For those working in Customer Service departments, certain skills are essential when dealing with clients. While some skills such as patience, empathy and emotional intelligence are innate, others can be learnt and mastered by implementing effective customer service training programs. These soft skills enable staff members to efficiently handle customer queries and concerns. So what are some essential skills which are needed by those working in customer support? Here we have listed a few that can benefit your business.
Listening with Patience
How well customer service staff listen, has a major impact on a business and customer satisfaction. Listening with patience to the problems being presented is very important. Customers get annoyed when representatives don’t pay attention or have to repeat what they are saying. Make sure your team is trained to listen carefully as this is a basic requirement for support agents. When hiring, ensure you choose people who can focus and pay attention when someone is talking to them. Different training activities can be conducted by customer service trainers that teach staff how to listen with patience.
Communication Skills
A basic skill for every CSR is to have excellent communication abilities. Customer care staff needs to know how to interact with customers, with colleagues within the department and with other departments. It is necessary for them to communicate different situations to customers in a manner that that the message is clearly understood. While talking to customers, things such as tone for speaking to clients, how to convince them and how to make things clear are very essential. CSRs should also know the right words which have to be used and what words and phrases should be avoided.
Time Management
Customer service representatives need to be cool and calm, they need to know they cannot make their customers wait or put them on hold. Time management is another essential skill which is needed when dealing with customer problems. People working in support have only a limited time to fix issues and problems. Make sure your staff is trained and understands how to prioritize tasks and get things done. Whenever a customer complain comes in, after carefully listening, a timeline should be set to resolve the issue. If different people are involved in the process, everything should be documented and structured. Proper planning and collaboration is needed to get things done on time.
Problem Solving Abilities
All professionals working in customer support must have the ability to troubleshoot and solve problems. Agents should be able to handle clients and offer satisfactory solutions to their problems. Customers will often contact the support department after being frustrated with a faulty or defected product and might even vent and lash out in anger at the representative. In such a scenario, it is essential to calmly listen to the customer, apologize for the inconvenience caused and ensure a satisfactory solution is offered. Remember to follow up with customers after the issue is sorted and see if there is anything else that can be done to make them happy.
