What is customer service?

Customer service is the provision of assistance to both present and future customers. Customer care agents frequently reply to questions from customers via social media, chat, phone, email, and in-person meetings. They could also be in charge of composing documents for support with self-help.

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Furthermore, businesses are allowed to define customer service however they see appropriate, as long as it aligns with their values and goals for degree of support. For example, at Help Scout, providing fast, empathetic assistance to customers and prioritizing their needs in all encounters is our definition of customer service.

Why is customer service so important?

Companies should see every customer service interaction as an opportunity to either upsell current customers or attract new ones, as 86% of customers depart a business after a bad experience.

Offering top-notch customer service brings in money. It offers customers a smooth, all-inclusive experience that aligns with business objectives.

According to a number of studies, poor customer service management costs US companies over $62 billion annually, and 70% of consumers say they would be willing to pay more to do business with a company that offers superior customer service.

Understanding that providing exceptional customer service is the cornerstone of your customer experience enables you to capitalize on this by delighting customers and interacting with them in novel and exciting ways.

What are the cornerstones of superior client care?

Four key tenets form the foundation of excellent customer service: promptness, expertise, personalization, and convenience. These factors have the most effects on the customer experience.

Personalized: The cornerstone of any excellent customer service is a personal touch. Personalized interactions greatly enhance customer service by demonstrating to customers that your company cares about them and their problems. Rather than viewing service as an expenditure, think of it as an opportunity to regain your customer’s business.

Competent: Customers say that competency makes the biggest difference in a great customer experience. To be deemed competent, a customer care professional must be able to resolve customers’ issues and have a deep grasp of the company and its products. The more knowledge they have, the more capable they become.

Convenient: Customers must to be able to get in touch with customer service representatives through the channel that best meets their requirements. Help your clients communicate with you in the most convenient way possible, and make it easy for them to do so.

Proactive: Customers prefer that companies deal with them in a proactive way. Notify your customers ahead of time if there are any backorders for one of your products or if there could be website technical issues. They will be grateful that you kept them updated, even though they may not be happy with the situation.

Building your customer service strategy on these four fundamental concepts can help you ensure that each and every customer that deals with your company has a positive, hassle-free experience.

What happens if one person on your team lacks one of these skills?

What happens if the support employees under your management are unwilling to modify their customer service approach? What happens if they don’t seem motivated to acquire the previously listed abilities? Help Scout’s Mathew Patterson offers a solution:

A work environment, whether past or current, that failed to acknowledge or incentivize going above and beyond to provide great customer service is frequently the cause of what may be seen as a lack of ability or a resistance to learning.

Try putting all of these abilities into practice by providing your staff with explicit guidelines on what you want and with examples of what your company considers to be exceptional customer service. When you see staff members using these abilities, make sure to acknowledge and praise even the smallest successes.

Your team members will become more engaged, and you’ll be able to assess if there are any actual skill shortages that require filling. This will take place as soon as they begin to realize that their efforts are being valued and acknowledged.