Developing Great Customer Service
By: Nomad Endeavors
Tags: Marketing, Customer Engagement, Branding, Customer Experience, Customer Service

Nov 1, 2020

Written By MJ Renner

Photo by Blake Wisz on Unsplash

Building relationships is an integral part of expanding one’s business or professional career. Fostering those connections with customers is important for maintaining clients and earning referrals. It is not always as simple as it may seem to smile, wave, and placate a consumer but the skills involved with making these individuals happy are worth cultivating.

Emotional Attunement

Is your customer upset about the way a product turned out? Does it feel impossible to meet expectations on a certain project? Sometimes there are moments where the emotions coming into a given situation seem out of proportion from the outsider’s perspective. Good customer service involves taking a pause and tuning into why the person(s) you are working with is feeling a certain way in a given moment. It might not fully make sense to you but reflecting the things they are sharing and acknowledging their emotions is a good way to diffuse tensions and satisfy someone by making them feel heard.

Listening Well

Whether you are just starting out on a new proposal or are finalizing a project, taking the time to ask questions of a client can show them that you are committed to understanding their needs and executing on their vision. Being reflective about their plans and making sure you fully understand their intent can prevent some confusion and show people a level of commitment that can help you to build trust during this process.

Positivity

While being positive in interactions with a customer may seem obvious, it can sometimes be underrated how much of a difference optimistic language can have in conversations. Centering language around what is constructive or uplifting can help you and the people you work with to view challenges with a sense of preparedness opposed to a defeatist mentality. This is not to say the reality of a given situation should be ignored if problems arise but handling errors with confidence and reassurance can help those who come to you feel a sense of security that things will work out.

Communication

If there is trouble communicating from either party, it is more than likely that frustrations and missteps are bound to come up. This is another skill that might seem implied but actually requires more effort than you might realize. Good communication involves being willing to admit that you don’t know the answer or are unsure about something so that you can work through these things with the client. Sometimes assuming you can figure out a problem or trying to do things without asking for clarification can lead to mistakes. It is better to be honest with a customer so you can both be on the same page.

Have a Customer Service Plan

If you are on a team or working independently it is still useful to have some principles developed around how best to interact with customers. These can act as helpful reminders to yourself or others of how you want to present your business to a client so that they will have a positive take away from the experience.

Simple things like reminding yourself to be personable with customers or catering to their needs can make for great service which they may find worth recommending to others.