Working in customer service can almost feel like you are an interpreter of sorts. There have been many challenging times for customer service representatives, but the major challenges come up time and time again. And it’s all to do with one simple thing, communication. Here are some of the most common communication problems in customer service, and what you can do about them.
Poor Technology
You wouldn’t think of technology to be the root cause of communication problems, but many customer service representatives work in call centers. The right technology can make a massive difference to your operation. Whether it’s having a quality phone system for your business or the right software, like customer cohort analysis software which will allow you to track customer engagement, it will ensure you are getting the customer’s point of view properly.
Missing Information
A customer can struggle to get their point across. We need to get more information from customers, and if there is missing information, one of the best ways to do this is to send a short and personalized email. This helps the customer because we are laying out the action we need the customer to take, increasing the likelihood of responsiveness, but it also helps us to put across a friendly and personal approach.
Not Apologizing in the Right Ways
It’s not so easy for us to say sorry, and while everybody makes mistakes, it is important to own up and apologize sincerely, which can be difficult. There are ways to do it properly not just over the telephone, but in terms of social media messaging. When we only had apologized for a big mistake, this is showing that we are taking initiative, and will hopefully get more respect from our customers.
Non-Technical Customers
Sometimes when there are issues with our websites, we will have to call a specialist to guide us through it. But there are plenty of customers out there that are non-technical, right down to the fact that they don’t know what an internet browser is. Sometimes there are age discrepancies, language barriers, and anything in between, and it’s important for us to be patient and empathetic with these customers, avoiding assumptions, but also using a variety of tactics to ensure that your customer can learn how to navigate this problem. We can provide a variety of resources to ensure that customers are able to understand and in tune with their learning styles. Everybody learns differently, and we must remember that we all had to learn the basics at some point.
Customers That Talk Too Much!
Some customers love to talk, and while we need to give every customer the time they need, we have to get the balance. Your customer service staff need to provide the support but you also need to give them ways to make them more productive and this can be achieved through leading the phone call in the right way. Giving them tools to redirect the conversation, and asking direct questions rather than open-ended ones will be the best way to get to the root cause.