Customer Service
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Customer service skills are one’s ability to serve his customers by delivering products and services such that a relationship of trust as well as loyalty is created with them beyond that immediate interaction.
Basically, customer service skills refer to the ability to understand the customers, including their needs and wants, and use their thorough knowledge of the company’s/store’s inventory to meet or even exceed the customers’ expectations.
For mastering these skills it is important to realize that, in its true essence, the entire transaction cycle is about helping people find whatever it is that they want. The smoother and convenient one makes this entire process, the better are his customer service skills.
Why is customer service important
Good customer service skills are critical to the success of entire marketing process, which includes determining the kind of customers a company wishes to attract, the image that their brand will portray, and finally the part where customer service has the ‘make or break’ power i.e. how the benefits of their products/services will be communicated to the potential customers.
If one is able to satisfy or delight the customers and make them loyal to the brand through his good customer service skills, he is most likely to earn himself a prestigious position at the organization because those customers will not only return themselves but also, are likely to become voluntary ambassadors for the company and bring in more customers.
All the hard work employed in marketing activities can, however, be undone with bad customer service because dissatisfied and disappointed customers, through word-of-mouth, can have an extremely negative impact on the sales of a business.
How to improve customer service skills
It is not possible for any business to exist without having reasonable sales, and those sales in turn are not possible without having good customer service skills. Working upon the following areas is likely to improve your customer service skills:
- Show professionalism. For customers to believe in what you say and build the relationship of trust with you, it is important for you to make a good impression with them. Knowing that you are representing your company to them, you must be able to project a professional image in the ways you act as well as the way you dress. While demonstrating a keen knowledge of the company’s products/services, you must be able to handle the issues and questions of the customers in a friendly and courteous manner.
- Communicate efficiently. Ensure that the customer service representative speaks distinctly and in the language that your customers understand. Also, he should have excellent listening skills so that he can understand the needs of the customers well before attempting to address them.
- Work upon your problem-solving abilities. The better your problem solving skills, the greater will be the chances of having satisfied customers. all customer service representatives should have a thorough knowledge of the available products and services because they don’t always get the chance to refer their questions to others.