Customer support is sometimes challenging and sometimes it can be one of the most rewarding experiences there are. But it is important to possess the required customer service communication skills otherwise you could fail to provide your customers with the kind of experience they deserve. It could also inversely affect the business or the brand that’s being represented if you lack the attitude or mindset and if you fail to understand and communicate with your customers. In this article, we highlight key customer support communication skills and their role and importance in winning customers over!
Here’s why it’s important:
Communication is key when it comes to interacting with customers and engaging with them successfully. However, to provide exemplary customer support service, it is important to be good at your communication skills.
Why is it important, you wonder? Here are a few reasons why:
- More than 52% of customers make an additional purchase from a company after a positive customer support experience. – Dimensional Research
- More than 65% of customers have higher expectations for customer service today than they did five years ago. – Netomi
- 80% of customers say that they prefer it when support agents offer them personalized experiences. – Epsilon
To get started at providing incredible customer support etiquette, you need to have a good understanding of the basics that are essential to getting to know your customers, answering their queries, and solving their problems.
#1 Persuasiveness
Persuasion is an art. It is the art of convincing people with valid and compelling reasons and arguments. It is basically when the representatives are able to convince customers and turn their problems into solutions. It is not about scoring brownie points by using fancy language or trying hard to win them over by forcing them to listen to you prattle on. It is more about setting valid points and presenting facts to get directly to the point and grab their attention. This one is a phenomenal way to convert unhappy customers into happy ones and even fence-sitting customers into loyalists.
#2 Attentiveness
Be mindful of your customer or caller’s presence and devote your complete attention to listening to what they are saying and solving their issues. Customers are generally looking for attention, more than anything else when they contact a customer support agent. This is where your listening skills come into play because all your customers want from you is to show them that you genuinely care about them, understand them and hold them in high esteem. This is one of the secrets to winning new customers while also helping keep the existing ones loyal.
#3 Being detail-oriented
If you aren’t detail-oriented, then you aren’t thorough enough with your customers and your customers are bound to see it through as disinterest. Being detail-oriented is a key skill to possess since customers may vary, and situations may vary with every support interaction. And if the customer support professional lacks it, then he/she won’t be able to meet the customer’s needs and/or the demands of the job.
To give you a bit of context for the purpose of self-evaluation, a detail-oriented individual would:
- Think the problem, issue or query through before coming up with a response.
- Be fully present, and ensure that they bring their undivided attention and energy into the conversation.
- Deal with customers reasonably by providing them with realistic resolution timelines and/or follow up with customers to see if their response was satisfactory.
#4 Ability to stay calm
Anything that has to do with dealing with customers is a tricky business. You can never really be fully prepared for the type of customers you may meet. You may be faced with a confused customer one moment and then an angry customer the next! And if you don’t have a calm head, then you will end up infuriating your customers and end up being frustrated, yourself. This skill is one that cannot be learned but cultivated through time, experience, and habit.
#5 Problem-solving mindset
Good analytical skills and a problem-solving mindset are a great combination when it comes to dealing with customers in a fruitful way. To navigate through a solution, most customer support professionals may follow one of the two approaches:
- Listing out the steps it takes to solve the problem
- Look at problems as an opportunity to serve customers and create incredible support experiences.
While both approaches work depending on the situation at hand, approach #2 is most likely to help win loyalty as it does indicate that you are going out of your way to make customers feel comfortable and valued.
#6 Willingness to improve and learn
Of all the skills mentioned above, this one is the source on which most of them are based. By that, we mean that it is okay if you don’t have a problem-solving mindset, or lack the skill of persuasion as long as you have the urge to learn and move forward. As a rule of thumb at VOIZ, we believe that customer support representatives should be open to new ideas since the field is a demanding one with ever-changing expectations.
If you are someone who has a growing passion for helping customers achieve satisfaction and helping brands retain their loyal customers, then you need to sign up with VOIZ now!