At MeloTel, we believe that nothing beats service with a smile. And that’s because smiles are infectious. You can’t help but smile – or, at least, smirk a little – when someone smiles at you. Moreover, smiles can be “heard” through the phone. When you’re speaking with someone who is friendly and pleasant, you’ll be a lot more likely to enjoy the interaction and have that positive mood transferred over to yourself.
So naturally, this is the type of attitude you should have when dealing with customers over the phone. Smiling, of course, is only the beginning. There are many techniques that you should employ to ensure that your customer service is top-notch. At MeloTel, we continue to learn of these techniques through the wonderful information we’ve attained from our Customer Satisfaction Survey.
Here are six key techniques to providing top-notch customer service:
1. Double check. Customers love it when you get things right the first time. There are few things that they find more annoying than having to repeat themselves because you originally got it wrong. So don’t be afraid to double check. Make sure that you’ve both heard and understood their requests correctly. Look into a solution and attempt to find more than one resolution just in case the first one doesn’t pan out so well. Double checking will help you to avoid further conflicts.
2. Put yourself in their shoes. We’re all customers ourselves. We know what it’s like to get bad customer service and we also know what it’s like when we receive great customer service. If you were in your customer’s shoes, what would you want done to solve the problem? Think of it that way and work to ensure the satisfaction of your customer by the time the phone call is finished. If the solution would make you happy, chances are it will work for your client too.
3. Go the extra mile. In some circumstances, simply resolving an issue isn’t enough to make a customer happy. If there was some sort of misunderstanding or mishap (for example, a product that was ordered did not arrive on time or at all), you may have to go the extra mile in order to keep that customer. Consider adding an additional product to the order. Provide a significant discount on their next order or better yet something for free. Going over and above can go a long way!
4. Be inquisitive. There’s no shame in asking a lot of questions. As mentioned, your job is to get it right the first time. If you’re unsure of how to resolve the problem, you may even want to ask your customers what it is he or she would like to have done. Be sure to ask the pertinent questions that will allow you to discover exactly what you can do to please your customer. Don’t make assumptions that many only worsen the situation.
5. Genuinely care. For the most part, people can tell the difference between customer service representatives who actually care about their satisfaction and those who are just going through the motions of doing their jobs. Sounding distant or disinterested is not bound to make your customer happy. Be sure to use verbiage such as “I completely understand your situation and can appreciate how you feel” to let your customers know that you truly care about helping them.
6. Yuk it up! A good laugh never hurt anyone. And it certainly wouldn’t hurt the interactions you have with your customers over the phone. When appropriate, of course, feel free to offer a joke or two to put your customer in a better mood. It will show that you are a people person and that your company cares about the people that make up its customer base. There are few things that pass along good moods better than a good joke.
For more information about MeloTel’s Commercial Phone Services, give us a call at 1-888-MELOTEL. We look forward to providing you our service with a smile!
