Customer Service Skills

1. Customer Service Skills

2. Why Bother? Why put out extra effort to provide superior service if average service is enough to keep the contract and your job? • You owe it to the Customer! • You owe it to your employer! • You owe it to yourself!

3. Only One Boss There is only one boss – the Customer. “The Customer can fire anybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” Sam Walton

4. Who’s Paying You? “It’s not the employer who pays the wages. Employers only handle the money. It’s the Customer who pays the wages.” Henry Ford

5. Why Us? Technical support is a commodity, nothing more. What distinguishes one provider from another is the quality of their Customer Service. Never forget that the customer has a choice as to who they pay to provide this service.

6. Who Is Your Customer? • The Franklin High School helpdesk will provide service to students and staff . • If working at Apple, your customers would include Apple customers, Apple Management, End User Support Service Providers, and other Agents.

7. What is a Customer? The Customer is the most important person, whether in person, by mail, or by telephone. A Customer is not someone to argue or match wits with under any circumstances. Nobody ever won an argument with a Customer. Customers deserve the most courteous attention we can provide. A Customer is the lifeblood of this and every business. Without Customers, we would have to close our doors.

8. Make Your Customer Feel Welcome Great Customer Service starts with the first few seconds of the call. You only have one chance for a good “first impression”. No matter what happened just before taking a new call, make sure you start fresh with each new contact with a positive mental attitude. If the Customer was on hold for awhile, apologize for the wait.

9. Business and Pleasure Most people prefer dealing with others who seem to be enjoying themselves. So, let that cheerful sense of humor of yours come out. Just make sure you temper it with good judgement and common sense.

10. Take Your Cue From the Customer You will come across a few Customers who just want to take care of business and then hang up. For them, a good relationship with you means quick, efficient, get-down-to-business service. So, that’s what you need to give them….along with a cheerful attitude.

11. Compartmentalize Insulate one customer interaction from the next. Think of how professional golfers must discipline themselves to forget the last shot and focus only on the next one. Don’t allow one negative encounter spill over into the next Customer contact… or the rest of your day.

12. Use Those Active Listening Skills Make comments to acknowledge your understanding of your customer’s position. Empathize with their problems and issues. Convey your customer’s concerns to management when appropriate, and let your customer know you will.

13. Every Customer Deserves Your Very Best Give every Customer your very best! You never know who you might be helping. It could be a close friend of the president of the company, or it could be someone testing the service. Regardless of who the Customer is, they deserve your very best.

14. Adopt a Can Do Attitude Never tell a Customer that you can’t do something, unless you immediately follow with a description of what you CAN do for them. Customer Service is about doing, not explaining or rationalizing what your NOT doing.

15. Eliminate the Negatives Make a conscious effort to minimize the use of negative words and phrases in your service interactions. Customers do not like words such as: can’t, won’t, don’t, not, no, or sorry. You should look for every opportunity to say words such as: can, will, do, yes, you bet, and absolutely.

16. Talk Less… Listen More Listen to everything the Customer says as if there is going to be a test at the end of the conversation. Make it your goal to understand the Customer’s needs and expectations. Repeat the points the Customer made in your own words and confirm your understanding.

17. Tech-Speak Be careful not to use technical jargon that the Customer doesn’t understand. Acronyms that are used commonly in the technical arena are foreign words to most of our Customers. By using technical terminology you may confuse, intimidate or anger the Customer.

18. Under-Promise and Over-Deliver Keep your promises reasonable, but make what you provide to the Customer extraordinary. Set realistic expectations for the Customer. Remember, you are depending on others to deliver part of the service, under conditions you cannot control or may not be totally aware of.

19. Honor Your Commitments Do what you say you’ll do. Customers occasionally make plans, schedule meetings, or make decisions based on what you tell them you’ll do. Whether you promise something explicitly or implicitly, make sure that you follow through.

20. What’s the Rush? Give the Customer the benefit of your full attention while they are speaking to you. By worrying about pending calls you may become distracted and leave the Customer with the feeling that you’re not totally concerned with their needs. The Customer should feel that they’ve had ample time to get their issues resolved to completion and not rushed through. A Customer who feels rushed is not going to feel as though they received top notch service.

21. Listen for Unspoken Requests A Customer may not be able to fully articulate a need or concern, or may brush one off for another. An issue mentioned casually as a peripheral concern may be important and if you resolve it for the Customer they will feel like you’ve taken that extra step.

22. Summarize As You Go As you approach the end of each Customer interaction, do a short recap of what you discussed, what you are going to do for them, what they can expect, and when.

23. Satisfaction Plus One Whenever you get to the point where you feel the Customer is satisfied, look for one more thing you can do for them. It can be something you do for them, something you send them, something you say to them, or whatever. It doesn’t have to be big… even little extras can turn a satisfied Customer into a delighted one.

24. Thank You !!! Be sure to invite the customer to call again. Let them know that their calls are welcomed. Close your calls with something like: • “Please call back any time we can be of service.” • “Feel free to call us anytime.” Always and without fail, Thank the Customer for calling. Remember, it’s the customer who is paying your salary.

25. Call Time Management

26. Respect Your Customer’s Time Respect your customer’s time. Never, ever make them wait for anything without offering an explanation, an apology, and an alternative to waiting.

27. Be Prepared Make sure you have all your tools that you will need available before you answer the phone. Don’t answer the phone and have to ask the Customer to wait for you to get ready.

28. When Research is Required If you need extra time to resolve an issue, make an agreement with the Customer to call them back while you work on it. Make the necessary calls and do the research that you are able to do.

29. Follow Up If you must rely on the feedback of someone else, keep the ticket open and begin taking other calls while you wait. Set a reminder for an appropriate time frame to follow up on the open ticket. Even if there is no resolution to report to the Customer, call them back the same day and let them know your progress.

30. Time Management Tips • Type important points of your conversation into the call text as you are speaking with the Customer. • Fill in the details of your ticket during the “lulls” in the conversation. • Never allow the Customer to get the impression you are giving less than 100% attention to them. • If you complete your typing before hanging up, you won’t have to be in AUX as long and you can increase your call volume statistics.

31. Phone Etiquette

32. Greeting • IT Support, this is <name>, how may I help you? • Cheerful, but not sappy • The expression on your face can be heard through the sound of your voice • Put on your “phone personality” • Make sure you speak in clear English throughout the call • Set the pace of the call by asking questions

33. Use the Customer’s Name Use the customer’s name throughout the conversation. Generally, you should use “Ms.” or “Mr.” unless you sense that using the Customer’s first name is appropriate. People like to have their names pronounced correctly. Ask the Customer for the correct pronunciation at the outset of the call.

34. Assess Your Customer’s Urgency • What is your customer’s availability? • What is your customer’s timeframe? • What is your customer’s mood?

35. Hold time… • Ask the caller’s permission (and wait until you get it). • Give them the option of holding or receiving a call back. • Check back with the caller periodically to make sure they can continue holding. • Use polite terms, such as “May I put you on hold”, Are you able to hold”, etc. • Set the customer’s expectation regarding how long the hold may be and what the results should be.

36. Warm Transfer/Cold Transfer • Warm transfer includes staying on the line until you have introduced your customer to the third party on the line. You may also be required to provide a ticket number. • Cold transfer allows you to immediately transfer the customer into the queue.

37. Transfers • Ask the caller’s permission (and wait until you get it). • Explain the reason for the transfer. • Tell the customer what to expect. • Make sure you know if the process calls for a warm transfer. The additional effort won’t go unrecognized or unappreciated.

38. Closing the Call Allow the Customer to hang up first. This is a simple courtesy, and it gives the Customer a chance to add something they may have overlooked.

39. Professionalism

40. You Are a Guest • Maintain professionalism off the phone, as well. • Keep work area neat • Keep conversations with co-workers clean • Dress appropriately at a job site • Remember, you are a guest in your employer’s house

41. Jokes and Humor • Humor can offend when you don’t expect it. Avoid topics like • Race • Religion • Nationality • Politics • Anything in generally poor taste • Humor can be an effective tool, and can simply provide enjoyment to you and the customer. Keep it clean, and it works.

42. Personal Topics on Business Calls • OK to make small talk – hobbies and interests, plans for weekend – while waiting for a task to be completed. • Let the caller run that part of the call. • Avoid items that might degrade confidence in you. • Avoid sensitive topics

43. Sensitive Information • Sharing sensitive information can bring trouble…. • Insider trading? • Damage company’s reputation? • Damage another customer or agent’s reputation?

44. Dirty Laundry • Customers don’t need to know about our call center’s problems • Degrades our image and credibility • Customers prefer a positive attitude, anyway.

45. Don’t Assign Blame • …on the process • …on your service provider • …on your tools • …on other agents • …on the customer • (for calling you instead of the “correct” service • provider)

46. If You Make a Mistake… • Admit it • Apologize for it • Fix it • Move on Customer’s don’t really expect you to be perfect. They do, however, expect you to be honest.

47. Handling an Irate Customer

48. Customer Categories • Customer Type • Irate • Insistent • Hesitant • Satisfied • Action Required • Validation • Action • Reassurance • Query for Satisfaction

49. When dealing with an Irate customer, it is important to remember that they are upset with a situation they feel they cannot control… they are not upset with you.

50. The Irate customer • The irate customer is fuming, they need to vent their frustration. Your role is to let them vent, and validate what they say, through active listening. Once they have calmed down, they become an insistent customer