Customer Service Techniques

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Brandon Walker provides 6 customer service techniques that can be used for your call center agents to improve their customer service skills

By Brandon Walker

When dealing with any customer always remember the golden rule that it is a good opportunity for your company to make an impression by providing that person with a sense of personal satisfaction. My research has clearly shown that successful businesses and organisations make every effort to deliver what the customer wants by applying a number of key customer services techniques

The following are six significant techniques that will assist in making your customers feel important and attract them to want to deal with your business.

1. How to build rapport and trust

Providing helpful advice and friendly service helps to build a rapport and trust. An excellent technique to use is to connect the customer in conversation by giving your name and asking theirs as this indicates you are interested in them and what they are looking for. Always be polite, ask appropriate questions and show interest in what is being said as this will help the customer to develop confidence in you.

2. How to communicate

Most customers will know what they want although some may be unsure on where to look or find what they have come for. Your responsibility is to help by assisting them to get what they want. The best customer service technique most businesses follow is to ask relevant questions and importantly to listen as this will help you to assist the consumer. A happy customer will keep in mind the obliging service provided and will return and tell other people about your business.

3. How to help the confused consumer

Sometimes it's not humanly possible to provide what your customer wants. In such situations it is important to know everything there is to know about the products or services your business has to offer. A good customer service technique some businesses use is to look out for consumers wandering around looking lost and confused. By approaching and offering to help, the customer will be grateful and appreciative for the service and attention you have given.

4. How to provide exceptional customer service

It is easy for successful businesses to become complacent and be lulled into a false sense of security when turnover figures are up. Being complacent can provide the competition with an opportunity to be more productive. To counter this a good effective customer service technique is to introduce staff training programmes so staff can be equipped to provide exceptional service through effective communication, client rapport, phone management and handling difficult customers. Investing in role playing type training programmes is one of the most successful methods businesses use to convey to staff what type of service to the consumer is expected and necessary if a business is to survive.

5. Thanking the customer

Always ensure the customer is genuinely thanked before they leave. This simple gesture is important because most people generally like to be appreciated and know that you are grateful for their business. Also ask the customer if there is anything else you can do as this could result in repeat business.

6. Following up

A very effective customer service technique used by businesses today is to offer generous warranties and discounts on goods and services to loyal consumers (some businesses provide loyalty cards that offer discounts). If a customer has a problem with a product always offer advice and try to fix it or provide a solution. Following up with after sales service through Email, phone or letter is another technique that helps to earn loyalty and adds a nice personal touch.

Brandon has been involved with customer relations and interaction with customers for many years now. To find more informative articles and resources about customer service visit his site goodcustomerservice.org

 

The Advantages and Disadvantages of a Call Center at Home

Ling Tong

More and more people are looking for a way to avoid having to drive to work in the rush hour traffic every day. More and more people are looking for a way to spend more quality time with the families. There is now a solution to all your problems; you can work from home with a call center at home. This is similar to the traditional call center except for the fact that you are working at home instead of in a large office building.

The questions remains why would anyone want to work at call center in their very own home. The answer is simple? comfort and flexibility. Also, this is a great work option for someone is unable to travel to and from work due to a disability. This allows them to earn an income from their very own homes. Companies also feel that there is an improvement in the quality of work done by employees who are given the chance to work at home. It has been proven that people work better and more efficiently when they are away from noisy stressful office settings. This is what every employer is looking for.

There are a number of American companies that are allowing their employees to work from home, one of which is the IRS. IRS employees can handle thousands of calls a day from their home office. There are also a number of companies who are considering telecommunicating as an option. However, it is not a simple task to change to this format. Companies need to research and find out if their employees would be able to handle the amount of work that would be required from them at home.

Not everyone feels that this is a great way to employ people. There are millions of people that travel back and forth to work each day and would not consider working from home. There are also a number of disabled people who make to work. Many people are worried that soon all employers would see home call centers as the best way to employ disabled people. These people worry that they would be shunted to the side and not permitted to work in a regular office setting.

One of the leading companies in the Unites States today in the area of home-based employment is Alpine Access. The people who are working for this firm are proud to be members of the Alpine group. They feel passionate about what they do and work hard to make their customers very happy. This is because they are working from the comfort of their own home and they are avoiding the stresses that are associated with working in an office all day long. In addition to providing a quality work setting Alpine offers their employees a competitive salary and great benefits.

The Alpine company was founded in 1998 and it was based on the idea that instead of brining people to work, let bring the work to them. This enabled Alpine to pick and choose the best employees they could find from across the country. Not only is the employee getting flexibility so is the employer.

For more information on how to start a call center at home,call center stress and other call center consultant related topics; visit http://www.CallCenterConsultant.net

Effective Sales Training Begins by Defining Your Desired Results

Please read Tommy Smith's article on effective sales training and let us know through our comment section if you have tried anything similar at your Call Center and what your results were. We are always looking for feedback.

Tommy Smith

Before you can begin to effectively train your sales team, you must first comprehend what you are trying to accomplish. You need to know exactly where your numbers are, and where you want them to be. If you are going to truly understand your figures, you need to know where they have been, and where they are projected to be. If there is a trend, this is where you need to modify things. Start by making a list.

For example, you review your last 5 years of sales, and every year in September, your profits plummet. Every year in April, they sky rocket. What is the cause, what are the main differences in these two times? You can definitely say that there needs to be an extra emphasis on September. Now you will need to look at why September is not as successful. Number one on your list is "September".

Under September there should be smaller subcategories. These would entail the things you presume to be the issue. Next to each item is a projected resolution. This list will then serve as an outline when reviewing your desired results. Be sure to keep this list in order of importance. Priority is a must.

You have now determined one of your main desired results is increasing profits in September. Look at your sales staff, when is the last time they were "pumped up". The best way to get your team motivated is to motivate them. If you want your training to be effective, make it fun, not as though they have been under performing. By utilizing a list you can mentally or physically cross off each item as you have resolved it. Do not however, assume that because you believe you have a solution that it will be the correct one. If you have to retrain your sales force in 6 months, this list is a great reference. What worked, what didn't? This will help you to obtain your weaknesses.

Keep your goals realistic. You cannot set personal or professional goals that are unobtainable. You are setting yourself and your team up for failure. Write these down also, this way when you meet or exceed your goal, it gets crossed off. Your lists may in turn look similar, but they are different. The desired results list will contain how to reach your goal; the goal list will contain what the specific goal is. In order to get to a point, you don't need to know only what that point is, but also how to get there.

By creating these lists, it allows you to take a step-by-step approach to your desired results. You can visibly see where you are, and where you need to be. This is a business "map" to show you how to get to your desired results. If the training is not effective in a certain situation, circle it in red, you now know there is a problem. Try a new solution, or reference someone who specializes solely in that particular aspect. This way you are not paying someone for unnecessary knowledge. Most importantly, reward your team when they obtain one of your goals. It will make them strive to achieve the rest.

Tommy Smith is the lead content writer about sales training. To find out who is Americas Greatest Sales Trainer check out this site.

Dealing With Call Center Stress

Ling Tong

Everyday call center workers have to deal with angry and upset customers and this often causes them a great deal of stress. It cannot be easy having to try to talk to someone who is yelling at you and who doesn seem to understand what you are trying to tell them. If it wasn't for the fact that they would probably lose their job the call center work would probably hang up on the customer. But there are ways that people can deal with call center stress and angry customers.

The first thing you need to think about is how the customer is feeling. You are the first person that an angry customer talks to when calling in to deal with a problem or a concern. You are the first person that they are confronting and until they have had time to express their concerns they are going be angry. It is important that you stay calm and that you try to understand their point of view and try to see where the person is coming from. Just remember that they are not angry at you personally and try not to take it that way.

You need to remember that in the call center business that the customer is always right. You need to use your great inter-personal skills and deal with the customer as patiently and as calmly as you can. Your goal is to ensure that your customer is one hundred percent satisfied.

There are times when the customer can make you angry and you might want to argue back but it is very important that you do not argue back. Remember that two wrongs don make a right and just because the customer is arguing and getting mad it does not give the right to argue back. When dealing with an angry customer you need to try to calm the irate customer as best you can. Be patient and understand that once the customer has had a chance to tell their side of the story they may calm down.

The most important thing is to remember that you when you leave work you need to leave everything that happened that day behind you at the office. Do not take anything that was said to you over the phone home with you. Go home and relax and take care of yourself. It is important to de-stress from time to time. Even if you are working long days you need to take a break from the telephone from time to time and take a walk or grab a cup of coffee. This will allow you to remove yourself from your work for just a little bit. If you are sitting at your desk all day dealing with customers you are going to get stressed for sure.

Put yourself in the customer shoes while they are on the phone. Think about how you would feel if you were experiencing the same problem as the customer. Would you be upset and what would you expect from the call center agent. This is sure to help keep the situation as less stressful as possible.

 

Turn That NO Into a YES Sale

The inception of the Offshore Business Process Outsourcing and Call Center Industry produced a sales-driven throng cluster of professionals from different age-groups of employees. Customer Service Representatives and telemarketers require great skills, attitude and energy to carry on tasks at night.

Call it a tough job because it demands having strong sales skills. Of course, we all know that right mind-set and liveliness are the key essentials while taking calls but indisputably so does sales skills.

Whether you're dealing with a cranky and irate prospect or a calm yet prying customer, the main perspective stay the same. Here are four attributes you could develop:

1. Confidence and belief in your service and product. Hold faith in yourself to turn that No into a Yes. Never entertain hesitation in your mind that the customer sooner or later will say "Yes" to you because of who you are, what you have for them, and what you can offer them to solve their problem. Passionate interest in what you are doing is infectious which gives you affirmative direction and drive.

2. Make your service or products' value known to your customers. Become aware of your customer's surroundings, understand and comprehend your service and products very well; surely, you will get past your customer's tests. With a deep service or product knowledge helps you let the value of the opportunity be understood by the customer. The way you relate your idea back to the customer's wants and needs expresses that value also through your physical energy and voice which get across as confidence to the caller or customer, making the customer feel comfortable, eliminate doubts, and come straight as a yes.

3. Emphasize your difference and let it shine. Set yourself apart with the customer in at least three means. Distinguishing yourself is not enough. Make the customer know why your solutions are so unique and how they support his business goals. If you know what makes the customer tick and what his key needs are, the customer will better understand the value of your uniqueness and how it will help his company. This will give the prospective customer a comfortable answer other than "no" and grounds to do business with you. Find another approach to get past that "no."

4. Determination. Belief in yourself, focus on the value you bring to customers, and when you have a strong distinguishing factor, then determination and firmness comes naturally. When a customer says "I don't have time to hear you sell," or "I'm in hurry," or "Thanks, but we're all set," or "Sorry, it's not in our budget right now," you can reply with "Share 10 minutes with me. If I don't show you something of tremendous value in that time, I'll never call you again."

It is truly an honor and pride for a telemarketer to turn "no" into a "yes." The qualities listed here, with immense belief in one's self is the most important of all. Skills and attitude are necessary but belief weighs the most. "There's just no substitute for that core of belief to get past the "no" every time."

It was about two years ago when she learned that she can earn money at the comfort of her own home. Her courage and perseverance helped her succeed in the field of internet marketing.

Visit http://www.u-gotcash.com to learn more about making money at home.

Examples of Good Customer Service

In the article below Brandon provides a few back to basic examples of Good Customer Service that we hope you find useful at your Call Center for your agents. Good luck to you!

Examples of Good Customer Service
By Brandon Walker

How examples of good Customer Service lead to exceptional service

The number one rule to remember in running a successful business is to develop a culture of providing exceptional customer service or you will over time struggle in a competitive market. The best process to find out how service is to learn can be provided is to learn from both your own experiences and other peoples examples.

Earning a reputation for excellence

To help your business obtain a reputation for providing excellent customer service there are a number of essential trade secrets that need to be followed. One scheme many businesses use these days is to arrange brain storming sessions during staff meetings and training programmes to discuss the type of service delivered by other successful companies. By discussing examples with staff it helps your own organization to deliver quality superior customer service. Also by recognizing the positive contribution staff make for the business morale and team spirit is boosted. This can be done through bonus or incentive payment schemes or introducing for example a 'salesman of the month' award.

The following are some questions that may identify whether your business is providing just basic or excellent examples of good customer service.

Background knowledge. Is the employee trained to know the core business and can effectively supply the customer's with what they require?

Image. Is the employee friendly and project a good image and manner to the customer?

Difficult customers. Does the employee deal with difficult customers with courtesy and respect?

Helpfulness. Is the employee helpful and ensures customer requirements are met?

Going the extra mile. Does the employee regularly exceed standards by going the extra mile to provide outstanding customer service?

8 Examples of Good Customer Service

Friendly staff
Ensure employees who are hired to deal with customers on a daily basis especially at first point-of-contact or in reception areas have a friendly, positive and helpful personality. Employees should have a good knowledge of the business. Engaging employees who already have customer service credentials is an advantage as it indicates they already have the skills and a commitment to customer service.

Appreciating employees
A happy employee will feel valued and provide customers with good service. A salary that offers staff discounts and other incentives will appeal to employees and indicates the company cares about them. Providing opportunities for staff development through training programmes encourages and motivates staff.

Modern technology
Customers can become annoyed and frustrated when put on hold and left waiting by automated phone systems. The overuse of this type of technology can sometimes be counter productive and cause losses to the business bottom line.

Customer issues
Complaints need to be dealt with swiftly. By delaying dealing with customer issues can lead to your business losing a valued customer. By sorting problems out can unlock the door to sales and help your business gain an edge over the competition..

Improving service
Always treat your customers with respect and courtesy. When dealing with issues find out as much as you can about the problem as it could help you to refine and improve existing services.

Thanking the customer
Always thank your customers for dealing with your business. Most customers' appreciate being valued and will remember the helpful service your business provided that will result in customer loyalty and repeat business.

Going the extra mile
Some customer's may be in a hurry so ensure they are dealt with promptly as it could be the difference between selling and not selling a product. Consumers appreciate businesses going the extra mile by taking care of their needs and can result in repeat business.

Customer feedback
Look at canvassing your customer's through online satisfaction surveys to determine whether your existing services are working. By asking customer's for feedback about your business you will be able to measure and improve your internal systems and services.

Brandon has written a number of article on customer service and has outlined some key examples of good customer service at his site.

9 Steps for Coaching Call Center Agents

By Myra Golden

The call record method is, in my opinion, one of the best approaches to coaching agent phone calls and ensuring quality. Here’s a 9-step plan for effectively coaching call center agent phone calls:

1. Randomly record 2 –3 telephone calls. Random recording is important. Do not record 3 calls back to back or on the same day, as your employee may be having a bad day and this may be reflected in all of one afternoon’s calls, but is not necessarily reflective of their typical performance.

2. Review the calls and note strengths and opportunities. Before meeting with your employee, listen to the calls and note what they did well and identify 1 –2 opportunities for performance improvement.

3. Play one tape and let your employee listen. During the playing of the tape, you do not need to respond.

4. Have your employee respond to the tape. After the tape is played, ask your employee to respond. Most employees will be overly self-critical. Your employee will likely note many opportunities for improvement and struggle to articulate what they’ve done well.

5. Coach the call. Use the “sandwich” approach. Tell your employee what s/he did well, followed by constructive feedback, and then end with positive feedback. When offering constructive feedback, share only one opportunity for improvement. The employee has likely observed and stated several improvement opportunities so there is no need to bring these up again Try to mention one thin g the employee did not bring up and offer this as your constructive feedback.

6. Gain commitment for performance improvement. Ask the employee, “What specific steps will you take over the next 5 days to improve in this area?” Write down what the employee states and repeat it to her. Summarize the session by reiterating strengths and offering a vote of confidence that she can improve in the identified area.

7. Repeat steps 2 – 6 with a second and perhaps third tape if necessary. The point of numerous recording is that an employee may respond defensively stating that was just a “bad” call. If that is the response, you may choose to review a second or third tape.

8. Follow-up before the next agent coaching session. Check with your employee in between coaching sessions to keep the commitment top of mind. You can touch base with your employee via email or a personal conversation.

9. Discuss improvement in next coaching session. Before listening to calls in the next coaching session, ask your employee how she’s progressing toward the goal of the last session. Look for improvement on calls reviewed in this session.

This 9-step call center agent coaching model is simple, clear and it both praises employees and offers support for improvement opportunities.

When you follow this 9-step process, you will set clear performance expectations, coach effectively and consistently and at the same time you will be motivating your employees.

Myra Golden is an award-winning professional speaker and principal of Myra Golden Seminars, LLC, a customer service training firm serving clients in food and beverage, banking, healthcare, hospitality, and other industries. Her client list includes McDonald’s, Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola, Frito-Lay, Michelin Tires, Pirelli, and Procter & Gamble, among many others.

For hundreds of ideas for customer service improvement for use in customer service training, visit the customer service training resource portal by going to http://www.totalcustomerservicetraining.com

 

Online Training Needs Assessments: How to Measure Learning Performance Effortlessly

Since many Call Centers use online training in one fashion or another I found William Peterson's article to be interesting.

I hope you find it useful and interesting also.

By William Peterson

Nowadays, most online training instructors like to evaluate what learners learnt during the learning process through traditional summative evaluation. However, this assessment approach needs to be changed, as it only considers final learning outcomes without considering the learning process of learners.

Actually, learning performance can be tracked by related online assessments in the process of online training. With meaningful and periodical performance assessments, instructors would easily and efficiently measure all performances and provide valuable feedback to learners in training progress.

How to Conduct Assessments in Online Training?

1. Schedule all assessments, not just at the end
Regarding the flexibility of online assessments, instructors need to know the overall schedule of the training to grade whole learning process. With different levels, make exact schedule of assessments to examine all learners' performances. The good point is, instructors can benefit from those results of assessments as feedback, and add improvements in the learning courses of next level.

For online training, the scheduled assessments could be easier to be integrated into original learning timeline. Assessments and courses can be based on feedbacks from previous assessments to engage learners with interactions. At the end, assessment in traditional way also makes sense with maximum efforts. In scheduled training, performance assessments are really helpful to control entire learning process.

2. Customize assessment creation, with right tools
To author online assessments with specified requirements, instructors will create and implement quizzes to test undergoing training. Types of quizzes may differ and may feature formats ranging from multiple choice answers, plain typed text responses and true/false and yes/no questions. Instructors should carefully select the assessment authoring tools, according to the usages. Creating quizzes as performance assessments in online training has two categories of tools: desktop applications, or Web applications.

Desktop apps such as Wondershare QuizCreator, or Web apps such as Quia Web have similar features to customize assessment creation, but the online usages. Desktop apps usually have plentiful contents and take Flash technology to Web compliance; while Web apps offer easy-to-use quizzes creation online directly but exact enhancements.

3. Track and evaluate results, under management
As feedback on performance is a critical part of a learning environment, online training instructors really need to analyze all results of performance assessments. In order to evaluate the whole learning process and know the exact data, all assessment results must be properly collected and processed in the learning system. Most LMSes (Learning Management System) such as Moodle, BlackBoard can track assessment results within the system. And the Web quiz apps Desktop quiz apps usually come with a results component, for example, Questionmark's Results Management System, QuizCreator's Quiz Management System as professional assessment management, to make all results data from performance assessments arranged as report. Whatever the systems you use, just summarize the reports in the meaningful points you need.

4. Take actions on feedbacks, performances focused
The best part of performance assessment in online training is not just reporting the differences of individual learning process, or scoring the final exam as performance. The results in assessment report aim to inspire instructors to keep improving the efficiency of entire online training. Just take actions on the feedbacks. Instructors must manage all assessment results as different reports in those assessment management systems, or deal with them using other professional statistical analysis software like Microsoft Excel or SPSS. With meaningful result of these assessments, instructors have the opportunity to maximize the value of any public or corporate training.

From the approach to performance, knowledge and the core management of entire training and learning process, efficient online assessment can really increase productivity for organizations. Furthermore, based on proper measurement of learning performance, instructors would improve the process of training with better interactions.

William Peterson

Senior E-Learning Analyst

http://www.sameshow.com/blog/

Hilarious Call Center Jokes

Ling Tong

Everyone needs a laugh from time to time and what a great way to get the crowd laughing by telling some hilarious call center jokes. If you are searching for great jokes to tell the crowd at the call center to lighten the mood when times get stressful, the Internet is a great source where you can find many funny stories to make everyone laugh. You do have to be careful that you do not tell off-color jokes that may insult your coworkers. You also have to careful of those that are clearly gender biased and those that display racial prejudice. This is because many call centers are now located in different countries of the world. For example, one of the major Canadian airlines has its call center located in Bombay, India.

Some jokes related to call centers are actual conversations that took place between the customers and the agents. These stories may seem like they have been made up, but with so many people not having a good understanding of technology, when call centers first became popular, the conversations actually did take place. There are stories specific to a particular industry, which is why there are so many different ones available.

Examples of actual conversations that took place between call center agents and their customers include:

• Agent: Madam, can you tell me what is on your desktop right now?

Customer: I have the keyboard and a pen and some paper.

Agent: No, madam, your desktop is your computer screen. What is showing on the screen on your computer?

Customer: Nothing. I haven turned on the computer yet today.

 

• Agent: Mrs. Smith, I am calling today about your cell phone bill. Are you aware that your account is overdue?  

Mrs. Smith: Oh, what a nice young man you are? Your Momma must be so proud of you to have such a good job.

Agent: Yes, Ma’m. However, we are going to have to cut off your cell phone service if you don’t pay the amount owing on your bill.

Mrs. Smith: Young man, do you ever borrow money from your Momma?

Agent: That is not what we are talking about here, Mrs. Smith. We are talking about the money you owe for making telephone calls on your cell phone.

Mrs. Smith: What is a cell phone?

Agent: it’s the small telephone you carry in your purse.

Mrs. Smith: Really. I did’n know that. So that a telephone. My how times have changed!

Agent: Are you going to pay your bill, Mrs. Smith?

Mrs. Smith: Well, first I have to find my purse. I can remember where I put it. Then I can look
for my cell phone.

Agent: I am calling you on your cell phone, Mrs. Smith.

Mrs. Smith. Well I’ll be! I have to hang up now young man, but it was nice talking to you. Why don’t you call me again when you want to have another chat?

As you can see from these conversations, work is sometimes very frustrating for call center workers, so humor is essential in this line of work.

For more call center jokes as well as information on dealing with call center stress and call center consultants visit http://www.CallCenterConsultant.net

The Definition of Customer Service

The one thing that is consistent in Call Centers is the need for excellent customer service. Please take a moment to read Brandon's opinion on the defination of customer service and see if you agree with him.

 

It is hard to define ‘customer service’ because there are many different definitions of the term. Working out which definition would suit your particular workplace can therefore be very difficult. The definition of customer service is often misinterpreted by some businesses and used poorly in the workplace because it has been inadequately defined.

In today’s business environment it is not enough to believe customer service is ‘just meeting the requirements of the customer’.

In determining the definition of customer service for the purposes of this article the following key qualities were considered:

Customer service is:  

1. A positive, polite, caring and friendly attitude 

2. The knowledge and ability to provide quality service by satisfying the customers needs 

3. The process of delivering first rate benefits and treating customers fairly and professionally 

4. Any communication that creates a good or bad impression 

5. How a business looks after its customer’s requirements through effective and efficient before and after sales service  

 Conclusions

By taking into account the above points it is clear that to define customer service the following basic elements would be necessary……..Efficiently satisfying a customer’s needs by providing and delivering professional, helpful, high quality service and assistance before, during and after the customer’s requirements are met.

Many businesses do not consider a downturn in business until it is too late. In a competitive environment early plans need to be made so that the consumer is always considered first. This can be done through regular reviews of customer service systems and training programmes to look for ways existing processes can be improved. By understanding what customer service means and how it impacts on turnover and bottom-line, businesses will not only enhance their reputation for providing quality service but be in a position to improve stale and tired internal services that will lead to increased customer loyalty and over time profit margins.

Brandon has been involved with customer relations and interaction with customers for many years now. To find more informative articles and resources about customer service visit his site goodcustomerservice.org

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