So how can you solve the puzzle of spending more time with customers but not making them wait for you? I’m not gonna wasting your time. Here are 3 effective tips to master time management in customer service.
Read on.
Be timing
You may read THIS a million times before but what is important is still important to be pinpointed: providing great customer service means providing it on time. Although this is not always the most essential thing people need in a customer service, being on time makes a good impression on customers. That’s the point.
Talking about timing, you can have countless ideas on how to react promptly toward customer’s requests, such as:
- Accept incoming query within no more than 30 seconds
- Reply support email within maximum 24 hours. It’s perfect to strike an impression with a reply email after less than 30 minutes.
- Never hold chat/phone call conversation for more than 1 minute (and trust me, before holding, you’d better let customers know how long it might take)
- Send a follow up email as soon as the chat/call conversation ends if customers request you to do so
See? There are not many things you can do to grab the first impression from customers as well as reinforce this impression in the back of their mind. Being timing is being fast and effective. For the latter, move on the next part.
Have automatic tools? Utilize them!
Customer service nowadays will not survive if without all the helpful burden-lifting tools. Technology has become a powerful supporter in helping customer service agents to finish their job and creating delightful customers. Automatic tools help you automate everything and save time for both your support team as well as customers. It’s a big drawback for your business if you’re not going to utilize these weapons.
For example with live chat, powerful live chat softwares like Subiz help you engage customers effectively via proactive chat invitations. Of course, it’s all automated and time-saving for both sides. You can also utilize pre-made chat templates to use when needed. There’s just one thing to remember is that you should avoid being robotic when using automatic tools to support customers. It’s human interaction after all (you can read more about automation and personalization here).
So, choose your tools wisely. Smart tools should support you in nailing both the “automation” and “humanization” aspects of customer support.
Be efficient
Screw the “be timing” tip above if you can’t give customers an efficient solution to solve their problem. On-time reply from support agent is surely important but it’s service quality that plays the role of the extreme influencer.
How can you actually give customers the answer they want?
Firstly, make sure customers reach the right agent. The wrong one may take forever in fixing the problem and put your brand’s reputation on the edge. Redirecting queries when necessary is important.
And be sure that once the agent acknowledges that he can’t help a customer or doesn’t know the solution to the given problem, that customer or problem must be redirected to someone else who is capable of quickly handling the situation.
Secondly, add value in treating customer and his problem. According to a study, the most popular reason for customers to abandon a business is the ill-mannered and incompetent customer service (see? It’s not always the bad timing to blame).
Friendly manner and committing to help solving given issues in the first round determine an excellent customer service. Customers are not complex creatures at all. Make them feel that they’re welcomed and treated well – that’s all to carve your brand name in their heart.
Deliver what you promised!
The utmost rule you must remember after reading this article, is to strive for efficient AND timely assistance for your customers. You don’t always have to react immediately to customer’s request. Being fast in replying is not really what customers are looking for when reaching support department. Being fast only means a good first impression. To win customers, you need to deliver what they need, to give them the answer they want.
That’s what I call a stellar customer support. Can you team do that?
Why not share these useful tips around and upgrade your team support quality?
