Introduction to Client Servicing Skills
Customer Servicing or Client Servicing Skills is a very vital part of the service industry. You treat your customers right; you will attain great success in this industry. In fact, your company’s motive should be easy customer service. Companies spend too much on customer loyalty research; however, they forget the basic training they should be giving their customer service executive in order to make customer service easy for them. With the simple formula of giving your customers value and alleviate, you reduce your chances of losing your customers to your competitors.
Definition of Client Servicing Skills
Client Servicing Skills are the techniques and practices to cater to the customer’s needs. The value of good customer service is known by companies that have a very high customer retention rate and shallow customer loyalty. It is essential to create a good working rapport with each and every customer who walks into your premises for your services.
There are many customer service programs and courses available as they guide you in excelling across the industry. However customer service is not the perfect science, it does not have formulas, or there are no specific formulas to keep a consumer happy. Making a happy customer completely depends on how the client service executive handles the same. It is all about getting the basics correct.
Every consumer likes the service offered to them to be simple and clear. Make sure the following of the basic service belief is followed.
Basic Beliefs of Client Servicing Skills
- Trust your customer as a pathway to your career growth, and do not miss trust your customer to be your enemy. Even handling the most irate and irritating customer is a way of growing as a client servicing skills for the executive.
- Understand basic customer expectations as the customer pays a sum from your products and services; hence they expect you to address their needs. They want you to give them value, positive memories of your service, easiness, and gratitude in return for their customer loyalty.
- Remember one thing you need to make customer service easy or servicing your clients easy and not difficult when customers find complexity in service and products they are not interested in spending their time and money on. Hence considering customer service difficult is better than considering its high status. For a few businesses, complexity makes their brand look very valuable; however, some very fine hotels make customer service very easy.
- Easy customer service has a very minimum cost, and it brings you much more than the cost spent.
- Earning customer loyalty is only going to work if you make servicing easy and understandable for the customer.
Top 10 Essential Tips
Client Servicing Skills is an art, and not everyone has the knack of being patient enough to handle irate and especially wrong customers. Let me also tell you that the knack also comes with great and immense experience as it needs a lot of practice and tact to handle irate and difficult customers. Every individual’s nature is different; hence, one simple law cannot apply to all; however, the basis of customer servicing is practically the same applies to almost all customers, even irate ones.
Remember one law before you enter the service industry that the customer is not angry with you personally; he is upset with the company and the company’s services. So do not take any of the irate customer’s anger too personally. Let’s look at a few tips to help you better serve your customers and excel in client servicing skills.
1. Keep your attitude correct.
The first step of client servicing roles and responsibilities is keeping your attitude right with the motive of sending back a happy customer. A nice pleasant face with a smile and a positive attitude is just the right way to greet a customer who walks in or calls you. Yes, your smile and tone also can make the person over the phone feel comfortable. So the 1st step here is greeting the customer correctly. 2nd July is friendly with your clients as they will be comfortable enough to tell you or talk to you about their issues. Most importantly, you need to make sure you are attentive and make sure that your consumer knows you are attentive to his problems. Only if you are attentive enough you can help the customers with a solution. Being attentive is absorbing all the information the client gives you about himself and his issues.
2. Listen carefully and reciprocate on time by being proactive.
Not all of us are good listeners. Good listening is letting the other person finish talking before you start talking. You have to make sure you practice this skill as active and good listening is definitely not an easy job. And if you are not a good listener, you might end up annoying your customers. As you listen, make sure you reciprocate between intervals so that the speaker feels he is being listened to. Also, be proactive in solving customer issues. For solving customer issues, be it service or products related issues, you need first to have complete product knowledge of everything that the organization is selling. Only then will you be able to help the consumer with solutions. In case the resolution is taking a while, putting in an effort of informing the customer about the delay and let him know you are working on the issue, and you will let the customer know about the resolution or the status soon. Keeping the customer informed is equally important as you would not want to annoy an irate customer even more.
3. Don’t overload the customer with your shift end.
Oh, you are done with your shift, you need to rush back yes, that’s true; however you are liable to the organization as you have to protect its reputation, you wouldn’t want to spoil the same by giving an incomplete resolution or incorrect resolution to the customer who has just come in. And the customer has come in on time; it is not his fault. You wouldn’t want to spoil a loyal customer as he has come to you seeking information or resolving his problems. Do not, in fact, never let consumers know or feel that your shift is over and you need to go back. Remember, customer interaction with you is his interaction with the organization. You would not want this to affect the organization or the customer. And keep the smile on as you are still in the office and in front of the customer; you do not want to spoil his experience.
4. Keep the service easy, transparent and courteous to the customers.
You do not have to complicate anything for the customer; not all customers of yours will understand your business terminology; try to keep your language simple and understandable for your consumers as you do not want to complicate your irate customer anymore. Make sure you explain the policy and procedure of your goods and services to the consumer in advance to know how long it will take to resolve their issue. Let them know about the timelines, and make sure you keep in touch with the customer and update them about their case’s status. Be courteous to the customer and make sure you do not ask them to calm down or relax as this can irate them even more. Explain to the customer that you understand and assure them that you will take care of the issue at your end.
5. Make sure you honor your customer.
Start with honoring your customers to choose your company’s products and services. Have the customer not chosen your company; you would have been sitting where you are. Most importantly, honor your customer’s privacy. Every customer has a privacy line that they would want you to respect and maintain. Please do not cross the lines also; make sure that you are caring and soft enough to keep it between you and the customer. Every individual has their set view and knowledge about the client servicing roles and responsibilities that they receive and expect, honor their views and knowledge.
6. Don’t make the customer repeat themselves from table to table.
Repeating the same statement over and over is extremely irritating. If you have to have an irate customer do the same, he will definitely get more irate, and you might also lose the customer. Ensure the customer that you are taking care of the situation and give him a clear picture of the status. Avoid using jargon as it will only make it difficult for the customer to understand you better. This can also lead to miss understanding making the customer even more irate. When you work in an organization, make sure you work as a team. Don’t make the customer travel to different desks for any reason. Instead of telling the customer that it is not your job, you can simply do the same for the customer or direct the customer to the concerned person personally. This will display a sense of responsibility and ownership.
7. Let the customer talk it out.
Your customers might have several questions about the existing business they have with you or regarding an issue they have been facing; they might also have questions about giving you more business. So let the customer question and make sure you answer their questions patiently. Have customer feedback forms handy, and make sure that you collect feedback on the service you and the organization provide. Let the feedback come and take it positively. Positive feedback is definitely motivation; however, negative feedback is not bad; it only means you need to do better. Hence it would help if you learned how to take negative feedback positively.
8. Give resolution before it turns into a complaint.
Usually, exceptional customer service is giving a resolution to the problems for the first time or within the given timeline. To make sure that you give quick and apt client servicing roles and responsibilities, you need to be very good with your products and product knowledge. And in case you are not good to take the help of the concerned department or a senior to make sure that the customer does not suffer. In case there is a delay in getting the resolution, make sure you keep the customer updated as this will avoid the customer from getting upset with the services. People whom you hire should really be interested in giving client service roles and responsibilities.
9. Make the customer feel wanted and important.
Even your smallest customer is your customer, as he is paying for your products and services. Do not make the customer feel unwanted or small. Make him feel that his business matters to you, that the customer individually matters. Making the customer feel special will make him come back to you, he will feel valued, and everyone likes to feel valued, even you and me. And, of course, gratitude is loved by every individual.
10. Cash on the most basic human need
Every human being loves to be treated right and with love and respect. Only if you make sure you give your customers love and respect will they maintain their customer loyalty. Your customers will get products and experience the client servicing skills anywhere they go; however, they will stick to the organization that values them their money and treats them with love.
It makes Client Servicing interesting for the customers and only if you think it interests you. Appreciate the client and the value it adds to your company simply by appreciating their trust in you as they spend their time and money on the products offered by your company.
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