Providing quality customer service is about human connection. When you WOW callers you boost your customer service by showing you care through quick, easy, personalized customer experiences.
Since these experiences can be rare, providing WOW-level customer service has become a rare and valuable differentiator for businesses.
You know why it’s crucial to stand out from the competition and retain customers, but how? The answer is to boost your customer service through the following components that work together to WOW callers.
1. Smile.
It may sound silly, but actually smiling changes the tone of your voice. Your tone is especially important on the phone because callers can’t pick up on physical and visual cues as they would in person. If you sound pleasant, you’re more likely to have a pleasant exchange and leave customers in a better mood than when they called.
2. Listen… really listen.
When it boils down to it, many customers want to feel heard and get something off their chest. They are more likely to respect and trust you when you demonstrate your active listening skills from the start.
When you give callers the space to explain without interrupting it also makes it far easier for you to get to the bottom of things in a timely manner.
3. Set the tone.
In addition to actively listening, you can kick things off on a positive note with callers by controlling the rate of your speech and breath. This also gives you more control over the direction of your conversation and makes it easier to communicate with distressed callers.
4. Communicate what you CAN do, not what you can’t do.
Letting the caller know what you can’t do isn’t helpful. Focus on what you can do by framing your questions and answers using positive language.
Examples of small tweaks to phrases that make a positive impact include:
- “Let me look into that for you”… instead of “I can’t”
- “Definitely” or “Certainly” … instead of “no problem”
- “That would be fantastic”… Instead of “sounds good”
5. Be Transparent.
Nobody expects you to have all the answers. You can build trust with callers by using positive language and transparency Instead of being vague or lying if you are unsure of an answer.
Try replacing phrases like “I don’t know” with “let me find out”, or, “Good question. Let me find that out for you and contact you back”, instead of stating “James handles all of that and he’s not here right now”.
Although it’s important to be confident in your own call-handling abilities when in doubt ask for help. Knowing when to escalate a call or involve teamwork makes the call more efficient and transparent.
6. Show Empathy.
Your customers expect (and want!) to speak to a live human being when they pick up the phone. Showing empathy is a great way to connect with them.
You can do this by acknowledging their problem using the three Fs: feel felt and found.
These are positive words that you can use when handling upset callers. For example, saying “I completely understand how you feel, a couple of our customers have felt the same way, but what they’ve found is…” helps turn their problem into a solution in an empathic way.
7. Create an effective call flow.
In most cases, your customers are just as busy as you are.
Streamlining their customer experience can boost customer service, allowing you to WOW callers with efficiency.
This shows you value your caller’s time, and gives you the opportunity to impress them with your problem-solving skills. Customers are used to jumping through hoops to get answers. Smooth customer experience can be rare, making it all the more memorable.
8. Make the call personal.
It’s also important to remember you’re dealing with a live human on the call.
The little things go a long way when WOWing customers. Remembering their name, referring to prior call logs and customer experiences, making pleasant conversation are just a few ways you can really show you care. If you remember interacting with the caller in the past acknowledge it! This is a great way to build rapport and make customers feel important.
Attending to their needs in a prompt and friendly manner can help build long-lasting relationships and boost customer satisfaction.
For more tips to help boost your customer service visit our resource library.
If you’re interested in treating your callers to a wow-worthy experience give us a call!
Call 1-866-615-3433 toll free for Answerplus sales enquiries or please complete the form below and a representative will contact you within 24 hours.