(By Micah Solomon, Forbes , JUL 22, 2013)
Introduction
According to Solomon (2013), customer service is an art that requires emotional presence. The writer gives a series of emotional skills that can be used to improve the customer service. One of the, is patience. Patience is important when dealing with customers from different backgrounds, different requirements and even when they come frustrated. Their needs should be addressed. The customer service agent should also be able to pay attention to the customer and communicate well. Most importantly, the customer service agent should have a good knowledge of the product and use a positive language when describing it.
Establishing A Customer-Driven Mindset
Solomon d eveloping a customer-driven mindset requires an understanding of the customers’ needs and responding accordingly. In order to win the customer’s trust and loyalty, there ought to be a connection between what is required and what is being provided. A good customer relationship is established by paying attention to the customer’s specifications. There ought to be a substantial investment into customer relations in terms of time and resources. A company should ensure that its human resource department is responsive. The human resource department is among the most important organs of a company for improving the customer relations. Good relations are not only important for boosting the sales but also for ensuring the long-term success of the business. For example, the customer care agent should be able to anticipate the customer’s needs and respond to them in advance. The ability to anticipate the customer’s requirements is developed by studying the customer’s shopping habits in a given period. The market trends are also a good indicator of the customer requirements.
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Communicate Effectively with Customers
Good communication skills determine a person’s power of persuasion. Effective persuasion is the most important object of communication. In recent years, effective communication has become a center of attention both in theory and in practice. Communication skills are being taught in schools so as to enable the students to interact freely in diverse professional fields. In business, for instance, the art of persuasion is crucial in sales and marketing. For a person to be able to close lucrative deals and secure contracts, effective communication skills come in handy. In addition to making transactions, persuasion is necessary. The primary objective of a customer care agent should be to sell a product or a service to a customer and make sure they are happy. If the speaker lacks the necessary persuasion abilities, there is a likelihood that he or she might fail to accomplish their objective. For example, an effective communication with a customer should always start with greetings and then a description of the available products.
Building Relationships with Customers
Good customer relations are important for the long-term success of a business. Building a good customer relationship requires an establishment of a direct connection both during and after transactions. The first step to building good customer relations is cultivating a friendship by through rapport. Customers often prefer a friendly tone to a sharp business tone. Portraying the right emotions when communicating with the customers will ensure that there is a personal connection.
When building a long-term relationship with the customers, it is important to know them well. This includes knowing their tastes and preferences and their shopping schedule. Knowing the customers can also involve showing empathy and interest in what they like. This approach helps in building trust with the customers. Once a person is able to learn about their customers, it becomes easy to advise them on different products by pointing out what might be more appropriate for them. A long-term relationship a demonstration of the trust that a customer has on the company’s products. For example, when a company provides the best quality products in the market, it becomes easy to manage the customer relations since there is trust. In such a case, customers would not mind to pay a high price to get the product.
Problem Solving for Unhappy Customers
The most effective way of dealing with unhappy customers is addressing their concerns as soon as they reach the company. The first step should be to apologize to the customers. The second one should be to listen to the customers. It is crucial to listen to the customers complains and to explain to them what might be wrong. Customers also need to see the company’s willingness to rectify the mistake and feel the appreciation for choosing them. This approach not only helps in retaining customers but also in attracting new ones. The customer care agent should always be ready to handle such a situation. A customer may be very offended when they realize that they did not get the right product. Dealing with such a customer requires patience and understanding. The customer care agent should apologize to the customer and address their complaints.
Conclusion
Keeping a long term customer relationship involves building trust. Trust ensures that a customer is happy with a product or a service and willing to come back again or refer a friend. Trust is built by ensuring that customer satisfaction comes first. In some cases, a customer may not find the preferred item. It would be inappropriate to sell them another item if at all it will not serve the intended purpose well. However, notifying the customer that the specified item is unavailable but would be delivered at a specified date can help in building trust.
References
Solomon, Micah (2013). Building Customer Loyalty, the Hard (And Only) Way. Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/groupthink/2013/07/22/building-customer-loyalty-the-hard-and-only-way/
