customer service slide- frances ogujawa
TRANSCRIPT
Frances Ogujawa
SUPERIOR CUSTOMER SERVICE
TRAINING
Who is a customer?
A customer (also known as a client, buyer, enquirer,
purchaser etc.) is the recipient of a service, idea, information or
goods received from a vendor, supplier, and
company for monetary or other valuable
consideration.
He is someone a company believes will benefit from
its goods and services while the company benefits
from the customers
patronage (money)
He can be both internal and
external customers.
It is the provision of services to a customer before, during and after a purchase. This varies depending on the product, service, industry and individual customer. The success of a product/company most times depends mostly on customer services.
Customer service is also a means of providing customer support to clients to enable them make an informed decision on their choices and needs. Satisfied customers can help spread good word for your product/company thereby increasing clientele and revenue
What is customer service?
EVERYONE- ALL EMPLOYEES OF THE COMPANY
Everything an employee do that is customer-facing is marketing. Every
phone call, mail and face to face interaction is customer
care/marketing.
Who are customer service providers?
Appearance: Personal appearance is most often relegated to the background when talking about customer service
especially for personnel dealing with over the desk or over the counter clients. This is a very key aspect of customer service as you are the face of the company. The front line
“attack” of the company. Your total appearance from hair ,shoes and diction speaks volume of who you are and
what the company represents.
ESTABLISHING YOUR ATTITUDE
Facial Expressions: The power of a smile - Nothing much can be done to alter your face (except through surgery) but you can do a lot about the expression that is on it. A sincere, genuine or forced smile
does wonders to your face and sets the tone for dealing with a customer.
ESTABLISHING YOUR ATTITUDE CONT’D
Smiling is contagiousLowers stress and anxiety- though not easy to smile in stressful situations but it helps calm you down thereby reducing
your anxiety level
Makes you more attractive
Makes you more approachable
Makes you trustworthy
Makes you a better leader
(Let’s quickly run through the benefits of smiling)
This is very important because having the right
attitude to work and being constantly positive has a ripple effect on how you deal with customers on a
day to day basis. You have to be able to rise above all
your work related and personal issues to enable you remain positive. Think
positive thoughts.
Staying energized and positive
This is one of the most important aspects of personal presentation
or one of the most important form of establishing your attitude. Your
body language should be in tandem to your verbal
communication but most times people tend to read, interpret and believe your body language more
than they do your verbal communication.
The way you sit, stand, your gesture, mannerisms
and your facial expressions will say more
about you and your emotions at any given time than your words
Your state of mind or state of being at any given point in time
increases some good or bad behavioral
habits inherent in you
Body language
Understanding yourself and being aware of the signals you give off under certain
conditions; like stress, nerves or happiness can help you understand and manage positively the signals you
give off to others.
Working on your body language is a way of
improving your personal presentation. You can use
body language to show approval, disapproval, convey enthusiasms and show good
manners
Body language Cont’d
Types of Body languagePositive Body Language Negative Body Language
Maintaining eye contact
with the speaker
Smiling (as a greeting)
(welcoming or parting ways)
Leaning slightly forward to show you are paying full attention
Nodding in agreement
A firm handshake
Not maintaini
ng eye contact
Tapping foot
fingers etc
Rocking back and
forth
Scratching
Continually clearing
your throat
Fiddling with hair, ear lobes, jewelry, jacket,
glasses etc
Picking fingers
Yawning
Before you can successfully address a customer’s needs, you have to understand the products or services being offered by your organization. This is very key, as
an informed customer service personnel actually closes a deal 50% before it gets to the unit or personnel in charge of attending
to the enquiry
Addressing customers needs
The key to good customer’s service is
treating a customer the way you would want to be treated if the tables
were turned.
Understand the fundamental fact that everybody is different with different
aspirations, motivations, backgrounds and reasons for
coming to you. By understanding their various
needs; you can achieve a greater level of customer
satisfaction.
Understanding customer’s problems
Endeavour to listen attentively to what the customer is saying or
complaining about, allow customer to finish talking
and reiterate what he/she said to show
better understanding before proffering
solutions
Don’t be in a hurry to respond without fully understanding what and where the customer is coming
from
Staying outside the box and going extra mile:
understanding your business and understanding your clients problem will enable you profer solutions even if you have to profer solutions by thinking
outside the box. Don’t be rigid or straight jacketed when
offering solutions. Be very creative.
Understanding customer’s problems Cont’d
If you cant profer a solution right away, think of the next best thing
and ways of solving the problem and having the customer satisfied
Going the extra mile: this you can achieve by doing something as
simple as getting up and taking the client to another office that can
proffer solution if you cant
Be true to your words and don’t make unrealistic promises. If there is a change in any given situation
alert the client.
Understanding customer’s problems Cont’d
I am sure you are familiar with the age long adage “customer is always right” This sounds
good but not necessarily true. Customer can be wrong!!! However, always note that
customer is always the customer. He can be wrong but his status as your customer and source of your increased source
of income dictates that you communicate and deal with him
effectively.
DEALING WITH DIFFICULT CLIENTS AND DE-ESCALATING ANGER
Listen: listen attentively maintaining a positive body
language. Don’t formulate answers before the customer completes
his/her statement. Don’t be defensive
Empathize: put yourself in the customer’s position and try to see the problem from his point of view.
That will enable you empathize with him.
Accept: accept whatever the customer says at face value especially when you know he
is wrong. In the customer’s head, he is right. When you accept him, he will be able to relax and possibly get to the main bone
of contention quicker.
Respect: respect the customer. Don’t attack or be defensive. If a customer feels disrespected, he
will perceive it as a personal attack and that will escalate the situation
Negotiate: if you successfully employ all your points above, customer would
by now feel relaxed and less aggressive. He will most likely drop his guard and enter into negotiations with
you believing that he will be fairly treated with honesty and integrity
Ways to deal with difficult clients and de-escalating anger
Customers are not able to observe your body language, facial expressions, hand gestures etc but they are able to feel and appreciate you/your services from your voice, your tone, pitch,
diction and vocal infliction
The following variables determines how a customer responds to a customer service rep over the phone
Verbal presentation: this includes your pitch tone diction mood, vocal inflection. Customers respond either in kind or react in accordance with the quality and style of presentation. Your voice can make
a customer feel warmth, appreciated, good or can put a client/customer in a defensive mood
CUSTOMER SERVICE OVER THE PHONE
Acknowledgements: this deals with
welcoming the client acknowledging the client with an open
statement, company name, your name
offering to help etc
Actively listening: Paying close attention to what the client is saying. Listening to hear and understand the nature of the call. The customer can quickly
catch on that you are not paying attention especially when they say something that requires a
response from you and you didn’t respond or they have to repeat a couple of times before
you respond.
Taking interest: Paying attention to each
customer and participating in the conversation is one
way to gain customer confidence. Letting the customer feel that you are interested in the
concerns leads to better understanding of the situation, and
paves way for a satisfactory resolution.
Limit hold time: don’t remain silent for long periods of time on the line as the customer is
talking. Chip in responses to let the
customer know you are not dead and still
actively involved in the discussion. Limit hold
time to the minimum by getting back to the
client intermittently to show concern apologize
where and when necessary
Taking interest: Paying attention to each customer and participating in the
conversation is one way to gain customer confidence. Letting the customer feel that you are interested in the concerns leads to better understanding of the situation, and
paves way for a satisfactory resolution.
Limit hold time: don’t remain silent for long periods of time on the line as the customer is talking. Chip in responses to let the customer
know you are not dead and still actively involved in the discussion. Limit hold time to the minimum by getting back to the client
intermittently to show concern apologize where and when necessary
Control: Customer service rep needs to remain calm, cool and collected at all times. Ask questions for clarity and
better understanding of the situation before proffering solutions. Don’t jump into conclusions before the customer finishes but be firm and assertive in a
positive manner
Urgency: Don’t rush a customer through calls or keep a customer waiting
endlessly on the line while you source for solution. L earn to work quickly and efficiently and also to multi task. Talk
and type at the same time while conducting research and ask questions
as you go along
Customers are the reason we are here so keep in
mind always. Appreciate them by thanking them
for their time and business and always leave a customer feeling better than they did when they
initially called in.
Satisfying customers over the phone need not be difficult and
time consuming but it takes effort,
awareness and practice to understand and operate with care.
Keep practicing positive communications and
mannerism and pretty soon, satisfying
customers will come easy to you. Continuous practice makes perfect.
Customer Appreciation
How you treat your customer makes the difference between a loyal returning customer who will become your
company/organizations ambassador through word of mouth advertising; from conversations and storytelling and
Lost opportunity/revenue and negative influence for your organization, which you would have chased to your
competitor.
CONCLUSION