Companies thrive to become popular amongst their target consumers and in order to achieve this goal, you have to build a customer service department that is excellent and robust. It can be a key differentiator that can help you stand out and stand tall in this competitive market. Excellent customer service can have a huge impact on your company. It increases overall sales and continues to help you retain customers.
One of the researches conducted by HubSpot states that 68% of consumers agree that they would pay more for a product if the companies provide them with excellent customer service. Now the question is how can you build such a team? Answering the calls or walking your clients through your services is not enough in this tough market.
Therefore, to make your company grow, you need to start practicing a few essential tips that can help build a robust CS team.
This is why we have curated and created a list of all the tips you need in order to reach your target consumers in the best way possible. So, without much further ado, let’s take a look at how you can create an excellent customer service department.
1. Offer Support Through Various Channels
Those days are way behind us when companies used to only offer support through call or in-store assistance. In the current digitalized age, people tend to do business with companies that offer support across various channels. By employing the latest technology of the internet, you basically provide convenience to your customers so they can contact you 24/7 and through whichever medium they feel comfortable with.
For this, we recommend checking out major companies like Xfinity. This company is known for providing impressive support through live chat, support forums, Facebook, Twitter, and even Reddit. Not only this, but you can also contact the CS team in your own language. As a person of Hispanic descent, you can contact Xfinity en Español through any of the given channels.
Prioritizing the needs of your customers should be your main priority and by doing this, you can offer optimal services.
2. Hire Skilled Team
One of the first steps in building a robust team is hiring skilled agents for it. Set the right criteria that are not only based on education but various qualifications such as communication skills, problem-solving skills, critical thinking, patience, and empathy.
These factors mainly talk about the emotional intelligence of the candidates. The agent should be skilled enough to evaluate the needs of each customer and cater to them accordingly. The CS representative must know how to put themselves in the shoes of their customers. This is why while hiring agents, you also need to keep all these factors in your mind because these people are going to represent your company and its values on your behalf.
3. Give Adequate Training
Hiring the right people is not where your job is done. As a matter of fact, you have to provide sufficient training to the agents as well. Of course, they have all the required skills and talent but that does not mean they are also well-equipped with your company’s culture and product knowledge.
Training can help you build an incredible team. According to Zendesk, 59% of customers believe that companies should work on giving adequate training to their agents. It does not look good on your part when the customers contact you and agents fail to identify the problem, let alone solve it.
4. Listen to Your Customers
In order to understand what your customer needs, you must understand them first. Tell your agents to be patient when the clients are trying to explain the issue at hand, as opposed to constructing your own judgments. Not every practice can be applied to every customer. You need to listen to them very carefully in order to provide them with a top-notch experience.
For this, personalize your services as per each client. By doing this, you don’t only help fix the problems of the customers but also gain more customers.
According to research by Salesforce, 79% of customers willingly share information about themselves only if they are offered personalized service which makes them feel acknowledged and understood.
5. Ask for Feedback
It may sound obvious but it is shocking how rarely companies actually work on the feedback they receive. Feedback or criticism is quite beneficial for your company. Instead of taking them the wrong way, use them to your power and strengthen your company.
At the end of every interaction with the customers, ask for feedback. Ask them what they liked about their experience and what they didn’t like. Ask for suggestions on how you can improve your services. After this, you can start incorporating those tips to build a department that will make your company known for its robust support team.
Closing Thoughts
A customer service department holds the faith of your company in its palm, and therefore, it is quite essential that you build a team that is not only going to help increase sales but grow your business as well. So, check out the strategies we have mentioned in this article and start implying them to make your company stand tall in this competitive market.
