The importance of excellent customer service cannot be overemphasized and the question of how to improve customer service skills is often on the minds of many business owners. When customers or clients receive great service, the chances of them spreading the word are very high. This also applies when they receive bad service and the word of mouth could hurt your business in the long run. Here are five ways on how to improve customer service skills.
1. Customer’s Satisfaction Level and Feedback
Try to find out how the customer feels about the service level via feedback channels like survey, feedback form, comment card or even through quick conversations. It is a good way to get a feel of customers’ perceptions of the service that is rendered. You are also showing that your company is always trying to improve the customer service skills with these feedback channels. There are always good and bad feedback. Learn to improve on your customer service skills when you receive bad feedback and always remember that improving the customer service skills is a ongoing process.
2. Communicate with Your Staff
Improving customer service skills is not always about serving your customers, take time to communicate with your staff. Finding out about what exactly is happening within the staff and their service skills are something many bosses overlook. To improve the customer service skills, it has to start from the top management. It requires much effort, reinforcement and practice from the management. When your employees do give you feedback on customers, acknowledge and appreciate it. The most important thing is to do something with it and implement the changes. Only then, can your company improve the customer service skills standard.
3. Training
One way to improve customer service skills is through training. Engage a speaker or trainer to teach your staff on way to improve their people skills. Other than bringing in trainers, have such topics and discussions at the monthly meetings. Brainstorm on how to improve the customer service skills. Information in the form of books, articles and newsletters can be distributed among your staff so that they can read on the topics.
4. Involvement
Recognize that the best resource in your company is your employees. Being in the frontline, they would know best what the clients and customers want. Get them involved in the running of the company. This should cover all aspects such as operating, planning and execution. In this way, they would be more involved in improving their customer service skills as the more involved they are the more loyal they will be.
5. Define Your Customer Service Goals
Everyone has different goals and beliefs of excellent customer service skills. All your employees might have different definitions as to what defines good customer service. Define a set of customer service goals system so that everyone has the same ultimate aim to work towards to. By setting a goal system also makes it easier to improve and finetune any bad feedback that is received.
Improving customer service skills is a long term journey. It can be long and arduous but a fruitful and rewarding one. Embark on this journey and you would no longer have to ponder on how to improve customer service skills .
