It can be extremely difficult to remain positive in a negative setting. And when coworkers are complaining or bad-mouthing customers it creates not just a negative setting, but a “toxic environment.” Resolve to keep your environment non-toxic with these tips from the January issue of Customer Communicator, the newsletter for frontline reps: Don’t start toxic…Continue reading
One way for customer service reps to minimize repeat calls is to answer the customer's unstated questions before a follow-up call is ever needed. Or, put another way, to answer tomorrow’s questions today. For example, if a customer calls to set up a new service the rep might proactively say, “By the way, people who…Continue reading
It’s December, and that means office parties. Love them or hate them, try to make the most of them. Here’s how: Attend. Even if the party is not mandatory, it reflects well on you as a team player to attend. Shine. When the event is being held during or right after work, your normal dress…Continue reading
To succeed in the ever-changing world of customer service, frontline reps can rely on five basic traits. And while service technology may come and go, these traits will never go out of date says customer service trainer Nancy Friedman. Trait 1: Positive service attitude. People with this trait enjoy helping others, and they will put…Continue reading
Customer service trainer Renée Evenson reminds frontline reps to apply their telephone skills to the written word. “Effective communication is the same whether you speak or write yourmessage,” she says. But sometimes courtesy gets lost in the written word. When responding via email, social media, or chat, remember to use the same phrases of assurance…Continue reading
It’s often counterproductive to respond to customers before they have finished speaking. Even if you think you know how to help, you may not have gotten the whole story, says Stephen Boyd, author of Emphatic Listening. To get the whole story, he suggests these five tips: • Talk less and listen more. • Encourage the…Continue reading
When there is silence on a service call, customers tend to get concerned: Are you still there?What are you doing? Will you return to the call? To keep the customer from worrying, explainwhat you are doing throughout the contact. For example, you might say: “I’m waiting for your order to process, and then I can…Continue reading
"It’s important to be consistent with customers," says author Naomi Karten. "Once a customer’s expectation is set through an experience, that forms their new service expectation until it’s shifted again." So, for example, if a customer comes to a frontline rep with a request that your organization typically would not meet or provide, and in…Continue reading
You may not be able to give customers everything they want, but meeting their "human expectations" will help you keep customers happy, satisfied, and loyal. "Customer expectations shift constantly, and they shift easily," says Naomi Karten, author of Managing Customer Expectations. "And just because you know what they are today, doesn’t mean you necessarily know…Continue reading
When frontline reps answer customer email or chat, they can build rapport with the same type of mirroring they use on the phone. "For example," says Marvin Sadovsky, a leadership consultant, “if the customer’s email is brief and to the point, that’s what they will respond to most positively in a response. If they send…Continue reading
