Posts Tagged ‘Customer service’

We can all learn from watching bad customer service such as that delivered by the hotelier, Basil in ‘Fawlty Towers’. Similarly, hearing politicians deliberately missing the point of their constituents’ questions, isn’t just frustrating, it’s alienating.

So when a customer calls to report a problem we need to take it seriously and focus on putting it right. Additionally, we need to understand that they may be anxious or tense about making the call. They often feel that the problem is their fault or are calling because they are under pressure from pushy colleagues to 'just fix it'.

Very few customers give a logical list of symptoms for the problem they are experiencing. Those that do, you might well consider employing or at least signing them up to test your new products. The real support skill is to actively listen and filter out those elements and diagnostics that will enable you to hone in on both the problem and the possible causes.

Most customers will feel hugely better after they have imparted their problem to you and you have listened thoughtfully. We add more value by listening than talking and as the ousted Shibby, on BBC's ‘The Apprentice’, remarked: ‘We have two ears and one mouth; we should use them in that ratio’.

An electronic message is displayed on the dashboard of my car when the tyres are below their optimum pressure. This is really helpful because it’s an early warning that I need to take some action. Having monitoring on your customer’s software will warn you when problems occur before they report them to you. A proactive phone call advising a customer of an imminent problem or providing a fix to a technical failure, will really impress them. It both removes their fear that it may be their fault and provides you with the opportunity to find out how well the customer is getting on with their software. Getting feedback is always constructive and you may be able to further please your customer by providing some instant, over the phone, training.

Providing good customer service means that you have the opportunity to get things right and, even better, to delight.