Telephone Skills And Customer Service: Fill & Download for Free

Let’s try to be a little more specific on the needs of customer service in banking. But first, let’s describe the banking experience.So what does banking feel like or entail for consumers?It’s a sensitive concern, as it involves moneyIt needs a lot of trust between the customer and the company represented by the frontline service (teller)Customers are usually suspicious of banks, with all the fees being charged, interests on loans, credits, etc.It has to be precise, exact and fast. The more efficient, the better and more secure the customer feels.Any strategy to improve customer service in banks should target those things listed above. That means customer service reps should be more personable, patient, and more knowledgeable about the bank process. Other technological solutions would be:Regularly update customer accounts – Constant communication with customers signal your genuine care for them. Keep them posted on the status of their finances and earn their respect for your perseverance.Use customer data to customize service – Customer data is collected for a reason. It’s vital to knowing what your customer needs, and can help you predict their behavior. To gather data more effectively and use it to your advantage, invest in technology that integrates systems and captures data effortlessly. You can ask the Tenfold team for more info on this.Monitor CSR performance and raise the level of service – Bank tellers, CSRs—they’re your first line of service providers. Training is not enough to raise their skill level. You have to follow that up with constant monitoring and evaluation. Use customer feedback to enrich your recommendations.Experts also say that another significant improvement to the banking industry would be to create mobile support platforms that offer the same level of experience as that with telephone-based support. The shift to mobile is a timely concern, as millennials, who comprise more than a quarter of the US population and are part of the target market of the finance industry, are more wont to use their mobile devices than call for customer service.There’s more on customer service and experience at the Tenfold blog. Do check out our articles for in-depth discussions of how technology can improve customer service.

One of my favourite podcasts is CBC's (Canada Broadcasting Corp.) "Under The Influence". It's a program about advertising, marketing and the like. A couple of weeks ago they did a show on exemplary customer service. There were lots of great customer service stories but this one just blew me away. This is taken from their site. The 'I' is podcast host Terry O'Reilly.One of the most legendary customer service companies is Zappos.It's an online retailer that began as a shoes-only site. And it goes to extraordinary lengths to keep their customers happy.It all begins with their hiring practices. During their four-week training course, the company offers people $1,000 to quit.It's unheard of. But there's a reason - they want to weed out people who don't share their philosophy of empathy, kindness and humility.In 2007, 3% of the candidates took the money.In 2008, 1% did.In 2009, no one took the money.So Zappos upped the offer to $2,000.At every step of the job training process, Zappos is trying to determine if their values line up with the applicants. It's the same philosophy Danny Meyers uses in finding people for his restaurants. They are searching for untrainable skills.Most companies who rely on phone centres to do business have time limits - they want their staff to process a certain number of calls per hour. But not Zappos - they field over 5,000 phone calls per day, and there no time limits.As CEO Tony Hsieh (pronounced Shay) says, they actually want to talk to their customers. He believes the telephone is one of the best branding devices out there. The way he looks at it, you have your customer's undivided attention for 5 or 10 minutes - and what smart marketer doesn't want that??He also firmly maintains that every phone call is an opportunity to WOW their customers.First of all, there is a 365-day return policy. That's right, you have a year to return items.Zappos is also okay if you want to order 10 pairs of shoes, try them all on, and return the nine you don't want. All returns are free. No questions asked.If you're not sure of your fit, order a size 7 and a 7 ½, try them both on, then send back the other pair.Zappos also knows how to deliver. Not only is shipping free, it's often done overnight. That means if you order up to midnight, your shoes will be on your doorstep eight hours later when you wake up in the morning.That kind of service creates that WOW FACTOR. More importantly, it creates emotional impact.As a matter of fact, people are so amazed their purchase arrives so fast, many of them literally scream when the package arrives.UPS delivery people said they had to get used to that reaction when it comes to Zappos.If an item is out of stock, Zappos staff will search out three other competitor's websites and direct customers there. Even though they will lose that sale.But there is a reason they do that: They are not trying to maximize the transaction, they're trying to build a lifelong relationship.I can't stress this enough. In the end, excellent customer service doesn't cost money, it makes money.One last Zappos story. CEO Tony Hsieh took some clients out for a night on the town once. After the bar closed, they all went back to their hotel. One of his clients had a yearning for a pizza, but it was 2am, the hotel kitchen was closed.So Hsieh suggested she call Zappos and see if they could find her a pizza.You have to understand what he just suggested - he told his client to call his company - a fashion retailer - at two in the morning - and ask for a pizza.So Hsieh's client called Zappos and asked for a pizza. There was a short pause on the other end of the line, then the Zappos operator found three pizza stores near the hotel that were still open, and ordered the pizza.That moment floored the clients, but I bet it didn't surprise Tony Hsieh. Because he has instilled in his company an overwhelming desire to make customers happy.That's why Zappos reached $1 billion in sales in only their eighth year of business.There's another lesson here. 75% of Zappos customers are repeat customers. They call more often, and they spend more money.And they keep shopping at Zappos because they've never been treated better in their lives.

Regardless of size, any business needs customer support to be able to render good customer service to its existing and prospective customers. Customer service plays a vital role in an organization, it serves as the face and the heart of a company. Building an efficient customer support is important especially in this stage where we aim to provide good customer experience, so you have to wow your customers whenever they contact support.Every company’s existence is because of their customers that’s why it is crucial to provide them with the best of service to keep them coming and to retain them. And, as we value our customers, it is necessary to provide them an efficient customer service, a service that would greatly exceed their expectations. If we do it right, it would mean that we make our customers happy, and happy customers mean greater opportunity for the company.Let’s look at these steps in building an online customer support from start:Define your goalsYou need to set up your goals specifying what you want your team to achieve. You need to define their targets and set up standard so you would have the means to measure their performance. So, what could be the goals to target?Provide great customer experience. Helping customers efficiently is one thing, helping customers achieve great customer experience is another. Aim to always exceed the expectations of your customers.Provide customer service communicating core values of your company. If you want certain core values such as working with excellence, commitment and integrity, to be trademark of your company, you have to make sure that your team lives and breathes with these core values that you want to project.Choose effective support channels to useWe would like to make life easier for our customers, what could be better than making support easily accessible to them. You need to determine first if you want to provide 24-hour support. Then, choose channels that simply works. Determine where the volume of your customers are so you could pick excellent channels to use. For those who are starting and have limited support resources, the most recognized channels are:> Email. Email service is non-negotiable. It is the most familiar channel in terms of wide distribution. In fact, 91% of consumers use email at least once daily.> Phone. While email is the most familiar, most customers still prefer phone interaction as it is the most convenient for them in getting their issues answered right away.> Live Chat. If the interaction was held in real time, and customers want to get all the information they could take, adding Live Chat to your website can really help resolve the problem. This channel is favorable for customers who are doing business or making their purchases online.> Social Networks. There are a lot of social media available, though Twitter and Facebook are the most popular, there are other networks that customers might be using. Figure out which network/s you could use to deliver great support.Ignoring support requests on social media causes harm to your company according to a study conducted by Gartner, Inc.> Knowledge Base. This is a tool where your customers could look answers to frequently asked questions. A knowledge base is relevant for companies who does not provide 24/7 support service.Forrester posted that 72% of US online consumers prefer to use a company's Web site to get answers to their questions rather than contact companies via telephone or email. There are a lot of instances when the customer does not opt to call, and would rather visit the website first before making any connection.Hire and train right employeesCustomer service team is the face and heart of a company so you have to put enough effort in finding and training these people. Hiring a perfect candidate with perfect skills is not enough, finding the right candidate with the right attitude, and would best fit with your team is the best step in creating outstanding customer service team.Invest in the right people as they are your best opportunity in bringing more business to your company.Choose your customer service softwareHaving your CRM as your customer service software, will make your people more efficient with their job and keep your customers happy. But CRM alone doesn’t get the job done. Among the list of other tools that a customer service team should have would include the computer-telephony integration or CTI which automatically logs and connects data to the CRM, viewable through a single, popup feature.Tenfold, which initially was a CTI that improved phone workflow, took these features and applied it beyond sales. It has evolved into a software that captures interaction from all communication channels (phone, text, email, live chat) and combine it with aggregated data from other systems of record such as ERP and help desk software then display everything in a single, unified view.Empower your teamCustomer service team should be encouraged to resolve and treat each issue with priority. Give them the flexibility to work around in solving each issue, they could feel their contribution whenever an issue was solved.It takes these steps to create a customer support, put it all together correctly, you would have a great and efficient level of customer service.