Mary Portas and Michel Roux Jnr. have recently graced our screens extolling the virtues of good customer service and aiming to put paid to the perception that British customer service has more in common with the fictional antics of Basil Fawlty than the Maitre’d of Claridges. In a market saturated by consumer choice, building and maintaining a good customer service culture in your business is more important than ever. With the advent of social media and the fact that consumers now have an enormous, open forum to discuss your services it is vital that you not only offer an exceptional product but that your customers have an all-round positive experience when dealing with your company. The convenience enjoyed from shopping online adds further challenges to purely customer-facing organisations. At Expolink we believe that despite the advantages that e-commerce offers you cannot underestimate the power and value of a face-to-face conversation. Having someone actively listen and proactively meet your service requirements creates loyalty, builds brand profile and gives you a competitive edge in an increasingly over saturated market.
We live in a culture where, traditionally, the customer is always right. While this does not necessarily sit well with a profitable business strategy, there are many ways to positively manage your customer relationships without giving away your valuable profits or upsetting the apple cart. Being put unnecessarily on hold, false promises, lack of compensation, not meeting SLA’s, not recognising errors and apologising for them are all grievance trends noted in 2010 by thisismoney.co.uk. But what can be done about it?
Good customer service is achieved by choosing and nurturing a team of long-term staff who are knowledgeable, empathetic, proactive and enthusiastic about promoting your services. Management should empower their employees, building on their strengths and encouraging them to take pride in their work and the company they represent. If contentious issues arise, staff must be patient, reasonable and eager to resolve the customer’s problem. Each customer should be treated as a new opportunity to build the business whether their call is of a positive or negative nature.
At Expolink we are confident about the great service we offer our clients – acting as a seamless extension of their business, we bring expertise to every call we take and strive never to lose a customer. We coach and appraise our staff, allow them to think on their feet, use their initiative and listen closely to callers’ needs. Staff are trained for specific campaigns and allocated to particular skill groups to ensure that they have the greatest possible understanding of your business. Performance management and quality targets ensure that our colleagues have a genuine knowledge of your call handling needs. We never lose sight of the fact that your success is our success. Find out more about Expolink’s contact centre services.
