how to improve your customer service skills by scott storick
TRANSCRIPT
How To Improve your Customer Service Skills
By Sco' Storick
Introduction • Whether you are working for a private business or a nonprofit organiza7on, effec7ve communica7on will always play an integral role in your overall success at your company.
• At the end of the day, it is no secret that many hiring managers and recruiters are looking for qualified candidates that are already equipped with strong verbal and nonverbal communica7on skills.
• The reason why is that during the day-‐to-‐day opera7ons within the office, you will be required to constantly communicate across a wide range of departments.
Be a Rock Star • While many companies will invest a large amount of their 7me, money, and resources into strong and viable communica7on, it is impera7ve that you reflect and internalize your own personal strengths and weaknesses with this overall skill.
• This type of reflec7ve mentality will allow you to iden7fy your own personal and professional flaws that you can alter to be a more confident and effec7ve worker at your office.
• Remember, rock stars are not born; they are made. All you need to do is take that first step and the rest will come to you.
Objective • Now, for this par7cular presenta7on, I would like to speak more loudly on improving the customer service communica7on than internal communica7on within the office.
• If you would like to learn more about how to effec7vely communicate as manager or supervisor, you can visit my previous blog here:
• ScoK Storick, Managerial Communica7on.
Con6idence & Control • When we talk about client communica7on and customer services, we are ini7ally talking about confidence and control.
• For this to be translated appropriately, you have to of course gauge the overall perspec7ve of the client.
• Remember, good communica7on is about puOng yourself in the posi7on of your clients.
Con6idence & Control – Ask Questions
• Don’t be afraid to ask those overarching ques7ons like: • Why do they want to talk? • What are they interested in talking about? • Is this going to be a delighSul experience or an absolute nightmare?
Con6idence & Control • By evalua7ng the overall situa7on in a holis7c manner, you will be able to beKer prepare your side with the necessary informa7on and tools your client or customer will want to hear.
• The worst thing you want to do to yourself is find yourself blindsided with various ques7ons about numbers and progress and not having a strong and sufficient answer to back up your claims.
Calls & Emails • Now during the course of conference calls and emails, you want to make sure you are providing a sufficient amount of informa7on to the table.
• Much of my advice to clients is based on being informed, and for good reason.
• All of us gravitate toward that one person who always seems to have the answer.
• It is that idea of being one step ahead of the game that gives the person you are talking to the necessary reassurance and trust that you are working with them than with their money.
Calls & Emails • One of the things I like to do is of course provide some engagement task with my own personal clients.
• This type of informa7on not only challenges your clients to think, but also have them explore new intellectual territory.
• By establishing that type of conversa7on, you will be able to ul7mately build that much need trust for your future rela7onship with that person.
Listen to their Needs • Now during this process, as much as you want to take control of the situa7on, you also want to be aKen7ve and observant to their needs.
• For many of these calls, your client will contact you because of a misunderstanding within the contract or a miscommunica7on with the number of products delivered.
• My advice is simple; just listen.
Listen to their Needs • Humanizing many of your calls can help diminish any nega7ve emo7ons coming into these customer service mee7ngs.
• It will also give you a chance to control the situa7on even if you do not have the answer.
• For many of these cases, customers and clients just want to vent their frustra7on.
• Once that is all said and done, you are able to provide them with the necessary informa7on to move forward into a beKer place.
Final Piece of Advice • The last piece of advice is more to do with you than anything. Be confident in your own personal abili7es.
• At the end of the day, you are the expert on the call.
• If you weren’t, they wouldn’t be calling you for your help.
Final Piece of Advice • By internalizing that one small piece of informa7on, you will be able to remove those barriers and improve your abili7es with customer communica7on.
• Just think of it like this. How would you react if you were in their situa7on?
• In the grand scheme of things, you would probably react the same.
• All you need to do is calmly and respecSully control the discussion so that you can move it into a more informa7ve and effec7ve call.
Learn More • To learn more about ScoK Storick, please visit the following sites: • hKp://scoKstorick.net
• hKp://scoKstorick.org/
• hKps://www.crunchbase.com/person/scoK-‐storick#/en7ty
• hKp://www.slideshare.net/scoK_storick