great

ideas from across the web:

• 11 Ways to Celebrate National Customer Service Week

• Customer Service Week Bingo

• 6 Customer Service Week Themes for All Budgets

> Tips for Providing Customer Service

Let's get those thank you's flowing and put some smiles on our

customers' faces. These handy tips will help you learn how to be

a better customer service representative.

Customer Service Basics

The fundamentals of customer service remain constant from

square one to stardom. Here are four basics to practice

regularly:

Find Common Ground

Everybody likes to have something in common with others.

Fortunately, the customer service situation is a prime opportunity

to benefit from this desire. When a customer knows that a

representative identifies with his or her situation and makes a

concerted effort to solve a problem, you're on your way to a

satisfied experience.

Be Positive

An uplifting tone can bring even the most negative of moods

back to a point of solution. The more positive your team can be

when taking a call or ticket request, the more positive the

customer on the other end will respond. This will keep the

conversation productive and therefore shorter, allowing more

issues to be resolved.

Take Your Time

Nobody likes being rushed. This is especially true when you are

experiencing a product or service and looking for help. In the

case of customer service, this means taking your time with your

customer to make sure all of their questions and concerns are

addressed to their satisfaction. Be sure to continually ask "is

there anything else I can help you with?"

Know How to Close

Closing is an underrated skill in customer service. If there is a

specific action you need your customer to take, be sure to

understand what the most common objections are and how to

answer them. Be sure to create lessons for your customer

service team about closing in addition to role playing exercises

to make them comfortable with the process.

Working with Difficult Customers

If someone has taken the time to reach out to your company to

notify you of an issue, it is important to them, here are a few tips

to help meet a resolution.

Give Credit to Complaints

This might be the most difficult part of providing customer

service because the more mundane something is, the easier it is

to poorly position your customer in your mind. Be cognizant of

this tendency and do your best to train your team to see the

situation from your customers' eyes.

Listen to Their Viewpoint

Empathize with your customer to understand why they are

upset. Make sure you understand the problem and find the best

solution. If you cannot offer them an immediate solution, be sure

to offer an explanation as well as a willingness to help.

Don't Just Listen, Hear

Make sure you understand completely what the customer is

upset about. Sometimes a customer just wants to know an

employee is aware of the issue. If the customer just wants to

vent, let them.

Customer Service over the Phone

Phone calls can seem impersonal, inconvenient, and inefficient

to customers. Customer service over the phone is vital to

success though. Chances are high though that a customer can

find an answer faster by talking to representative than by

browsing aimlessly on a company's website.

Be prepared when that phone rings; follow these tips:

Smile

Smile when you talk to a customer over the phone. Your voice

really does sound different when you smile and a customer can

hear that. A pleasant hello starts off more empathetic than a

reluctant one.

Follow Good Phone Etiquette

Good etiquette goes a long way. Ask any customer before you

transfer them, answer as quickly as possible, and apologize for

the wait if there was one. Before transferring, see if you can help

them. It will save the customer time as well as your coworker.

Also, don't eat while on the phone. Gross.

Ask Questions

Get to the bottom of any customer call and make sure to do the

most to help them. If you can exceed what they intended to

accomplish, they will hang up smiling.

Retail Customer Service

Retail sales are often generated as a result of positive

interactions between sales staff members and customers. A

genuine and helpful discussion with a customer can make all the

difference. Below, we outline 4 sales tips for retail sales

associates.

Establishing ContactRetail sales staff should be encouraged to greet customers in a

prompt manner. When customers are left to wander around the

store without a staff member offering assistance, they become

less inclined to make a purchase.

Sales associates should not only greet customers but they

should also have a repertoire of "go to" lines that probe

customers' product needs. If sales staff associates can get

customers to open up about their habits or interests, they'll be

better able to steer them toward appropriate products. This

should all be done within the first few minutes of the customer's

entry into the store.

Fill A VoidRetail sales staff should be trained to find out why the customer

is on the prowl. It's all about meeting a need or desire. Managers

should role play with staff members to improve their customer

service and personal interaction skills or provide pre-recorded

role play examples.

Sales associates should always steer conversations toward

finding out what product(s) in the store could possibly benefit the

customer. This will require sales staff to brush up on the unique

qualities of store products so that they can suggest items in

confidence.

Associates Should Not Focus on Sales ItemsAssociates should not steer customers toward items that are on

sale. Stores typically make very little profit on sales items as the

margins are so thin. While it might be a kind gesture to

immediately guide customers toward sales items, it could harm

the business if that's where staff always points first.

It also communicates to the customer that the sales staff

member thinks the store's regular inventory is overpriced.

Associates should be trained to only mention products that are

on sale if customers make an inquiry about those items, or at

least use them as a secondary course of action.

Word ChoiceChoosing the right words can make the difference between a

sale and a customer walking out of the store empty handed.

Staff members should be trained to use positive words and buzz

words that have been trending in the mainstream. It is a good

idea to pass out a list of key sales words to staff members that

will produce positive visions for customers.

Words like "new, save, free, healthy, proven, and safe" are

especially effective at persuading customers to make purchases.

Certain words should also be avoided. These include words like

"difficult, bad, buy, worry, and cost". They'll potentially generate

a negative vibe and turn customers away.

Next Steps

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