Honesty in customer service || importance & impact on business

We all know that honesty is the best policy what has highest importance in relation building whatever the field is personal or professional or even in commercial. Globally long lasting brands are always in trying to keep promise to customer in terms of product quality and after sales service as they know customer’s faith plays vital role on business growth. So there is no doubt of importance & impact of honesty in customer service targeting to keep positive & influential business strategy.

First impression is the last impression. So when a service person is going to attend to ensure a service job to customer premises, he/she must keep promise to reach there in time. If there is any unwanted situation, i.e. traffic jam, previous job completion delay etc. occurs, and then true situation must be escalated to customer in apologized tone.

Service provider agent or executive or technician must be honest to do actual service billing mentioning actual service charge & parts price as designed by company. Here any type of discrepancy is a serious disciplinary offense.

Sometimes customer complaints to call center as his/her problematic product’s after sales service cost goes higher than present price of similar finished good product. Renowned bands are very much conscious about this complaint. After sales service and parts price should be designed in such a way as company will not be financially loser and customer must be happy and can keep trust on used brand.  

After service product delivery should be done on time as customer expects to get back his/her full functional product after facing unexpected difficulties in usual daily life. So service team should not let customer to be disheartened. They must be good to their word. If there is any unexpected possibility of delay reason appears then it must be portrayed to customer before delivery date that will help customer to keep patience.  

Expected professionalism of customer service enriches trust of customers on their used brands. As a result company can get a fixed mind setup of customer in fever of their product. Definitely then company can expect positive business growth.

At the end we can say that honesty, customer service, brand image and business growth go together hand to hand.

Customer service || Sales VS Service Conflicts

Sales VS Service style conflict is a globally practiced essential battle, in business, what should be in a certain level of severity always as it has some positive as well as negative aspects. If it is positively used then products and service quality can be upgraded. On the other side, if this battle crosses the limit from virtually to reality then a good market of a company can be destroyed. Considering universal practice as Sales VS Service style conflict, combined action exploring proper information flow, ethics & responsibilities to be taken in order to satisfy all stake holders targeting a happy ending!

Many customers call service center with a common complaint as when sales person sold a product or service to them, they promised to them for enormous facilities or discount from customer service though those facilities or discount process actually service department doesn’t follow!

A true sales person should not do such unethical practice though he/she may fill up sales target for the time being by this unacceptable practice, but for long run he or she will lose the faith of customer forever and company will fall in decrement of goodwill.

In order to avoid similar unexpected situation, sales and customer service should have a good communication and must be aware of each others’ limitations and scope of support. They must have proper documentation and direct contact for the responsible sales person who sold the service or product. Also they must be joined together as a big team, instead of separating two departments in different rooms, which can minimize conflicts and misunderstandings.

Sometimes sales team claims that, for a single after sales service issue, they are losing huge customers. Hearing this type blame management may become very rude to service. Normally service is a thankless job, when management and sales both create such unexpected pressure on service then positive speed of work may be hampered. This type of direct blaming from sales has no positive outcome unless company growth decrement. Both sales & service must have to avoid such type of illogical blaming practice. They have to feel depth of responsibilities & honor each other with a cooperative mind.

Service team should keep their mind setup in such a way of taking every negative issue as opportunity of work in order to make it positive.  

Note that, whatever the conflicts arises, first of all customer service must be ensured then other internal practices of company should be deployed as there is no other way of thinking as customer is the king.

Customer Service || Top five qualities to be practiced to be good customer service manager

Actually in practical globe most successful business conglomerates and MNC have given highest priority to ensure expected customer service. It is the field where success depends on a total team work. Among the team customer service manager is the biggest catalyst. This catalyst can reach highest pick of happy customer experience if the role is being sharpen by following top five qualities to be good customer service manager.

Customer-Centric Behavior:

Manager must be customer centric. From salutation to service ending of a customer, manager along with total team have to keep in center of their mind the need of customer. Customer centric behavior is the first condition to be good customer service manager.

Influential Communicator:

In customer service nothing is important than influential communication. Manager must be cool in hearing, smiley in speech delivery and of course be passionate in team management. As good customer service manager can create opportunity of sale, so this quality should be practiced effectively.   

Compassion to Burn:

Great manager should have full bucket of this sensitive quality compassion to burn the unhappy feelings of customer. It is needed to solve the difficult customer situations when managers are often called on to resolve and it is also crucial to managing teams.  

Master of Priorities:

Customer service supervisor should be a master of priorities in work balancing among team targeting good customer experience. Manager should know the team strength to execute on time product receive, service & delivery in a segmented time bound designed way to make team and customer both to be happy.   

Positive Motivator:

A service staff can be a good manager when he or she can handle both team & customer in such a way as expected outcome can be obtained. Good managers know how to motivate themselves and motivate their teams in order to create a culture that doesn’t wait for things to happen but that proactively makes them happen. Great managers always try harder themselves and inspire their teams to be looking for how they can make a difference for their customers, their colleagues, and the organization.

Customer Service || How good customer service can boost up sales

In the modern world most the successful companies have given highest importance on customer service targeting to achieve expected happy customer experience as they already realized that good customer service can play vital role in business as marketing as well as sales engine.

Similarly in our country many MNC and big conglomerate, i.e. LG-Butterfly, Samsung etc. have already designed their business operation focusing good customer service in order to keep faith of customers on their products respectively to boost up sales.

Now question is how good customer service can boost up sales. There are five important ways what are as follows:

Good customer service increases trust.

It can turn purchasing from you into a habit.

Great customer service provides personal recognition.

It influences customer mind with an everlasting positive conviction.   

Happy customer experience creates success stories.

Good Customer Service || Language Matters

In good customer service used language of service staffs truly an important matter that plays a vital role to affect directly a customer’s purchasing decision and the impression that a customer has of your company. 82% of customers left a company because they had a bad customer service experience. We service people must be more tricky to impress customer by using effective language.

We can use below 07 customer service phrases those are powerful enough to win the mind of customer.

“I don’t know, but let me find out.”

“Thank you for bringing this to our attention.”

“I certainly can check that for you.”

“I apologize for the inconvenience.”

“I will update you by [time].”

“Happy to help.”                       

“As much as I would love to help…”

Customer Service || How to face angry customer

Customer is the king whatever he or she demands in a fair or unfair way. Sometimes the expectation level of customer has no bounds though company or organization has limitation considering various aspects. As a result, sometimes very unexpectedly flow of anger of customer heats the air and obviously customer service has to face angry customer. Then problem is the role of customer service warriors in that critical period who have no alternative of facing angry customer in one hand and to manage company management following company policy.   

How to face angry customer:

1) First of all, we must speak in a friendly manner. We should not speak in a heavy tone or in a way that implies that we are not interested.

2) When possible we need to use the customer’s name as soon as possible, and also introduce our self if that fits the situation.

3) Greet the person properly. Don’t look up from your paper work and say “Yes?”, or “Next”. That makes you look like part of a machine. Try “Good morning, Mr. Nahid”, or “Assalamu Alaikum, Sir” etc.

4) Listen carefully. Show the customer you are listening by paraphrasing what was said by customer. This shows your interest and concern. A common error made by people is that they don’t allow the customer to finish.

5) Don’t use the “P” word. The P word is “POLICY”. Many times an employee will explain that it is against “our policy to do” what the client wants. This infuriates many people. Even if the request is against your policy, find other words to say it. Rather than simply quoting policy, explain the purpose of the policy (e.g. “Sir, we need to make sure that you are dealt with fairly and others are too.”)

6) Never say “I only work here” or “I’m only following rules”. Again this makes you into a non-person. It may be true that you don’t make the rules, but try saying it this way: “Sir, the regulations are made by [whoever]. Perhaps you might want to talk to [so and so] and indicate that you feel the regulations are unfair. Would you like the phone number?”

Good Customer Service (GCS)

Good Customer Service (GCS):

Actually the term Good Customer Service (GCS) can be portrayed in various ways deploying different colors of customers’ demands. Truly this term cannot be defined in a unique line. Generally we can say that Good customer service typically means providing timely, attentive, upbeat service to a customer, and making sure their needs are met in a manner that reflects positively on the company or business.

Deep Importance of Good Customer Service (GCS):

In practical it adds value to your product or service.

Definitely, it Increases customer retention and recurring Revenue.

It results in positive reviews and a positive brand image.

It boosts our employee’s morale and reduces turnover costs.

And of course it adds value to our brand.