Dive Deeper: Examples of Excellent Customer Service
One of the most important elements for achieving excellent
customer service is training. Customer service employees must be trained on
product features, prices, warranties, and even the various technical aspects of
products. In other words, a company's customer service department must be as
efficient as sales, marketing, and all other departments.
Accessibility
Excellent customer service means acknowledging a customer's question
in a timely manner. When someone calls a company, he expects the customer
service department to answer the phone, or at least be easily accessible. Once
the caller reaches customer service, he expects his questions to be answered
promptly. Excellent customer service means having more experienced people or
supervisors available to answer more difficult or technical questions.
Function
When customers have problems with their products, excellent
customer service means solving these issues and problems promptly, or at least
executing a reasonable plan of action. For example, a customer may call a small
Internet service provider because she cannot access the Internet. The Internet
provider's customer service department should stay on the phone with the customer
until she gets her service back. If the problem remains unsolved, the company
should send a service representative to the woman's house. The company should
provide the date and time of the service call--and stick by that appointment.
Considerations
Excellent customer service requires effective listening and
communication skills. A company's customer service representatives should
listen carefully to what the customer needs. Moreover, excellent communication
skills are crucial. A customer should be able to easily understand what the
customer service representative is saying. The representative must speak
distinctly, and use common terminology that everyone understands, not highly
technical language.
Prevention/Solution
A
company should periodically measure key elements of its customer service
department, such as timeliness, accuracy, and problem-solving effectiveness.
Customer service satisfaction surveys, which can be conducted by telephone or
even online, are a way to accomplish this. Companies can then use the feedback
to correct aspects of customer service that have shortcomings.