(English - 1 min reading)
After experiencing what I believe was bad customer service a few days ago I felt compelled to write about it. I just want to clarify that by no means I’m an expert in this subject, but I do have some experience in customer management and customer service.
Long story short, I had to go in person to a new printshop to see some materials. When I got to the place I had to wait for a couple of minutes outside for another customer to come out, meanwhile no body acknowledged me or offered me a seat while waiting even though they saw me at the door. They ask you to wait due to their own COVID-19 policies, so that it is not too crowded inside, but once I was inside, again even though they saw when I came in, no body acknowledged me. So, I waited for about 20 minutes and after no body approached me, asked to wait x amount of time, or anything I left.
This experience will make me think twice about coming back to them.
We all like to receive good or great customer service as this makes us feel appreciated. There's virtually nothing more obvious in business than that high-quality customer service develops loyal customers and that those customers literally will not stop telling their friends, colleagues, family, and others how pleased they are.
Unfortunately time and time again, I have seen that great or even good customer service is rare these days, and I'm not only speaking of physical locations but also OSPs too.
After looking for some old books and notes from my time working in customer management and customer service, this is what I found to be the core pillars of great customer service.
1. Build trust. Communication with customers requires ensuring that all information provided is accurate, reliable, and consistent.
2. Demonstrate competence. Your customer service team should know your product and service better than anyone else.
3. Listen actively. Customers know or sense what they want in many cases. However, it is not always clearly expressed.
4. Convey warmth and empathy. You must make your customers feel that your team is genuinely interested in helping them.
So, to summarize this make sure that everyone on board of your company or business project knows their product, is well trained, has a positive service attitude towards your customers, and most importantly understands the importance of customer service because if it is well done, it can exponentially improve your brand reputation.
*Remember that word-of-mouth remains to be one of the best advertising tools.
We all like to receive good or great customer service as this makes us feel appreciated. There's virtually nothing more obvious in business than that high-quality customer service develops loyal customers and that those customers literally will not stop telling their friends, colleagues, family, and others how pleased they are.
Unfortunately time and time again, I have seen that great or even good customer service is rare these days, and I'm not only speaking of physical locations but also OSPs too.
After looking for some old books and notes from my time working in customer management and customer service, this is what I found to be the core pillars of great customer service.
1. Build trust. Communication with customers requires ensuring that all information provided is accurate, reliable, and consistent.
2. Demonstrate competence. Your customer service team should know your product and service better than anyone else.
3. Listen actively. Customers know or sense what they want in many cases. However, it is not always clearly expressed.
4. Convey warmth and empathy. You must make your customers feel that your team is genuinely interested in helping them.
So, to summarize this make sure that everyone on board of your company or business project knows their product, is well trained, has a positive service attitude towards your customers, and most importantly understands the importance of customer service because if it is well done, it can exponentially improve your brand reputation.
*Remember that word-of-mouth remains to be one of the best advertising tools.