World Class Customer Service
The whole premise behind providing world-class customer service revolves around value. The trick is knowing what value means to a particular customer and provide it.
What Is Value
Value is a hard-to-define quality; people talk about it, but few understand it. Value is providing something beneficial to another person, but value is not determined by you or what you perceive it to be. It can only be evaluated by your customer.
Value is that moment in a conversation that the other person realizes that you understand him and care about what he needs. At that moment, you transform from generic service provider into caring individual.
World-class customer service can never be achieved without first having this understanding.
Providing Value
Here are the keys to providing value:
Listening skills. Simply close your mouth and truly listen to what the other person is saying. If you are confused, ask for clarification. Never make an assumption, especially if you are dealing with an upset or agitated customer.
Solution provider. After you have listened attentively and are crystal clear about your customer's needs, provide a solution. If you can't provide the solution, put the customer in direct contact with the person who can. Do not speak as an authority on matters outside of your scope of influence.
Follow-up
At the conclusion of your conversation, ask the customer for clarification that his issue has been solved. If you were the solution provider, this takes place immediately after you have provided the solution. If you handed him off to the solution provider, call the customer within the next 24 hours to be sure his issue has been resolved.
In today's world, patience is still a virtue, but it's harder to come by. Today's is an instant-gratification society, so providing world-class customer service must be done swiftly with limited or no hassle on the part of the client.
