August 2, 2012

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Have you ever called a company to make a purchase or inquire about their offering, only to be greeted by a customer service agent that wasn’t well trained in service at all?

As an entrepreneur, the best way to improve your customer service, whether internal or outsourced is to think like a customer. What do you dislike most about customer service (or call centers) and what type of interactions make you feel secure and positive about purchasing products and services?

Here are five customer service tips that can help you ramp up trust, loyalty and sales amongst prospective customers and deliver more than the “goods.”

1. Have a script ready but don’t read from it.

If you outsource customer service to a call center, it’s important to identify, first-hand, how their agents relate to your customers. A script is useful depending on the type of call center – whether they are simply order takers or sales generators, but ensure they’re not too dependent on it. Agents should be human in their communications, not robotic, and make customers feel comfortable purchasing your products.

2. Be human, and take interest in your customers.

When you or your customer service team picks up the phone, remember, you’re never fully dressed without a smile. Why? Because people can quickly pick up on tone and just as quickly misinterpret it.

Your goal is to make every interaction between customers and your company positive. A simple, “How are you doing today?” will suffice. You’d be amazed at how many companies don’t take five seconds to learn more about their incoming leads.

Inquiring about your customers will help to put them at ease and give them an open door to communicate their true needs and concerns.

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