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Customer service would be one of the most difficult positions in
a company mainly because the majority of people miss the point
of it. You see the definition of customer service is servicing
customers. Normally, when a client calls your hotline or
helpdesk, they want clarification on a matter that wasn't
clearly explained before purchase, or let you know that the
product they bought is faulty, or find a way to solve their
problem.
The majority of people call a helpdesk in the hopes of getting
their problem resolved quickly. Having competent people at your
helpdesk to solve these problems makes a huge difference in how
well your customers are handled. Most people don't like to
complain and hope their issue will get solved promptly.
When you get aggressive customers, it is easy to become
defensive. A great customer service officer will react with
empathy to this situation and will investigate further with the
customer of how things have escalated this far. While some
people are aggressive thinking that their matter will be solve
faster that way, others become aggressive as a result of a bad
experience either from your company or another company's hotline.
When dealing with a 'difficult' customer make sure you:
1. Stay calm and polite.
2. Take notes of what the complaint is about.
3. Actively listen to the customer by saying "yes", "I see", and
"I understand".
4. When the customer has finished explaining his/herself, go
through your notes with him/her to verify if you understood
him/her correctly.
5. When both your customer and yourself have been through the
notes, explain to him/her what is going to happen next and how
your company goes about dealing with complaints. For example,
you can tell him that this matter will be taken to the manager
and issues are usually resolved in 24 hours.
6. Take responsibility. Follow up on the issue with whom ever
you passed it on before the 24-hour deadline expires and make
sure it has been resolved. If it hasn't make a point to call
your customer and let him/her know that it is taking a bit
longer then expected but that you haven't forgotten about
his/her issue. That will keep the customer happy because he/she
realises that his/her issue matters and that someone cares about
getting it resolved. This customer will not only come back but
will most likely refer other people to your business.
7. Alternately, if your business were lucky enough to have a
good helpdesk software, these cases would be easier to follow up
with. For example, the first level of response would take the
call and type in the complaint. If the issue isn't resolved
within the normal deadline, it is escalated to the next level -
a manager. This second level should be able to solve the
complaint and get back to the customer is due time.
Basically, customer service should be perceived as an
opportunity to go beyond your clients' expectations and make
sure that they are completely satisfied with your products
and/or services. Make it a positive experience for everyone -
your customers and your staff, by implementing processes that
insure issues are resolved in a timely matter and that the
details of each issues are readily available in a database that
all your staff have access to.
About the author:
Paul Smith is the manager of Auratech Software, a company that
specialises in Help Desk Software to help businesses with their
customer support. If you would like to read more articles on
improving your support or would like to check out Auratech's
range of Help Desk Software, please visit:
http://www.helpdesk-support.com/better-support.htm
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