Effective customer service phone tips and tricks that work
Customer service is the heart of a business. The quality of a company’s customer service reflects how they care about their clients, how enthusiastic they are about keeping them, and how they deal with unexpected problems.
There are different strategies when it comes to customer service, but there is no specific formula that tells companies how they should do it. It all depends on your brand and business. In this article, we’ll share the top nine customer service phone tips and tricks that are guaranteed to work – whatever your business may be.
Customer service phone tips
- Listen and acknowledge the problem
- Stand up while calling
- Smile
- Keep it positive
- Use their name
- Prepare well-structured explanations
- Echo and paraphrase
- Be patient and give the customer the time they need
- Finish the conversation on the right note
The importance of providing quality customer support on your business
Quality customer service plays a significant role in achieving customer satisfaction. When clients are happy, the business is happier. To acquire more or retain customers, we need to make sure that we are providing the best possible customer service for them.
People are taking the time of their day to call your business and express their concerns, so the goal is to solve the customer’s worries and do a good job doing it. Quality customer service increases customer loyalty, generates positive word of mouth, and establishes your company in your respective industry.
Why should you use the phone for customer support
With an array of various instant messaging apps and social media pages, you may think that telephones are becoming obsolete. However, 61 per cent of consumers still prefer phone calls when they need customer service assistance.
Instant messaging apps are usually automated, but when someone picks up a phone, you get a real person on the other line who will then help you with your concerns. Customer service via telephone is also more personal and tailored to customers’ needs and concerns.
Top nine best customer service phone tips (that actually work!)
The phone’s direct and immediate way of providing customer service gives callers the chance to receive assistance and answers in the quickest way they can. While this is very convenient for customers, it may completely shock new customer service providers. The industry can rattle new employees or bore the senior ones.
Customer service representatives represent and should embody the company and brand that they’re working for, so be always reminded to put your best foot (or voice!) forward. Get to know the top nine best customer service phone tips and tricks that actually work:
1. Listen and acknowledge the problem
This sounds easy, but a whole day of listening to customer complaints and answering frequently asked questions will be so tiring and repetitive that you’ll forget to listen to your clients and just stick to a generic script. While there are standard procedures on how to handle negative situations, actually listening to the other line will produce a more fruitful result.
Customers will also feel more well taken care of if they know that their customer service agent is genuinely listening to their concerns.
2. Stand up while calling
Standing up while handling a call will make you more energetic than when seated. People cannot see you when you’re talking on the phone, so they will only rely on the passion and energy from your voice. If you can, take a call while standing up and see the difference.
3. Smile
Except for instances when you’re talking to an irritated customer, smile. A smile can translate through the phone and can make your voice sound light and friendly. A study by the University of Portsmouth revealed that a smile is something that the person on the other line can hear.
4. Keep it positive
Pay attention to your words and spin every situation into something positive. Reframe the negatives and replace them with their positive alternatives.
5. Use their name
As soon as you receive the customer’s name, use it. It will make them feel that it is a personalized call. In addition, people get distracted while on the phone all the time, and calling someone by their name will always be effective in recapturing their attention.
6. Prepare well-structured explanations
Explanations will be harder to understand without any visual aids. To prevent misunderstanding, it is proactive and beneficial to prepare a structure for explaining so you wouldn’t have to go through different points over and over. Stick to simple yet effective structures like “Problem – Solution – Benefit” or the “Explain it like I’m five years old (ELI5) Technique.”
7. Echo and paraphrase
Repeating the last words of the person on the other line gives the indication that you’re listening. Paraphrasing, on the other hand, shows your conversation partner that you understood their points. It also gives them the chance to clarify their points if necessary.
8. Be patient and give the customer the time they need
Be patient when a customer is calling to complain. Let them talk and avoid interruptions that will make them even more upset. Also, give the customer the time they need when providing more information. You’d rather have accurate information than unreliable ones.
9. Finish the conversation on the right note
Once the main problem has been resolved, ask the caller if there’s anything you can help them with. Ask if they have any final or follow-up questions that need to be fixed. Provide them with the necessary information that they might need in the future.
Finish the call and leave in a friendly manner. Let your customers know that you are happy to help them and that you’d be willing to be of service again in the future.
Remember to be easily accessible
If you have given out your support line for your customers to contact, it should be easily accessible for your clients to reach out to. Your customer service number should be easy to find.
Moreover, you may be the next customer service provider skill-wise, but if the client could not understand you because of low-quality microphones or headphones that don’t cancel noise, it may not count. Invest in quality equipment to provide the best service and to prevent technical problems along the way.
Remember to be easily accessible and understandable. Excellent and effective communication is the key to providing quality customer service.
Independent
