Customer, how to do Satisfied? Needs go beyond creating a good product or service. If a good shopping experience does not accompany it, your customer will not return.
Questions like: “what does the client expect from my company?” and “how can my company please you?” They seem difficult to answer. But don’t get overwhelmed: here we will tell you a few customer service techniques that never fail and that you can put into practice from now on with positive results, both for the public and the members of your company.
The impact of a bad shopping, acquisition, or consumption experience is not only marked in a person’s memory, but its effect can be more damaging than you think. To avoid this, it is essential first to change the thought of just “selling, selling and selling” because relationships with prospects will be more automatic than with humans.
But before you find out what else you need, find out why a company should also set its sights on good customer service.
Table of Contents
The importance of good customer service
The client is an asset: its importance lies in the value it gives to a brand from the first contact. In this way, the public will evaluate the degree of satisfaction from entering into an interaction to finally receiving the product or service they were looking for.
For this reason, offering customer service is no longer an option but a fundamental part of the business structure. After all, it serves to obtain objectives like those mentioned below.
Earn recommendations with other potential clients
If you build a great experience, customers talk about it. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, describes the effect as “word of mouth” is potent. Thanks to this effect, the references are multiplied, and the opportunities to attract new followers with it.
Scale to position yourself in the market
You gain recognition in the market by creating good impressions on the customer. If you achieve a good rating from the general public, you will get more searches and climb the ladder of the first places you want to impact.
Loyalty to your client portfolio
When you provide good customer service, the chances of that person coming back increase, and not only that, it will also be easier to make sales the next time. We can call this “earning the customer’s trust.”
Gain preference among the public
Consolidating yourself in the public’s taste depends on a factor that few consider: the time it takes for the person to decide between various offers. The challenge then is to ensure that when the person thinks of a product or service, they consider your brand and not the competition. To achieve this, it will be beneficial to have excellent customer service.
Close more and better sales
Yes, good customer service also means increased sales.
But the most important thing is to break down the barriers that separate you from your target audience; convince him by giving a high degree of satisfaction; And remember: satisfaction includes the experience around the product or service you offer.
What are customer service techniques?
Customer service techniques are part of the business strategy to bring your customer closer and leave a mark on people’s memories. If there is one thing we remember about good service, it is the way we were treated.
In practice, relating to customers is difficult, as it requires developing skills such as empathy, active listening, ease of speech, and a good attitude, among other skills. The way to develop these skills is to exercise them with the help of tactics that make it possible to establish good relationships with recipients to invite or encourage them to choose your brand.
Providing quality customer service should be an overarching goal for all stakeholders in a company, from the proper greeting to the last follow-up via email, call, or comment on social media. To achieve this, we show you the best techniques you should implement.
8 customer service techniques
. Technique for personalized treatment
. Plan to offer kind attention
. Ideal for a good attitude and presence
. Technique to listen better
. Technique to solve
. Explanation technique
. Technique to empathize
. Interrogation techniques
We show you how to practice the techniques in the next section.
Technique for personalized treatment
When you visit someone’s home, have you felt the difference between being greeted as a stranger and someone you trust? Being welcomed at home will always be to our liking, and the same happens in any other place.
Before starting a dialogue with the client, you must approach it warmly. To make him feel this way, it’s best to avoid referring to the client with dry, impersonal nouns: simply mentioning his name will signify that you have a particular interest in his case.
If the customer is a frequent customer, it will be essential to learn their name as quickly as possible. Once the name of the person is known, at the beginning of the conversation, it will help to repeat it, using it in at least five different phrases, for example:
. Hi John, good morning
. How can I help you, Sarah?
. Thank you for attending the meeting, Martin; it is a pleasure to receive you.
. Andrea, do you already know our products?
. Fernanda, please provide me with the following information.
Another way to quickly learn names is by associating them with familiar people in your life, as this tactic never fails.
In addition to learning to recognize or name your client, you must pay attention to identifying how they prefer to be addressed and the channels through which it is possible to contact him or them. In other words, you must consider if the contact made with you is face-to-face, by phone, on social networks, a chat, or an email. It’s also good for you to remember the treatment he chooses: seriousness and formality or maybe a little more familiarity.
In this way, you show that you are interested in making them feel comfortable whenever you have contact and respect their preferences.
Technique to offer kind attention: convey happiness
A powerful technique to make people feel good is to make the customer feel at ease; listen respectfully, with interest, and with great enthusiasm.
Conveys a positive attitude: the smile, voice, and look; these actions will create equal reactions. Yes, even when the situation is complicated or the client presents a negative attitude, in the end, you will be able to satisfy him with your mood.
There will indeed be situations in which it is not enough to put on a smiling face, especially when dealing with complaints about receiving poor service. In these cases, you mustn’t get defensive or interrupt what the person is sharing about their experience.
On some occasions, you will notice that your clients want to vent; feeling that someone from the company listens to them will help you go a large part of the way. However, do not forget that you know better than anyone how far the efforts to repair the damage can go. So avoid getting into an argument that will only leave a bad taste in both parties’ mouths, and don’t promise things that you know neither you nor the company can deliver on.
Technique for a good attitude and presence: use body language
Maintaining good body posture helps in any meeting. Taking care of the presentation is essential, but it is even more so if you adopt good gestures.
A good mood is also expressed through body movements, and projecting yourself as a good listener requires good attitudes, such as eye contact, nodding your head, or hands.
Another tip that shows genuine attention is taking notes or recording what is important when speaking. It is as if the opportunity were born to learn something new about the successes and failures that a product or service gives to a client. That it is also noted somewhere conveys that it is taken into account and will serve for future adjustments or improvements.
If possible, stop doing another activity that distracts you from what your client is telling you. Whether it’s making a transaction, signing a contract, delivering merchandise, or sharing your experience, let him know he has your full attention.
Technique to listen better
There is a technique known as HEARD. This technique includes 5 aspects that, taken from English, give it its name (hear, empathize, apologize, resolve, diagnose):
. Listen fully to all the details of the client.
. Empathize with the person’s problem or situation.
. Offer apologies when it is the case because recognizing the damage or failure humanizes customer service.
. To solve the dilemma, an apology is ideally accompanied by a natural solution as soon as possible.
. Diagnose although solving a problem is essential, it is also necessary to discover its origin to avoid the same incidents in the future.
One more that works, especially if you want to have a good understanding of the situation you are dealing with, is to repeat the information that has been shared with you. It reinforces the memory and shows that there was a real listening. For example, you can ask questions such as: “So if I didn’t misunderstand, the problem with your phone is that it doesn’t charge beyond 50%, is that true?” or “It seems that the tracking number we shared with you doesn’t help you track your package, do I understand correctly?
Technique to give a solution: a benefit
Before any problem, a benefit? A plus for customer service is to leave better than you entered.
Go back a few years: remember when you walked out of the dentist with a piece of candy that made you feel better if you had an unpleasant experience? He thinks about curing the patient and leaving a good taste in his mouth at the end.
Giving a benefit can be the same as providing promotions, coupons, discounts, or something free. Still, it also means that your service itself is the benefit. After-sales service can be a significant gain if quality treatment is provided. The follow-up you give to the client’s problem will be gratifying.
Another way to provide a solution, even if you haven’t solved the case yet, is to admit the error and commit to finding a way to fix it. When a brand admits it failed, its customers know that there are people on the other side who listen to their comments. Of course, we will take action to find the best solution, so it’s only the first step. But an important one, undoubtedly.
Explanation technique: FAB
The FAB technique takes its name from its acronym in English that includes the following words: features (characteristics), advantages (advantages), and benefits (benefits). It is mainly applied in sales, but you can use it anytime with the client.
Observing and detecting the characteristics of the client’s request leads us to think about the attributes of the service or product that will best serve them. Then the advantages of acquiring that product or service with your company are shown.
And finally, with the exclusive benefits of the brand, you can emphasize the benefits you will get.
In addition, there is the ELI5 technique of the English «Explain it like I’m 5 years old» or «Explíme it as if I were 5 years old». At first, it sounds a bit condescending, but in reality, what it means is that the language you use is direct, clear, and by the level of knowledge your clients have.
You may be interacting with people who already know about your product or service or have experience with something similar. In that case, you don’t have to give a complete picture because there is already a basic level of learning. However, most of the time, you will find people with no background. It will be necessary to answer any questions, explain processes or give user guides.
The ELI5 technique is more useful when the interaction is by chat or telephone, where there is no way to provide information with different styles, depending on the occasion. In other words, it is necessary to use the product to demonstrate its operation when remote assistance is much more complicated. Still, it’s not impossible.
That is why we recommend that you have content that supports this task, such as short explanatory videos, easy-to-read user guides, or a list of tips that is easy to share by email or social networks.
Technique to empathize
Empathizing with the client’s situation is easier than you imagine. Follow these techniques:
I recognize the feeling:
identifying the client’s problem and feelings and letting them know that you understand their requirement is the first step to generating a positive sense.
It has happened to me too:
remembering the times you experienced something similar helps you create a better connection with another person.
I can imagine how:
recognizing someone else’s problem as a situation that has happened to you causes tranquility in the other person.
One way to create better empathy with your customers is to use the product or service as they do. Depending on the information they share or the comments that come to your company, try to use what you sell as they have done in their case. That helps you take a new angle on the information received by someone who does not work in your company. Sure, you know all about it, but someone outside is facing your purchase for the first time, so it’s worth trying to experience it. It will make it easier for you to find that connection that allows you to identify with the situation (good or bad) of the people you serve.
Please do not waste your tools and carry out short surveys in case you do not have much feedback on them. Focus on critical questions and feed a database that will show you the most common problems, the main reasons why people choose your offer, and the general level of satisfaction. It brings us to the next point.
Interrogation techniques
Use a variety of question types to get accurate and valuable information. First, make a list and then organize it depending on the situation, for example: to close a sale, solve a problem, or receive a client.
The types of questions are:
Closed questions: the possible answers to know whether to execute a specific action are with a “yes” or a “no,” and these are obtained with closed questions such as “Do you want us to start this implementation?”
Open questions: these are questions that allow you to expose or explain an issue and obtain greater clarity and understanding between the participants in a conversation. Use questions like “Which solution do you think is better?”
Leading Questions: When you want to bring the conversation to an end, ask questions to guide the customer there, such as “Would you mind if we discuss this aspect of the offer?”
Clarification questions: these questions aim to achieve standard definitions, and they serve so that the conversation’s participants understand all the points to be discussed. An example is “What is your question about this software feature?”
Approval questions: they are oriented to offer practical solutions. With these questions, you obtain the causes or consequences that affected the customer’s purchase and help you provide the best option. Such a question might be, “Do you prefer this alternative?”
You can improve customer service with quality care daily to keep you satisfied. At the same time, you will enjoy outstanding growth, even more so if you use specialized tools.
Doing so gives you access to strategies that allow you to track your interactions with customers more efficiently. For example, with HubSpot’s Service Hub, you can connect all your involved teams (marketing, sales, customer service) so they know the information you share with your prospects and customers before, during, and after a sale.
It helps you identify which stages can be automated (sending tickets or shipping guides, confirmation of purchase or delivery, for example) to streamline communication and, of course, the service you provide.
You will see that with these tips, you will now be able to execute the processes that revolve around the client with greater efficiency, and you will teach your work team how to manage relations with the public.