7 Ways To Deliver Superior Customer Service
As with most other industries, the commerce industry had to adapt to the infiltration of the internet. As computers became more and more popular and e-commerce sites pop up like mushrooms after the rain, a new model of marketing and selling became available.
With e-stores and web sites, comparing prices became a non-issue. Long trips to other stores to find a competitive price were no longer needed as your competitors are but a click away.
So if you can’t compete on price, what can you do to thrive?
Customer Service Is More Than About Care
The answer: customer service. Why?
Because it’s one of the last “edge” you can pursue over your competitors. As a small business, you can give each customer the attention they will never get dealing with corporations.
While CEOs view customer service as a “cost”, you view them as an investment. And when they find ways to cut the cost down, you’ll be looking for ways to invest strategically.
And even in customer-service-centric industries, few people really master it. This is because customer service is an art. With that said, there ARE a few best practices for you to get started.
Here are 7 of them.
7 Ways To Deliver Superior Customer Service
1. Encourage everyone in the organization to take an active role and come up with solutions to customer service problems. Create an atmosphere where people can express their ideas without being ridiculed or embarrassed in front of their peers because remember, the best ideas to improve your customer service will probably come from the bottom.
2. Never use a script. When is the last time you hear a representative read off a script and love it? Never. You probably wanted to scream at him/her. And don’t think people can’t tell either.
Instead, train your employees in human relationships and empathy. For example, repeat the problems customers told you because repetition has been shown to make people feel understood.
Or try putting their issues on priority. The point is to go above and beyond of what is expected of you.
3. You have to pay your customer service well, but never incentivize them for “resolving issues”. Incentivizing, studies have shown, is great for monotonous task, and customer service is anything but that.
Instead, try alternatives such as recognition and personal thanks. The best representatives love what they do – and those who do it for the money won’t be able to deliver at the level you want.
4. Your customer’s expectation changes with time. Learn to adjust. What was good enough years ago, and since copied by your competitors, might not be unique enough. For example, recorded messages were once cutting edge. Today, they are just plain annoying.
Use customer surveys to see what your customers think. Better yet, ask your representatives for suggestions.
5. Check to see what the norm in your field is, and go one step further. Try to build a reputation of someone who keeps his word and his promises. It doesn’t mean you have to agree to every whim of a customer.
A great example of this is Zappos. I’m sure you’ve heard of their legendary customer service. The norm in any industry is for customer service to “resolve issues”. Zappos took it one step further: they send birthday cards during birthdays, or condolences when a customer suffers from a tragedy.
They even answer questions unrelated to them: like telling the caller where to find pizzas at 2am.
6. Develop a culture where finger pointing comes last. The first thing you have to do is make it right with the customer. Offer a compensation for the bad experience. The second thing is to examine the system: do you need to tweak it for other representatives won’t commit the same mistake?
7. Respect and appreciate your complaining customers. They can show you where your organization is lacking. Remember, if a client complains, there’s a good chance you’ll still have his business. Those who aren’t happy and don’t complain take their business somewhere else.
At the end of the day, customer service is the face of your company. Put your best people on the front. Service is the currency that keeps your company going. Invest in it.
About the Author: Andrianes Pinantoan is part of the team behind Open Colleges, an online courses provider with a great range of business management courses. When not working, he can be found with a camera on hand. You can follow him at Google+.
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7 Essential Qualities for Customer Relationship Personnel
There is no doubt that the CRM executives need to be responsive, reliable and respectful to help provide customer satisfaction. This according to the Harvard Business Review leads to retention, related sales and referrals for the company. To get to these benefits the company needs to train the CRM staff in specific areas.
Interpersonal Skills
Ability to deal with people politely and empathy towards them are traits desirable in all human beings, but in the case of Customer Relationship Management executives this could well be the gospel truth. If your staff is unable to establish good interpersonal relationships with your customers you are not going to get their business.
Communication
While most of the duties of a customer care executive can be conducted through automated software there are other undertakings which cannot be. For these activities the customer may use the phone or walk in physically to the company premises. If the customer has taken so much trouble to come in to the company he will have a sizable problem to solve. That is where communication skills of the CRM staff will be put to the test.
Handling Stress
No one likes to deal with rude people who want to bite your head off but customer relationship can often involve just that. It can be highly stressful trying to calm down irate customers on a daily basis. There is no excuse for rude behavior on the part of the company staff even if the customer is being discourteous.
Active Listening
One of the reasons why customers don’t feel comfortable dealing with the company on the phone is the number of recorded messages that they need to filter through. When you have a problem to report you do not want to spend five minutes shuttling through different voice recorded menus. That is why it is important for the CRM staff to listen to the customer and respond intelligently to the problem that they hear.
Team Work
This one should be obvious but sometimes a single link in the chain kept out of the loop can cause more damage than imagined. If you are dealing with a customer, have all his relevant details at hand and fed into a centralized system. This will ensure that the customer is never left in the lurch just because you forgot to brief a team mate about what needs to be done.
Problem Solving and Complaints Handling
This is quite literally the crux of the matter. All the chatter that the customer generates is related to his problem. The way the CRM staff functions to solve the problem right from the time the first complaint is registered with them can make a huge difference to the reputation of the company.
Product and Organization Knowledge
A CRM executive cannot solve the problems of the customers who come to him unless he has an innate understanding of the product that the company is selling and a general know-how of the organization. For this reason proper training of the executive in terms of what the company sells and how is essential to his productivity.
About the Author: Sarika Periwal writes for karmacrm.com, a CRM for small businesses and individuals. It is a web based CRM software that can help you streamline all your sales leads and contact data and thus increase customer retention and repeat sales.
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Bad Service Blues: A Global Perspective [INFOGRAPHIC]
Recently the management consulting firm Accenture performed a global study that focused on shifts in consumer and brand relationships around the world based on the perception of customer service. What can service providers glean from these assessments and how can they move the customer experience in a positive direction?
Ditching Brands Because of Their Terrible Service
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Infographic: Bad Service Blues: A Global Perspective
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Choosing a Virtual Receptionist Service: 5 Tips for Dazzling Call Answering
As growing businesses make the transition from small to medium-sized, many are finding that hiring a virtual receptionist service not only helps free up time for other projects, but it adds a whole new level of professionalism and customer service. A virtual receptionist is an off-site company that fields all of your phone calls and directs them to the appropriate channel.
Depending on the virtual receptionist service you choose, your call answering may be highly customizable. Some virtual receptionist services are even able to sound like they are in your office, just like an in-house receptionist. To get the most bang for your buck, consider these five preferences when setting up service:
1. Start with a great greeting
Typically, you’re able to personalize what your virtual receptionists will say when greeting callers. Try beginning with “Thank you for calling” or “Good Morning/Afternoon” and follow with your company name. Sprinkle in a “How may I help you?” or “How may I direct your call?” for good measure. The whole greeting should set a welcoming tone for the call: “Thank you for calling ABC Company. How may I help you?”
Bonus: If “Good Morning” sounds good to you, confirm with your service that no matter what time zone the virtual receptionists are in, they will answer with your time zone in mind.
2. Request helpful information from callers
Virtual receptionists can often gather certain information when taking a message or before transferring a call to you. Would knowing what company someone’s calling from or what the call is regarding make your life easier?
3. Pick your messaging preference
Each individual in the company may also be able to customize his or her own messaging procedure. Would you prefer written messages or voicemails? Or would you like the virtual receptionist to offer a choice between the two?
For example, salespeople may prefer to have the receptionist take down a short intake form from their callers (first and last name, how they heard about you, an email address, what services they’re interested in, etc.). That way, they’re able to make an informed return call, and the potential client has a chance to engage with the company.
4. Distinguish between types of calls
Just as you can set specifications for what information to collect before a call is transferred or when a message is taken, virtual receptionist services can also personalize call instructions based on the type of call. For instance, the virtual receptionist may only try your desk line for current clients but try your cell as well for new clients.
5. Ask about FYI messages
Your virtual receptionist service may be able to send you an email every time a caller is connected to voicemail or declines to leave a message. That way, you’ll know that they called whether or not a message is taken, and you can impress clients with a proactive offer of help!
With advanced software and savvy virtual receptionists on your side, there are lots of different ways to set up your phone answering. By customizing your call answering, you’ll be able to enhance your business’s image while increasing your productivity. There’s a great big virtual receptionist world out there – don’t be afraid to ask for what you want!
About the Author: Elizabeth Robinson writes for Ruby Receptionists, a live virtual receptionist service that provides call answering for businesses nationwide.
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Are You Flying High with Good Customer Service?
It was the first leg on a recent return home flight from Kansas City to San Diego that my ears perked up while sitting in seat 19B on a well-known airline. Read more
Get the Right CRM Software for your Business
There are a number of free online CRM packages available in the market today. If you are looking forward to taking your business to the next level it will make sense to invest some time and effort into a business contact management software. That does not mean that free software will solve all your problems. Read more
3 Ways to Develop Quality Customer Service
Providing quality customer service should be a top priority for any business or service provider. Through open communication with staff members and by introducing and adopting a well designed training program, business owners or company managers will be in an ideal position to achieve this outcome.
Develop Customer Relationships
Nowadays, many business owners are aware that developing good customer relationships encourages customer loyalty and return business and is therefore a valuable attribute for enhancing the name, brand and reputation of their business. In simple terms, excellent customer service can be routinely applied by employees in any business or company if they are courteous, respectful, considerate, pleasant, helpful, reliable, efficient, friendly, responsive and punctual to name just a few. After all, one of the main objectives of most businesses and service providers is to deliver quality customer service, so if a customer leaves a business satisfied with the level of service provided, then the overall objective has been achieved.
Workplace Culture
Delivering customer service is a daily occurrence for many big and small enterprises, however to ensure consistency, a high standard of providing good customer service needs to be maintained and in time become second nature for employees during their interactions with customers or clients. It is also recognized that new employees who begin work in a workplace that has a culture of providing friendly helpful service will generally make an effort to maintain the same high standard. By maintaining a high standard of providing quality customer service is therefore the key because the reputation and overall success of a business can be tarnished very quickly by employees who either develop or have an overall poor customer service mindset.
Staff Training Program
Introducing a staff training program with professionally developed workplace modules that are designed to educate and train new employees (and if required current employees) is a scheme that could be introduced into any work environment. Such a strategy would then ensure all employees have the skills and know-how to effectively provide quality customer service. However, because service providers and many workplaces have different routines, functions and requirements when dealing with customers, such a program would need to be carefully designed and structured to suit the designated work environment.
About the Author: Brandon Walker is the creator of customer service skills, a website designed to provide helpful, informative advice to small and large business owners on how they can deliver exceptional customer service to their clients. You can read more of his customer service articles at his website: http://customerserviceskills.org.uk
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How to Find the Right Call Center Software
The call center can be the nerve center of a customer service program. It is involved in handling all customer calls including complaints, orders and other communication from the customer to the business.
It is of the utmost importance that every due diligence is taken to make sure that the client is left feeling satisfied with the experience of communicating with your customer service department. In most cases, this will start with having the right call center software.
The secret to a good inbound call center is making sure that all calls are connected smoothly and to the right people. This can be accomplished by having the right software for your business. In order to make sure that you are getting the software that you need for your business, it is important to go through a few steps. You will have to first determine what your needs are. Next you will need to look at the different kinds of software and what they have to offer you. Last you will have to worry about implementation of the software into your business. If done correctly, the new software will mean an increase in guest satisfaction with every call.
Analyzing Your Needs
Before you can do anything with call center software, you will have to analyze exactly what it is your call center needs. Take a look at how many agents you have working in your telephone answering service. You will also need to pay attention to the manner in which your company is contacted. Even the volume of connections being made each day will weigh heavily in making a decision about which software is right for your company. Make sure to choose the one which will make it easy for all of your agents to make the right connections with your customers.
Considering the Software
Any time you use call center software, the idea is to make it possible to route calls to agents faster and to make sure that your phone systems are able to be integrated into the system. While most software these days is made to be used with a VoIP service, it is important to make sure that the software you are considering will integrate with your system. You should also consider whether you want for the software to be in your location or if you would rather have your call center routed from a hosted location to avoid the hassle of computer crashes or server mishaps.
Implementing the New Software
Once you have chosen your new software, it is time to use it. Perhaps it is a good idea to have a few of your top agents use the software before you purchase it. Most companies will offer a free live demo or a trial period for your call center. If you intend on using either one of these, ask ahead. While many companies do offer them, you do not want to find out too late that the software you are considering does not allow you to test it out first.
About the Author: Resource Nation provides free tools, tips, and purchasing advice for business owners and entrepreneurs in over 100 business categories ranging from inbound call centers to credit card processing. Whether it’s connecting businesses with local and national pre-screened vendors, or offering easy service comparisons on a telephone answering service, Resource Nation empowers business decision makers by providing the information they need to make smart choices.
Photo Credit: Natinoal Buyers
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Small Business Security: More Options Available through Wi-Fi Surveillance Cameras
Security is a big issue no matter what kind of business you are in. Whether it means keeping out thieves or keeping employees honest, it always seems as if someone needs to be keeping an eye on things.
The problem is it is not always possible to have a manager watching over the business. Often the time when you need the security the most is at night when everyone is gone. Without enough money to hire a security guard, many businesses owners feel their hands are tied.
The good news is the new technology offered in video surveillance offers businesses the ability to watch over their property at all times. The new technology which is being used includes the use of a Wi-Fi camera. The camera itself hooks up through the wireless internet service in the office to allow remote access either by the business owner at home or in an office within the business. It is possible to do both.
When choosing to install these cameras as a part of surveillance systems, there are a few things to keep in mind. Paying attention to these things will help you to create a system which will offer superior security.
Lighting Capabilities
Many of the new Wi-Fi surveillance cameras available are not very good at providing good pictures in bright or low light. In bright light, the picture can tend to be washed out while in dark light, the screen can be almost completely black. As a result, the majority of people currently using these kinds of surveillance cameras have been using them indoors. Pay attention to the lighting capabilities of the camera before making a decision as to where you will put it.
Directional and Zooming
There are cameras on the market which offer the ability to move positions as well as the ability to zoom in. Before making a purchase, keep in mind how important it is to you to be able to do such things as zoom in and have multiple camera angles. The Toshiba IK-WB11A has the ability to regularly patrol up to ten different positions and zoom in up to five times the standard position.
Motion Sensor
Even with the capability to record and view at all times, you might not want to use that much power. This is why many prefer to have a camera with motion sensor capabilities. The system can be set up to include everything from sending the captured pictures through email or through FTP. The camera is activated when motion in the building is detected. After viewing the pictures taken by the camera, it is possible to decide whether you need to look at the direct feed or not.
Paying attention to the needs you have as a business will allow you to offer better protection for your business and your facility. Having the best cameras will make it possible to pay attention to your business without having to be on hand at all hours of the day. This way you can have a business and a life too.
About the Author: Resource Nation provides free tools, tips, and purchasing advice for business owners and entrepreneurs in over 100 business categories ranging from video surveillance to credit card processing. Whether it’s connecting businesses with local and national pre-screened vendors, or offering easy service comparisons on surveillance systems, Resource Nation empowers business decision makers by providing the information they need to make smart choices.
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What Role Does Leadership Play in a Small Business?
Some leaders are born; others assume responsibility and take to it like a duck to water when it is thrust upon them; and yet others work towards earning leadership through their efforts.
Large corporate organizations are built around leadership – they thrive under the vision and able guidance of one or more leaders. However, when it comes to a small business, there’s not much structure or clear definition to the roles that its employees play.
Very often, one person is in complete charge, and all employees work across the company doing whatever needs to be done. So in such a situation, how does leadership come into play?
Autonomous Control
Some small businesses are autonomies – the owner is in complete control and any decision has to be taken only after explicit approval from its single-entity owner. In such organizations, success or failure depends on how effective the leadership is – if the leader has a clear vision and if he/she treats their employees well and is able to gain their trust and loyalty, then the business does well.
Family Owned
An offshoot of this is the family-owned business where there are a few partners who have equal rights – however, only one person emerges as the leader and it is he/she who actually calls the shots.
Success here depends on how well the partners get together and how minimal the strife between them is. If there are internal wars between them, then the leadership is not effective and employees start taking sides based on the partner they favor.
In such situations, unless one person is able to emerge the clear leader and assume control, the company suffers terribly.
Clear Hierarchy
Small businesses that have structure and a clear hierarchy as far as the pecking order is concerned do the best in terms of sustaining existing operations and building new ones that generate profit. Each person’s role is clearly defined, and even though it’s a small business with a single or small group of owners and a small band of employees, responsibilities are clearly crafted out and understood by those who are supposed to carry them out.
The leadership is so good that employees work with the minimal supervision, they know what to do when things go wrong, and they feel a kinship to the company rather than thinking of it as just a place where they work. This is the kind of leadership all small businesses must aspire for, whether they have a single owner or a small group of owners. If they can achieve such a setup, then there’s nothing to worry about.
About the Author: This guest post is contributed by Carrie Oakley, who writes on the topic of online colleges . Carrie welcomes your comments at her email id: carrie.oakley1983(AT)gmail(DOT)com.
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