Improving Your Customer Service - Part 1

As a professional call answering company, we know the importance of good customer service - it's built into everything we do, every call we take, every customer we speak to. Whatever your industry, customer service is a necessary and integral part of your day to day business. Whether you work B2B or B2C, your customer services sets you apart from competitors, strengthens your reputation, and assists with new customer acquisition as news of your good deeds spreads via word of mouth. So long as your reputation is positive, of course...

If you need to improve your company's customer services, the following tips might help. In the first of a 3 part series, we're looking at some simple ways to revamp your approach to customer services:

1. Dedicate time and effort to your customer service department, no matter how small. Relegating customer services as a secondary responsibility means you will never stay on top of your enquiries or complaints. If you genuinely don't have the time or manpower to prioritise customer services, think about employing a call answering service to do it for you! Having a service like Zoom Answer Call means you never have to worry about a missed call or a forgotten enquiry. We have services to suit every style and size of business, and we offer a great range of additional benefits to help the day to day running of your company.
2. Know what your customers want. Invest in market research and tailor your products and services to really suit your customers' needs. The better you adapt your company to the specifics of your target audience, the better service you will provide. In turn, it will be easier for your customer services to respond to customers' requirements.
3. The customer is always right, and customer services are always polite. Remember that mantra, especially when dealing with a difficult customer! Even the most negative complaint or problem can be rectified with swift and reasonable customer services. The most important thing is to stay polite, stay calm and stay objective - if a customer is angry or irritated, don't take it personally. Try to see it from their point of view and imagine what you'd like to hear as a response. At Zoom Answer Call, our Zoomettes are professionally trained to handle all sorts of difficult calls and enquiries, and can help you to smooth problems and resolve issues in your customer service department.
4. Make yourself available 24/7. High on the list of customer service bugbears is not being able to get through to a representative, or getting stuck in a never ending labyrinth of automated responses. If you can't provide comprehensive customer services for your company, a call answering service can allow you to offer round-the-clock customer service to your clients and give you assurance that your business will always accessible.
5. Listen to your customers! Whenever you receive a customer call or enquiry, make sure you clearly understand what they are telling you. Identify their tone of voice and respond appropriately. Make a note of any information you are given so that you can easily refer to it later if necessary. Try not to make assumptions about what they want - instead, repeat back the core of what they've said to you to ensure you've got the message right. Good listening is the first step to genuine and effective customer service. After all, if customers don't feel like you've listened and understood them, they're going to end up frustrated and irritated.

For more tips on improving your customer services, stay tuned to our blog and we'll post part 2 and part 3 in this handy series soon.