3 Must Have Customer Service Skills for Success

Customer Service Skills for Success Can Make a Difference
If your reps have the right customer service skills for success, you will have:

• More Satisfied customers
• Lower customer acquisition costs
• Greater levels of first call resolution
• Decreased operating costs
• Higher levels of employee engagement
• Faster response times

Three Must Have Customer Service Skills for Success
Here is a check list of three basic, but critical, steps in training your staff in fundamental customer service skills:

1.  Great First Impressions
How you greet customers has a significant effect on business.  Make sure your customer service reps know how to greet customers in a friendly way. This very first step creates an environment where customers sense that they are welcome and will be supported.  To get your first impression right:

• Script a Customer Greeting: Ensure every customer service rep knows what to say and how to say it in a way that aligns with your brand promise.
• Practice, A Lot:  Act out your customer greeting until you can do it without notes in a way that authentically aligns with your own personality and style as well as the corporate brand promise.
• Model the Way: Ensure  managers, influencers, and top performers do it well and set the right tone.
• Give Feedback: Praise and reward those who are consistently doing it well and coach those who are struggling until they get it right.

2.  Crystal Clear Communication
Teach your Customer Service Reps how to really listen to customers. The reps may have to ask a few questions to get at the root of the problem or complaint but they should do so with complete attention not only to the words but also to customers’ body language and tone.

3.  Full Accountability
Establish ownership of the customer relationship. If your Customer Service Reps feel accountable for each customer interaction, they will own the problem until it is solved. Customers appreciate conscientious follow-through and dealing with only one person from beginning to end.

The Bottom Line
Does your customer service training include these three basics? Are you coaching to and measuring these three customer service skills for success? If you want to deliver superior customer service, make sure you do.

To learn more about the right customer service skills for success, download Four Steps to Truly Delight Customers