Customer Service Management: 7 Key Steps to Nailing it.
Customer service management are simply a set of strategies, practices and technology which businesses and organizations around the world use to manage and evaluate customer activities and interactions. The main focus of customer service management is to improve customer relations, support customer needs, apply retention strategies and boost sales revenue. In this competing world a good service management for you customer is essential for a successful business. As Betsy Sanders said, “Service, in short, is not what you do, but who you are. It’s a way of living that you need to bring to everything you do if you’re to bring it to your customer interactions.”
We understand that it can be hard to make plan for a perfect customer service management. As Clare Muscutt said, “Building good customer service does not happen by accident. It happens by design” and we are here to help you with that design. Here are 7 key steps towards an impeccable Customer service management program.
1. Support your team’s as well as individual skill development.
It’s important that you provide opportunities for your team to apply the customer service skills they develop. According to Business Wire, to consumers, the top three qualities of a customer service agent are “willingness to help” (60%), “ability to solve my issue” (60%), and “knowledge about the product or service” (58%). So, it’s important that as manager or business owner you support your team to develop their skills as a team as well as individually. A business which respects its workers will also respect their customers. In fact, according to Zendesk research, 54% of customers want to buy from companies that prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion in their communities and workplaces.
2. Arrange and organize training programs for your employees.
According to Salesforce, 88% of high-performing service decision-makers are investing significantly in agent training compared to only 57% of underperformers. There are various ways you can train your employees to be better. Organizing quarterly or yearly in-house customer service training can be one of them along with attending customer service conferences with your team. There can be role playing scenarios with some questionable or crisis situations, where your team needs to find the perfect solution.
3. Establish interdepartmental communication.
Every department of your company should share a common communication to improve customer service. You can start by keeping all the issues in order, communicating with the team, and, of course, providing stellar customer support. According to Dimensional research,
72% of customers say that explaining their problems to multiple people is poor customer service, therefore, it’s essential that every department is connected in the company for better management of customer service. Just as Tony Hsieh said, “Customer service shouldn’t just be a department, it should be the entire company.”
4. Use technology wherever and whenever you can.
According to salesforce, 59% of customers believe that companies need to provide cutting-edge digital experiences to keep their business and it’s accurate as in this digital age a good technological base is extremely essential for good management of customer service. opinions might differ on how much technology can help business however it does make customer service easier and faster through chat box and other software. In fact, according to the Future of CX 2022 report by Fresh works, 1 in 3 leaders believe that building new-generation digital platforms to help customer-facing teams work better is a top digital investment priority.
5. Hire the right people for your workforce.
Soft skills have always played a crucial role in customer service and Managing customer service starts with hiring people who have those skills. As a business owner you should be looking for some very specific set of soft skills in your future customer service representatives, skills like patience, empathy, proactivity, active listening are great way to start. Did you know that according to Right now, 73% of customers fall in love with a brand because of friendly customer service representatives? So, hire your people whom you can trust with your precious customers.
6. Set up specific customer service responsibilities.
Customer service is usually responsible for various tasks like Reaching out to customers, offering help proactively, helping with customer onboarding, doing product demos and so on. Therefore, it is important in customer service management to define all the tasks that your team will be responsible for early on. ArenaCX shows that, 69% of customers have stopped doing business with a brand because of a negative customer service experience. It’s good to establish continuous communication with customers and with other departments, too.
7. Always be ready for feedback and ask for opinions.
Asking your team for feedback for learning how their methods of approach and communication with customers can improve the customer experience and boosts sales. To improve your customer service management, you need to listen to your customers as well your employees alike. In fact, according to Deconstructing Delight report by Fresh works, 55% of customers want companies they care about to know more about them. Microsoft reports also show that, 53% of shoppers believe their feedback doesn’t go to anyone who can act on it. So, listen to the feedback you receive, ask for feedback wherever you can.
As a customer service manager, it’s important to address different areas of your strategies for reaching and retaining customers and ensuring your teams meet company goals. Monitoring the key metrics like retention rate, communication response and customer satisfaction levels can help you implement changes and improvements to your management of customer service. So, follow the 7 key steps and nail customer service management!