10 Feb What Is Great Customer Service In A Call Centre
What Is Great Customer Service In A Call Centre
If you research ‘what is customer service’ on Google you will find slightly different definitions but most will be similar to the following definition: “The provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase”. So what makes that ‘provision of service’ great?
Ask your friends and family ‘what is great customer service’, and you’d probably get different answers because great or excellent service is when we have a customer experience that exceeds our personal expectation. And it doesn’t have to be complex. It could be something as simple as someone knowing your choice of coffee in your local coffee shop, or someone using your name when you phone for a curry (or perhaps that’s because you (i.e I) order too often!) but regardless it’s the end user that decides what makes the service ‘great’.
In this article, we explore what great customer service in a call centre is.
Great Customer Service In A Call Centre
In a call centre environment, you don’t have the ability to see someone face to face and you have a very short time to connect with a customer and build a relationship, so from the moment the phone is answered, everything you say and do counts. Whilst this sounds daunting, the easiest way to ensure you do the right thing is to put yourself in the shoes of the customer and treat them as you’d expect to be treated.
Of course technology, policies and procedures all play an important part in the customer experience recipe but it is people that are the magic ingredient. To offer great customer service in a call centre, you have to have great people.
Call centres that deliver great customer service, are those that continually work on having a service orientated culture. This is only possible when your vision, core values and goals are supported and demonstrated by like-minded people, who have a positive attitude and a passion for delivering service excellence.
Key Elements Of Customer Service
There are many elements to customer service but those that are deemed the most important to customers are:
- Being able to speak to a friendly and knowledgeable advisor
- Resolving the issue in a single transaction
- Not having to repeat themselves
(Source: Microsoft, 2020)
Therefore, a customer service advisor in a UK call centre needs to have a comprehensive set of tools in their toolbox to be able to meet the needs of the customer and be able to use them well throughout the call.
Delivering Great Call Centre Customer Service
Friendly Customer Attitude
For great customer service, a customer advisor needs to have a friendly, ‘can do attitude’, where they want to do their best to provide the right information, in the right way, in the right manner. Customers aren’t always happy and can be very emotive so they need to have confidence the person they are talking to is the right person to help them.
It starts with the greeting, where advisors need to make a good first impression by sounding friendly but professional – it is said we form an opinion of someone within the first 7 seconds of meeting them (source: Forbes 2019), so when that’s over the phone, we only have our voice to make that first good impression.
Getting the customer’s name at the start of the call and using it at least once in the conversation helps build rapport, by making the customer feel like an individual and the advisor feel as though they are talking to a person and not a caller. Every call will require a different volume, tone and pace to suit the customer, all of which play an important part in gaining confidence and trust in the call handler’s abilities.
Interest And Active Listening
The advisor must show genuine interest and actively listen to and acknowledge the customer, so the customer knows their need was understood. What do they want and when do they want it? Customers sometimes don’t know how to articulate what they want so it’s down to the advisor to be helpful by asking the appropriate questions, repeating or rephrasing the information as necessary for the customer.
Understanding With Empathy
Throughout the call, it’s vital the advisor shows understanding and where relevant empathy. Empathy is hugely important when working in customer service. If a customer has a complaint or frustration, they know it’s not usually the fault of the person they are talking to but they want the person helping them to understand how and why they are feeling the way they are. They are not interested in ‘blame’ but want to hear how their problem will be resolved.
This is when all the weeks of training comes into its own by the advisor knowing just what can be done. They need to demonstrate to the customer that they have taken ownership of the query and instil confidence through their knowledge of procedures, policies or products of how the issue will be resolved. The customer’s questions must be answered fully and clearly, without the use of jargon but additionally cover any potential subsequent questions the customer could ask and thereby prevent the need for the customer to call back.
Reaching A Resolution
Once a resolution has been sought, the advisor should summarise the events of the call and highlight any key points such as product, price, delivery, actions that have or will be taken and close the call politely and professionally.
Lastly but very importantly, great customer service involves keeping your promises. If a customer was told they would be given an update, make sure this happens at the time agreed with the customer. Following up shows you truly care and will often turn the most challenging, unhappy customer into a loyal one and one that doesn’t need to call back!
When you have a great team of people delivering such a service, your internal quality scores and customer feedback will confirm what you already know – that you are providing ‘great customer service’!
Professional Customer Service Outsourcing
If you need a dedicated and professional customer service outsourcing partner, why not not speak to Impact? Our dedicated customer service team is ready to deliver world-class customer service for your business. We provide timely, attentive and professional customer service support at scale for our clients. Impact’s team of highly skilled customer service agents are passionate about delivering great customer experiences that help businesses grow and improve customer loyalty.
Whether your business requires support with simple customer service for functions like where is my order or complex customer service support that requires an involved understanding and knowledge of your products/services for post-sales product support, we can help by delivering great customer service in a call centre.
Impact has helped businesses across all sectors succeed with our unique combination of highly trained specialists, adaptable multi-channel solutions and powerful multi-CRM support. We are committed to continuous development of our customer service capability through membership of the Institute of Customer Service. Our current client base includes a major London Airport, a world leading memory foam mattress manufacturer and an international coffee brand.
Contact our team of customer service specialists by calling 01794 230 230 or completing the enquiry form on our contact page. We are ready to help your business excel at customer service and make the most of the opportunities for business growth that great customer service presents.