7 Do’s to Deliver Five-Star Customer Service
By: Olha Zhovtiak
Tags: Customer Experience, Support, Customer Service Tips, Customer Service

top-notch customer service

Customers should always be put at the very heart of every business. Especially nowadays, with the proliferation of digital technology, when a customer without minimal pain and extra cost can switch to another business with nothing more than few clicks. Having so many alternatives, customers are truly in power today and it should be task number one for every organization to deliver exceptional customer service.

The goal as a company is to have a customer service that is not just the best, but legendary. - Sam Walton

Being passionate about support, I’ve been always looking for the most effective how-tos to knock it out of the park and bring the best customer service to the table. Undoubtedly, the list of skills experienced support personnel should comprehend is extensive, and as we all know there is no limit to perfection. Nevertheless, I’ve tried to spotlight the main customer-centric grounds you can ace to ‘WOW’ your customers on a regular basis.

Let’s dive into it!

1. Be patient and hardy

These are the first must-have skills to master if you are interacting with customers on a daily basis. An infinite supply of patience is something that will always keep you calm, collected, and steady as a rock during busy periods.

Working in a customer service department, pretty often you’ll have to serve several customers at a time on top of doing some lengthy investigations, reporting to your manager on a couple of broken features, and so on. And here is when being hardy will become handy. One thing to always remember is that your customers do not really care how busy you are. They should receive a top-notch service even when you feel like the apocalypse is coming.

If you’re capable of putting a smile on your customers’ faces during the darkest hours of your working day — customers loyalty won’t be far behind.

2. Treat your customers how you want to be treated being a customer

Our attitude towards others determines their attitude towards us. — Earl Nightingale

I know, it’s pretty obvious and goes without saying. Still, I put this “do” as a number two as it works just perfectly. All you need to do is to think of what experience you’d like to receive as a customer. Readiness to be as helpful as you can is always rewarded by one more happy customer.

You should realize that not all customers are being on the same wavelength. There will be times, more often, where you would need to explain something multiple times until the problem is solved. Make sure you hit all the points! The best thing to do in such a situation is not to waste your time explaining what to do and just show it using videos, screenshots, sharing your docs, etc. If, after the conversation is closed, you can say “yes, I did my best here” — it’s what will set you apart from the others.

3. Sound personal and friendly

Personalized service is something that your customer will love and tell their friends about. First and foremost, it is vital to know and use your customer’s name. This is a physiological fact that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and the most important sound in any language. So, why not use it? Always address your customer by their name in your emails, chat conversations, or while being on the phone. It’s the easiest thing to do and the impact it makes when it comes to building trust and successful relationships is just colossal.

Another way to make your conversation with a customer more casual, easy, and fun is to simply ask them how they are or have a “small talk” about the climate, their location, etc. Here are some “small talk” topics HubSpot recommends you can use to build rapport with your customer.

4. Attentiveness is a key

The ability to carefully listen to your customer can be recalled with personalization. Still, it is absolutely necessary to mention that you should be very attentive and make sure you do not miss or overlook anything. The worst thing to do is to ask your customer about something they just mentioned few comments above. It’s a bit hard to recover and gain a complete trust of a customer after this little bungle.

One of the greatest gifts you can give to anyone is the gift of attention. — Jim Rohn

5. Be quick and always go the extra mile

An immediate response is one of the KPIs in many companies and five stars in customer service cannot be reached without it. You should always reply to customer requests quickly even if you don’t have a solution right away. Just write a response acknowledging that the issue is being solved. It also buys you some extra time.

What’s even more, make an attempt to predict your customer and deliver something extra. When you’re being asked a question and you know that your answer will lead to another one — answer both at a time. It’s a good practice not to just answer the question customer asked but all the follow-up queries you know a customer might have. It will be very thoughtful of you and a customer will be thrilled with your expertise.

There are no traffic jams along the extra mile. — Roger Staubach

6. Know your product inside out

Don’t ever let your product knowledge become stale. If you want to be the best-in-class support scout you should deepen your knowledge of how your product functions the first thing. Always be prepared to help your customer navigate the most difficult situations. As an extra, the profound understanding of how to use your product will not only ensure you’ve got the best tricks and hacks to offer but also let you tackle more complex questions much easier and faster.

7. Learn non-stop and cultivate new ideas

Knowledge is power and you cannot argue that. If you are in customer service for the long haul, don’t just do the “status quo” when it comes to supporting someone. Embrace every chance to grow and get better!

Nowadays, the internet is chock-full of information accessible from anywhere. And, as customers’ behavior is changing with the population of the digital world so does customer service. Read books, articles, subscribe to blogs, learn new techniques of writing e-mails, using correct words, master positive language, and so on. Be thirsty for knowledge!

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. — Nelson Mandela

Wrap up

To stand out from the crowd you need to learn how to deliver customer service that ticks all the boxes below:

an infinite supply of patience

powerful personalization

extreme helpfulness and attentiveness

high level of speed and responsiveness

knowledge of your product ins and outs

thinking from a new perspective

Wondering if you can do it? I’m sure you can! Delivering five-star service to your customers is no rocket science. :)