Transforming Customer Service to a Customer Experience Part 2

Angel presents her 4 "Don'ts" for you to transform your customer service into a customer experience.
Interrupt: This is a bad thing in general conversation but definitely not smart when dealing with your customers. If a customer is trying to ask a question or explain a situation let them finish their thoughts. I know this is hard for some people. You want to jump to the solution or make an assumption on what the customer needs. A large amount of time will be wasted if you don’t take the time to get to the heart of what the customer is asking.

Blame Game: If you are attempting to resolve an issue for your customer, blaming others will make you and your company look bad. Take ownership for the situation and apologize for it. I am not saying you personally are to blame but telling the customer you are sorry for the situation or you understand how frustrating the issue may be is highly effective. However, telling a customer some department or group of people are to blame is cowardly. Keep the issues simple and stick to the facts. Blaming gets you know where quickly.

Taking it personally: This is a tough one. If someone is yelling at you or saying, “you did this or that”, it can be hard to take. Keep calm and listen. Wait for the customer to finish their thoughts and go from there. If a customer becomes verbally abusive you are within your rights to polity tell the customer, you will not be able to help them if they continue to behave in that manner or use certain language. This is always a 50 50 shot on how the customer will respond. The hope is always the customer will realize they need to keep thing professional.

“Can you hold please”: This can be effective when you need to sneeze, cough or ask someone else a question. But always be sure to ask the customer if you can put them on hold and if they agree give them some idea of how long you will be gone. Nothing can escalate a seemingly normal interaction quicker than putting a customer on hold for a lengthy period of time. This could turn what would have been a normal interaction into one you would rather not have.
Download Angels 8 points on how to transform your customer service here