Information – Page 5 – Customer Service Mediator

Dare to Care: Why You Can’t Script Sincerity in Customer Service

March 11, 2019/0 Comments/in Article, Frontpage Article, Information/by Editor

It’s not that hard to notice when you’re dealing with a customer support rep who is less than sincere. Some people can fake sincerity, at least for a short time. Eventually the effort and pressure to be someone that they’re not will catch up with them, and can manifest itself in potentially angry behavior. That’s why some employees lose their cool. It’s not that these people aren’t nice. It’s just that their personalities don’t have the patience or empathy needed to deal with confrontational customers, especially if they are upset and acting unreasonable.

Obviously getting great people who are customer-focused is of the utmost importance. The bottom line is that insincerity is a loyalty killer. And, while they may put up with it, customers shouldn’t have to deal with a customer support rep who is scripted, apathetic, and isn’t customer focused. How can a customer have a positive emotional connection to the company if the employees come off as fake or insincere?

So, how do we go about getting good, caring people? It starts before you even hire someone. The leadership has to define what good customer service looks like in the organization. Once defined, you hire good people who can support that initiative. Then you train them. Accolades from leadership for a job well done makes employees feel good, especially after handling complaints and problems on many of their support calls.

Are You Prepared for the Hidden Side of Social Media?

March 10, 2019/0 Comments/in Article, Information/by Editor

There is no way we can deny that social media is a part of our lives in this age. Service excellence cannot be achieved in the short-term, nor can you ever truly say that you have ‘achieved’ excellence because it’s a journey not a destination; the quest for excellence will mean that you are constantly pushing the bar to get even better at what you do. This journey clearly requires a great deal of commitment on your behalf, but also from those who work with and for you.

With social media, nothing ever seems to die. Once a thread or conversation starts, you’re going to be battling it or handling it forever. Even if you manage to put a particular topic behind you, it can resurface at any time. The truth is,
If you’re trying to manage social media accounts, it’s a usually a nightmare as far as structure, management, and organization is concerned. The larger your online presence, the more problems you can have trying to keep your accounts straight.

Then when it comes to social media handles, everyone makes mistakes and everyone is human, but there seems to be a disproportionate number of armchair quarterbacks on Twitter, and Facebook than anywhere else. An individual can use abbreviations and butcher spellings for the sake of word counts, but try it as a business, and you immediately lose credibility

Get as close as you can to your customers

March 7, 2019/0 Comments/in Article, Information/by Editor

This sounds like an obvious point but service excellence demands that you first know your customers’ needs and expectations better than anyone else.

Yes, some common needs are obvious, but needs by segment are less so. Even harder to discern are individual needs, but if you are serious about excellence then at the very least your regular or repeat customers will expect you to remember their likes and dislikes.

Practical things you can do here include: Define your key customer segments and attribute an overall value to each in terms of what they generate for the business. Which segments deserve most attention?

Hold regular focus groups with customers from these segments to better understand their needs. Conduct wider online/email surveys with larger number of customers to get a broader view of needs. Have effective feedback mechanisms, for capturing complaints, and for gathering general satisfaction data; analyse this information regularly in a meaningful way to identify areas for improvement.

Have systems for capturing and sharing the preferences of existing customers so that you can wow them with your tailored service. It is only by taking proactive action that you can get closer to your customers and if you don’t do so then striving for service excellence is impossible.

Okay let’s conclude this article with
John Russell, post: “The more you engage with customers the clearer things become and the easier it is to determine what you should be doing.”