Customer Service Excellence is what every organization, large or small, is aiming to achieve. We are now all highly aware that delivering an excellent experience to all of our customers will play a large part in keeping our Customers coming back. Every telephone call is an opportunity to win or to lose Customers. Here we give some of the essential Telephone skills, techniques and best practices that will help ensure that extra positive experience for our Customers.
Begin with a Confident Welcome
First impressions count and that first impression takes 10 seconds on a telephone call! In Customer Service this means the Customer will decide "I like this person", or "I do not want to deal with this person" very quickly. Our goal in Customer Service is to capture this call positively and to set the right tone for the call from the beginning.
We want to sound confident and welcoming. The telephone skills and techniques for doing this are …
1. Positive Posture - sit up straight in your chair and lean forward to take the call. Don’t slouch, as this will deaden your voice tone. Positive posture not only helps give you a richer voice tone, but it helps make you feel more confident.
2. Greet the Customer as if you are delighted they called. Smiling on the phone really does work!
3. Get the Customer’s name and use it. Everyone likes to be treated personally, like a human being. We do this by giving our own name and by using the Customer’s name. It is important to judge which form of the name or title is most appropriate. There are rules on this, but they differ from culture to culture. For example, in Ireland we use the first name in a business-to-business setting, and we use the family or surname in a business-to-home setting. It is worthwhile to investigate the social or business norms in your specific area or culture as being inappropriate can create a negative rather than a positive impression.
4. Give a positive, definite first response. For example, "Certainly, I’ll be happy to help"; or "No problem, I can do that for you". A positive first response will have a reassuring effect on your Customer.
5. Listen and use Verbal Nods to encourage the Customer as they speak. For example, "I see; Sure; I understand; I appreciate that". This may seem very obvious, but it is amazing how many people do NOT use verbal nods on a phone, especially in difficult call situations. Check if you do by recording a call and playing it back. If there are no verbal nods, the call will sound cold and officious.
0 comments:
Post a Comment