Spring is here! That means it’s the perfect time to do some much needed cleaning, both personally and professionally. No matter what industry your business is in, reviewing and revising your services and departments is always beneficial. One such department is customer service. Customer service plays a big role in influencing your potential customers’ first impression of your business, so it’s important to improve upon it as much and as often as needed. Here are 5 ways you can clean up your customer service this spring:
Build an experienced team
To keep your callers happy and patient on the phone, make sure your team of customer service representatives are experienced reps who know the industry and business by heart. The team should be intelligent, efficient, and communicative with both the customer as well as other representatives your caller may be transferred to if needed. The last thing customers want is having to retell their comments over and over again.
Get up-to-date on the latest protocols
To get any issue resolved, or to convey the proper information, your customer service team needs to be in sync with your company’s latest procedures and offerings. Keeping your reps trained on how the company runs ensures that they not only communicate properly with customers, but also that those customers aren’t caught off guard or blindsided due to out-of-date information your staff could have passed on.
Avoid robotic recordings
The digital age is great for a lot of things, but phone calls just isn’t one of them when you’re calling a business. To make the process as painless as can be, make sure your callers are able to speak to a live person, not just a prerecorded message. That personal touch will not only make processes run smoother, but will also let your customers see that they are a valued priority to you.
Hire friendly personnel
Going hand-in-hand with the personal touch of reaching a live person is treating your callers with respect and kindness. An unwelcoming service agent leads to an unhappy customer or even a loss of customers. Keep them calm with a team that shows how much they care about each call.
Get rid of wait times
Putting customers on hold is one of the biggest pitfalls of service teams, and requiring callers to leave a message and await a response from you is even worse. The two main solutions to this problem are simple, yet potentially unrealistic when it comes to in-house customer service. Firstly, make sure you have plenty of agency ready to answer calls, so nobody has to wait in line. Secondly, make sure you offer help anytime of day for after-hour calls and emergencies.
It’s a big to-do list for sure but it’s all necessary for boosting your reputation, thus aiding in the success of your company. You don’t have to do it all alone, though! Partnering with a virtual answering service with hundreds of trained representatives that provide 24/7/365 support for your customers, so you can get back to the business side of things. Get started today.
