10 Must-have Skills for Being Awesome at Customer ServiceJUNE 6, 2014BYMARY SHULZHENKO12 COMMENTS

Top 10 Customer Service SkillsIt takes time, training, practice and dedication to become a rockstar in customer service. But it doesnt have to be that hard when you know where exactly to focus your efforts on. Heres the list of 10 most-needed skills that matter and that everyone involved in customer service should master and use in their daily interactions with customers.# 1 Effective ListeningListening is the key to effective communication. Without the ability to listen carefully to what a customer is saying, a message could be easily misunderstood and misinterpreted. As a result, communication breaks down leaving a customer frustrated. Listening isnt just about hearing. A good listener will not only listen to what is being said, but also what is left unsaid or partially said. Luckily, if yourlistening skillsare weak, there are certain techniques for improving them.# 2 AttentivenessAttentiveness should run through every customer service experience during the interaction and after its over. How often have you contacted customer service and been subjected to obviously scripted responses? Didnt it give you the feeling that a customer service rep didnt really pay attention to what you were saying and didnt care about your problem? Theres nothing wrong with using canned responses, as long as they are personalized, used wisely and appropriately to the situation. Thats why attentiveness is crucial.# 3 PatienceWe all perfectly know it, customer service might be a stressful and challenging job when we have to deal with confused, frustrated andangry customers. In such situations patience is a real virtue and the way you respond to those customers will either calm them down or hype them up. The good news is that learning to be always patient with customers is as easy as learning to separate your feelings from the situation and understand that in most cases a customer is upset with something that has nothing to do with you personally.# 4 Self-controlMaintaining self-control is paramount in customer service. Apart from the the ability to handle surprises and deal with angry customers without losing your cool, it also goes to treating each customer interaction separately regardless of how bad the previous one was. You just need to always keep in mind that each new customer presents a completely new issue and that the frustrated customer from the previous call bears no relation to the next customer waiting to be taken care of.# 5 Clear communication skillsIf you are not a great communicator, you will probably not go far in customer service. An ability to communicate clearly and effectively verbally (no mumbling) and written (strong typing, spelling and grammar skills) is essential. It also involves avoiding miscommunications that might lead to misunderstandings and unwanted consequences. Especially when it comes to important points, you need to communicate things clearly, simply and leave nothing to doubt.# 6 Ability to use positive languageThe way you express yourself will affect whether your message is perceived positively or negatively. That is especially the case in Live Chats. When talking to your customers face-to-face or over the phone, body language, face expressions and tone of voice convey far more than the meaning of the words, while inLive Chat conversationswords are all you have to convey the message. Thats why your ability to use positive language and avoid negative phrases will more likely leave your customers feeling satisfied.# 7 Persuasive speaking skillsBeing a persuasive speaker can dramatically improve your customer interactions. The secret of persuasive speaking is putting the verbal focus on the target of persuasion (the customer), rather than on the speaker. In practice, it means calling a customer by name, using action-oriented words, the active tense in words or phrases instead of the passive tense and avoiding prefacing statements (like I think or I believe) that express your personal thoughts or opinions. Putting your customers at the center will make them feel more respected and appreciated.# 8 Time managementAre you able to manage your working time efficiently? Effective time management includes smart planning, setting goals and priorities, minimizing interruptions, handling procrastination and delegating responsibilities. The last one should be applied in the situations when you simply cannot help a customer, whether its because you dont know how or youre not authorized to do it. Thats when the best thing you can do is to pass a customer over to someone who can help them, without wasting both of your time.# 9 Taking responsibilityWhen things go wrong, customers expect you to take responsibility for the problems or negative experiences they are having with your company, products or services. It starts first of all with being able to sincerely apologize to a customer on behalf of your company, even when a problem or a situation that caused customers frustration was not your fault at all. It also means your readiness to do whatever it takes to make sure the issue gets fixed as quickly and efficiently as possible.# 10 Willingness to improveIt might sound too general as compared to other skills on the list, but its still absolutely necessary. In customer service, theres always room for improvement and it always pays to invest in yourself. If youre not seeking to get better at what youre doing, you might end up being left behind by those willing to invest in their skills and self-improvement.Which skills do you think should be be added to the list? As always, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.

Customer Service Phrases That Make a DifferenceMAY 16, 2014BYMARY SHULZHENKO19 COMMENTS

Powerful Customer Service PhrasesWhether you talk to your customers face-to-face, over the phone or inlive support chat online, what you say and how you say it matters a lot to your business. Believe it or not, the right language is truly important in Customer Service. Certain words and phrases can either make or break the whole impression and the way a customer is left to feel after the conversation.Heres my personal list of the most powerful phrases in Customer Service that I believe can make a difference to a companys relationships with its customers:I am sorry / I apologizeIts probably the golden words of customer service that can turn even an unhappy customer into a loyal brand advocate. I had to experience lots of situations when companies that failed to deliver on the promise went into excuses straight away instead of just admitting their fault and simply apologizing. Whenever something goes wrong, even if its due to circumstances that are beyond companys control, I am sorry is the very first thing a customer wants to hear. Always. Explanations, solutions and promises to make things better next time come second.Thank you / I appreciate your businessI appreciate your business is even more powerful and a step above Thank you. Words of gratitude will make your customers feel appreciated for their loyalty to your brand. It might sound so obvious, but how often do you get thanked for being a customer, especially a loyal one? Theres never too much gratitude in customer service. Thats why we should take every opportunity to thank our customers for choosing us over the competition and for their trust. After all, there is no business without customers and no successful business without loyal customers.I will do/ I will take responsibilityWhenever people turn to customer service reps for help, they dont know if they are actually dealing with a company CEO or with a customer service agent trainee. Every singe person a customer contacts with is the face of the company in the customers eyes. Your customers dont care if you dont know how to fix their problem or if you are not authorized to do it. Its your job. They expect you to do whatever it takes to be done. If you really dont know / cant do it immediately, promise to find out how and just be that person who takes responsibility and someone a customer can rely on.YesAlthough being honest is absolutely necessary for building trust with customers, it would be better to admit that you dont know / cant do something in a positive language. Im fully confident that a plain No should be excluded from the customer service vocabulary once and for all. Being a yes-person is a much smarter strategy in customer service. Even if you really have to say No there are so many ways to say it without leaving your customer disappointed.My pleasureWhen customers say Thank you in most cases they hear Youre welcome in response. While theres definitely nothing wrong with these words, still its just a standard way to respond that doesnt actually express any meaning and emotional significance. Instead, using My pleasure would make that slight difference and let your customers feel more valuable. For a customer it would sound like I was really glad to help you which is much more pleasant than just a meaningless clich.Is there anything else I can help you with?This simple, yet powerful phrase conveys genuine care and your willingness to go the extra mile to make sure that your customer gets completely satisfied. Showing your immediate readiness to help before you even know if any other problem exists is a great way to end every customer interaction. Remind yourself regularly: a customer who leaves happy, satisfied and well-cared for is more likely to come back and spread the good word about your business far and wide.Im sure theres nothing new for customer service people in the listed phrases. Still, we sometimes let our emotions, ego or just old habits get in the way of choosing the right language when talking to our customers.Which phrases do you consider the most important in customer service? Feel free to share them in the comments below.

How to Deal with Customer Complaints EffectivelyOCTOBER 9, 2014BYMARY SHULZHENKO2 COMMENTS

How to Deal with Customer ComplaintsAll businesses, even the most successful ones, will have unsatisfied customers every once in a while. But most of unhappy customers actually never bother to complain. They simply leave and switch to competitors without even letting you know when and how your company failed to meet their expectations. On the bright side, statistics says that95% of those who complain, are ready to give you a second chance, if you manage to handle their initial complaint successfully and in a timely manner.So how to do it effectively and turn every complaint into a positive customer experience to win those customers over for life?Its all about the attitudeThe key to successfully dealing with complaints is in the right attitude towards them. As simple as that. In fact, customer complaints should be embraced and seen as unsolicited feedback which is always a valuable source of information about your business.Customers dont complain just to be rude or upset you. They do it because theyve experienced a problem with your products, services or the way your business operates, and theyre simply telling you about it. Why not use thiscustomer feedbackas an incredible opportunity for learning where your business could be improved? Heres 6 tips to keep in mind whenever you get a complaining customer.6-step strategy for handling customer complaints1. React immediatelyMake sure that everyone who complains on the phone, live chat, social media or by email gets a rapid response. Even if you cannot provide an immediate solution to their problem, you can at least let them know that their complaint is heard, taken into account and that youre going to do your best to make things right as soon possible.2. Stay professionally calmNo matter how angry or even rude the customer might be, you need to remain calm and listen without interrupting. While its the most natural reaction to get defensive when attacked, winning a confrontation is not going to help you in any way. Let them speak and express their frustration without taking it personally and losing your cool.3. Get the facts and detailsAfter letting them talk, take the lead and start asking questions to get as many details as needed to really understand the situation and the problem. It is important, though, that you avoid sounding too scripted and drop the formalities. Use this opportunity to start a genuine conversation and build a trusting relationship with a customer.4. Acknowledge the problemIf your company really made a mistake, admit it, acknowledge the problem and take responsibility for helping a customer to solve it. I believe that it also makes a perfect sense to apologize. Saying sorry doesnt necessarily mean that you are personally taking the blame. Its more about showing compassion and understanding of their feelings and frustration with the situation.5. Offer a helpful solutionNow that you know all the facts and a real problem behind a customers complaint, its time to offer a helpful solution. If you cant do that, pass the issue over to someone who can. If you are able to get things right quickly and effectively without letting them wait for ages, youll get a happy and, most probably, a loyal customer.6. Thank the customerNo matter how unpleasant the situation was, whencustomers complain(even if they do it in a less-than-desirable way), you still need to be thankful in the end. Once the solution is provided, thank the customer for bringing the complaint to your attention and giving your business an opportunity to improve. That is also how you let them feel important and valuable.Minimize the reasons for complaintsKnowing how and being able to resolve customer complaints successfully is no doubt essential to your business success. But whats even more important is whether you learn from those situations and how you use that knowledge to minimize customer complaints in future. In other words, just do whatever needs to be done improve your product, fix the process, train stuff or whatever it is. On top of that, be honest with your customers about your products or services in the first place, dont give them false promises to avoid unrealistic expectations and disappointment.How do you deal with customer complaints? Feel free share your success stories below.

Most Common Mistakes in Customer ServiceMAY 5, 2014BYOLGA5 COMMENTS

Customer Service MistakesToday our customers expect agile customer service and according toForrester researchcompanies should be ready to provide customer support when and where customers want it, ensure customer service experience is consistent across all touchpoints and develop cross-touchpoint strategies to ensure customers can move seamlessly between devices and channels. Such approach requires not only proper training and tools, but also committed customer support team with highest priority to excellent and superior customer service. To start offering such type of service it is necessary to train CSRs to assist in different channels, offer professional support across all touchpoints and avoid most common mistakes. In this article I highlighted most common mistakes which may mislead and scare our customers away across various customer support channels.Social Customer Service MistakesMistake #1:Social media is part of our life, anyone can assist customers on social media.Its a common mistake to think this is easy. Its not like interacting with friends, no company should reach out to customers like this. Your customers do not want witty jokes or a simple reply from you showing your human side. All they need is excellent customer service.Mistake #2:There cannot be any human touch on social media channelsWhen we assist by phone in most cases we do not know who is calling. However, on social media we already see basic information about our customers and this lets us create personalized interactions. Without the human touch to customer interaction you will not be able to connect with customers in a meaningful way.Mistake #3:With introducing social media customer service we will not need other support channelsCustomers should be treated in the same consistent and personalized manner across all channels. In some cases it may be necessary to switch to another channel to offer further assistance.Mistake #4:On social media we speak socialCSRs represent a brand and this should be done professionally that is why each word and each phrase should be weighed carefully avoiding most part of abbreviations and acronyms.Live Chat MistakesMistake #1:I can make my live chat button showing online all the timeDo not mislead your customers. If you do not offer 24/7 support through live chat you can either display offline live chat icon and let your visitors leave messages or simply hide and do not display your offline live chat button at all. Otherwise, your customers will be confused and may have doubts whether your company is real.Mistake #2:Proactive chat invitations what a great featureYes, its a great opportunity to offer proactive customer service and win more leads. However, this feature should be usedwisely. Unexpected and annoying pop ups may scare your customers away and make them opt for competitors.Mistake #3:Live Chat allows multitasking I can do lots of things while chattingYou can handle several customers concurrently or assist customers via other channels forums, emails, etc. However, do not forget about quality and your customers. Find the right balance when you can multitask and offer exceptional customer support service at the same time.Mistake #4:I can enhance my live chat response time with help of canned responsesThats a good feature but do not misuse it as this may lead to losing human touch and sending impersonal messages.Mistake #5:There is no live chat etiquetteWrong live chat etiquetteexists and it is very important to spell all words correctly, not to forget about proper greeting and ending as well as the right order of giving information.Phone Support MistakesMistake #1:I can use voice menu to tell about my company offerYou can inform those who contact you by phone about your offers, promotions and discounts. But be brief and let your customers connect to CSRs without wasting their valuable timeMistake #2:My customers normally do not have complicated questions. My agents can transfer them to me if necessary.When your customers call your company, they expect a service representative to be the first or second person to whom they speak. People do not like being passed from one agent to another on the phone. Transferring your customer to another representative is the same as losing this customer. Train your agents to handle all kinds of calls.Mistake #3:No human connection is neededIf you are not in an eye contact with a person on the other side, this does not mean there is no place for human touch.Mistake #4:The faster I speak the faster I will finish with a customerWhen you hear a customer repeatedly asking your staff member to repeat himself, this is a sign hes speaking too fast. The reason your customer is asking for the information again is not because this person is dumb, in some cases its just hard to understand specific details at once.Email Support MistakesMistake #1:Emails are a formal way of communication, we need to follow strict rules of business correspondence.Definitely, but do not forget about human touch and personal approach. The connotation really matters especially in sensitive complaint-oriented situations. Consider making your emails more personal and this will win you more loyal customers than you have expected.Mistake #2:Customers do not expect immediate email responseIts a common misconception. The faster you respond the higher satisfaction from your customers you get in return. Your customers will be grateful if you address their issue fast and efficiently.There are more typical for all these channels mistakes which may occur during our customer support workflow. How to avoid this? The answer will depend on many factors company policy, level of customer support team training, etc. First of all you need to analyze what kind of mistakes are committed in your team and then take actions to resolve them. Do you know more typical mistakes? Share them with our readers.

How to Improve First Contact Resolution (FCR) across Various Customer Support ChannelsSEPTEMBER 22, 2014BYJULIA LEWIS1 COMMENT

How to improve first contact resolutionFirst contact resolution (FCR) is a measure of efficiency and effectiveness of your customer support team efforts. Among all success metrics it is considered one of the most important key performance criteria providing you an overall measure of how well your operators, teams and call centers are performing. By focusing on improving FCR, you will increase the quality of interactions within your team, reduce costs and increase customer satisfaction.So how to improve on this critical performance metric?According to astudyby The Ascent Group, improvement in FCR is most closely tied to process improvement and streamlining, improved awareness and communication of FCR results, and root cause analysis. In this articleId like to share some simple tips on how to increase your support team FCR. Today customer service representatives mostly handle communication through three main channels (email, phone and Live Chat). As different communication channels have different patterns of behavior, I would suggest a few areas to focus on for each of them.Email Support1. Respond TimelyThe challenge faced by support agents when handling email requests is all about need for more information. As a rule, information provided in initial customer email is not enough to resolve the issue through a single email message, so in most cases they have to get back to customers with request for additional details like account name, order number, etc. Nonetheless, if support representatives manage to respond timely to get the information missing and close the thread within less than an hour, without customer having to wait long or switch to other channels, it can be considered as a successful interaction.2. Be HumanGone are the days when long winded sentences containing extraneous information and irrelevant facts were perceived as great respect and admiration. Todays main email etiquette rule is use as few words as possible. In order to make sure you do not sound as a voice of impersonal technology, get rid of cliches or officialese. The less information the customer has to look through the better.3. Give Full and Complete Response. And Keep It SimpleNot sure what kind of problem the customer encountered? Why not anticipate most probable causes of the issue and suggest solutions for them? For instance, if a customer states in her message that she could not access her account, the support representative can assume that the customer either does not remember her password, or forgot the account name, or no longer has access to the email associated with the account. So the response to the initial email should include step-by-step instructions on what to do in each case.Remember that you still have to keep it short and simple, today people are far less likely to read your email messages if theyre too long or complicated. So I recommend that you use links to videos or how-tos articles on your website to refer the customer to more details on each possible option.Phone Support1. How You Say It Is VitalPhone conversation lacks wealth of body language and eye contact that you get face to face. You need to make up for this by verbally recognizing what a customer is saying. In fact, according to aHarvard study24% of repeated calls is related to emotional disconnects between operators and customers situations in which, for instance, the customer didnt trust the reps information or didnt like the answer given and had the impression that the rep was just hiding behind general company policy. So, just by paying more attention to the customers communication style, you can react in a way that will not only resonate better with the customer, but will also minimize the number of repeat calls by the customer.2. Tell Them What You Are DoingThe customer cant see you, so make sure to fill them in on what youre doing to help them. Dont make them wait sitting in silence or listening to a bunch of keys rattle off and wonder whether they have been forgotten. Be sure to tell your customer what exactly youre doing so they know youre making progress towards a solution. If you take this extra step, your caller will appreciate your effort and will be more patient while you work.3. Ask The CustomerOne of the best ways to improve FCR is to have the representatives ask Have I resolved your issue today? or Do you agree that your issue is now closed? This lets the customer say if they arent happy with the representatives service. And this way the rep has an opportunity to suggest an alternative solution, or a work-around before closing the call.Live Chat Support1. Use Information EffectivelyIn most cases when a website visitor calls your Live Chat you have them on your website. So you can easily use thereal-time monitoring featureto analyze the customers profile as soon as they jump into a chat and find out almost everything about them in a seconds glance the location, browser type, operating system, membership details, etc. It gives you a much broader understanding of the customer and the right angle to look at their problem. With all this additional information at hand you will often know the exact cause of the problem and a solution to it before the customer gives you any details.2. Use Helpful Live Chat FeaturesIn case there are any security warnings or compatibility issues that result in incorrect display of your website pages on visitors end, in Live Chat you can always ask the visitor to take a snapshot of what they can see and share it with you through the file-transfer feature. There are a bunch of other features to help your customers effectively in case of any problem or confusion, such as co-browser which allows the agent to peek at the page the customer is browsing to understand the issue and help to address it faster; or page push which saves a lot of time on explanations and can considerably decrease the problem resolution time.3. Empower Your TeamWhat a customer really wants is to be talking to the person who can solve their problem in the first place. Nobody likes to be put on hold, or have to wait for a call-back or e-mail update. Giving your reps the power to make their own decisions will make your customers far more satisfied. But how would you go if your reps still lack some knowledge, access or authority?With Live Chat you get two indispensable options to invite other members of your support team to join chat conversation and, when needed, chat with your colleagues internally while being on chat with a customer. In the first case, the conversation is simply being continued with no need for the customer to go through the whole story again. In the second, the customer might not even notice that you get in touch with someone else for advice or help. These two features work wonders in terms of improving FCR and avoiding escalation or repeat calls.Would any of the above tips help you support your customers more effectively? I hope youve discovered something new and learned how to better serve your customers. If you have anything to add, I would be glad to hear from you, so please share your experience through the comments section.

Top 3 Customer Service Fails or Why Large Corporations Provide Poor Customer ServiceSEPTEMBER 10, 2014BYOLGALEAVE A COMMENT

Customer Service FailsCustomer service is the face of any company today. There is nothing more frustrating for consumers than poor customer service, especially if it is delivered by a large and known brand. Unfortunately not all businesses realize that customer service is more important today than they think and it definitely plays a very significant role in this world of constant competition. But still there is a question unanswered why do consumers stand this and do not seek for an alternative?Comcast Customer Service Call MayhemThiscall recordis fresh on our minds and shows how little attention is paid to customer service quality in this company. A customer support agent insisted on taking the customer who was canceling Comcast service through a circular argument to find out the reason why he was canceling.But this is not the only problem customers face while interacting with cable TV, Internet and phone service providers. Shep Hyken, a customer satisfaction expert, explained that these companies are often unclear about their service charges. Customers get shocked when they get their bill, Hyken said.Companies like Comcast are too big and are focused on upselling instead of providing proper training to their CSR and monitoring their progress. Why do they still have customers? Just because they are big enough and feel they can get away with poor customer service. But this is not forever.Bank of Americas Epic Twitter FailForbes ranks Bank of America as the 13th biggest company in the world. However, it is famous for its poor customer service. Thisarticle by Digidaydescribes a curious situation which exposed the unpleasant truth that the banks Twitter feed was run by a bot that responded to all tweets where the bank was mentioned.In todays era of social media failing to deliver customer support through social media channels can bring too much unrecoverable harm to the brand as word of mouth is one of the most powerful sources of spreading information.Its a Real Challenge to Keep Everyone Happy When You are That LargeWal-Mart is the biggest retail in the U.S. But almost all Americans have faced its poor customer service, rude shop assistants and aggressive prices matching policy.Business Insider describes a situation about a man who found out that the store wouldnt match the prices listed on its own website and went through a long process of getting a product with a lower price listed online. There is nothing more frustrating for a customer to find out such a price difference. In addition to thisconsumeraffairs.com has thousands of complaints filed against this retailer.Wal-Mart has been the lowest-rated department or discount store in the nation every year between 2007 through 2012. Worse, it has been the lowest-rated supermarket every year since 2005. Negative experience leaves a bad taste in customers mouths for a long time and as long as they have any alternative they will avoid Wal-Mart.Why do Large Companies Fail to Provide Competitive Customer Service?Customers have become very Internet savvy and use various communication channels for getting in touch with retailers and service providers. While small businesses are very flexible and adopt new technologies very fast, large businesses remain slow and do not hurry to integrate new communication channels. Its quite easy to get in touch with a small retailer, by contacting inlive chat, messaging in Twitter or just making a phone call, while in large companies you will have to wait or listen to voice menu. In fact, there are hundreds of reasons why consumers face poor customer service today. Let me just name a few which I consider the most important: Low salaries and lack of employees Lack of incentive No clear pricing policy Bad or lack of customer service management and supervision Limited competition No personalized customer service Leaders arent focused on serving customers No proper training Lack of proper communication toolsThese three brands are not the only large businesses which fail to deliver good customer service. There areother companies which still think they can get away with poor customer service and continue their policy of ignoring customer service quality. You are welcome to share your experience in our blog or add more facts why large brands provide poor customer service.5 Ways to Improve Customer Service at Your Small BusinessAUGUST 27, 2014BYJULIA LEWIS5 COMMENTS

Improve Customer Service at Your Small BusinessRunning a small business is no small task. Whatever industry youre in, one of the most important questions is how can you make your product or service stand out among the competition? Needless to say that trying to compete with the big-box stores and large corporations in terms of pricing is fighting a losing battle. The good news is that you still can differentiate yourself from larger competitors by embracing the benefits of a small business.Be something bigger than the product or service you sellOne of the few ways small businesses can outshine the competitors is focusing on delivering excellent customer service. Indeed, your attitude towards your customers defines everything.You can leverage your personal relationships and human touch to make your customers feel special. If you manage to put customer service at the heart of your strategy and show that your company really cares, you will build genuine long-lasting relationship with your customers. It is positive customer experience that sets you apart from the almost identical outlet down the road, and its vital for small businesses. If you do it right, it can provide your business with a competitive edge and help you survive in the tough economic climate we live in.In this article Id like to share a few tips on how you can improve customer service and efficiently manage your small business. By focusing on these five areas, your small business can deliver exceptional customer experience. Do it right and your efforts will be rewarded with credible reputation, increased customer retention, and word-of-mouth referrals which will bring along the long-term success of your business.1. Know your customers and their needsYou cant help your customer if you dont know what they want. As Micah Solomon, a customer service expert and author ofHigh-tech high-touch customer serviceputs it in his book, customers need and desire change all the time. The most important changes are individual, and learning to treat your customers as individuals, not slices of market, honoring individual preferences unique to every customer, is a key to success.A benefit of small business is the ability to adapt quickly to meet those individual customers needs and preferences. In other words, its easier for small businesses to understand what their customers really want and use this knowledge to enhance the customer focus of their products and services. By learning who your customers are, you will be able to deliver tailored products and services that work for them.According to Jack Mitchell, the author of Hug Your Customers, selling has shifted from transactions to relationships. It has moved from a May I help you? transaction to Is the new outfit for business or a special occasion?. In staying as close as possible to the customer and focusing on their specific, personal needs you can proactively initiate the sale, anticipate what will work for them and create personalized experiences that really matter.2. Respect their time and youll find they respect you in return! In todays hectic world no one seems to have enough time in the day to do everything on their list. And your customers time is just as valuable as your own. Dont waste it by making your customers endlessly look for information or contact details they need, or wait on hold/in queues when they have a quick question. Make it easy for your customers to reach out to you and be sure to remove any barriers.Find out what communication channels your customers prefer to use and equip your customer support to handle interactions quickly and efficiently. It is important to invest time and effort into keeping up with the ever-changing world of social media and new technology. You need to do more than simply put your phone number orLive Chaton your website. Whatever communication channels you choose as a part of your customer support, make sure they are attended.When your customers call you, they should reach a live person. If they choose online communication channel, they deserve a quick response. In the new internet era, customer expectations regarding response time shifted from days to just hours or minutes. Your customer service needs to match that.3. Keep your promisesThe most important thing to a customer is: Did you do what you promised? Keeping your word is more than all the empathy, smiles, and chocolates on your pillow in the world, state Carl Sewell and Paul B. Brown in Customers for Life. Doing what youre supposed to do and when youre supposed to do is the simplest way of providing great customer service. No more, no less. Deliver on time, or even earlier. Respond when you say you will. Be fair about prices, additional fees and extra charges. Establish clear return and refund policies. Provide the services you say you provide in your correspondence and in your marketing. Think before you give any promise because nothing destroys trust faster than broken promises.4. Build an effective problem-resolution processWhat would you do if anything goes wrong? In Customers for life they put it simple: First we apologize. Then we fix the problem. Immediately. These are two simple keys to handling any complaint. Make sure you sincerely regret making the mistake no matter who or what caused the problem, and then resolve it quickly. A sincere apology is extremely effective in handling negative situations because everyone makes mistakes, everyone drops the ball. What makes you different is your ability to acknowledge your mistakes, show your customers that you are concerned as much as they are, learn from the incident and correct when it happens.Secondly, take action as soon as possible. Your ability to restore customer confidence and earn their satisfaction in such situations is crucial. Wrong things can happen. But if a problem is successfully resolved, customers sense of trust will increase, so any breakdown is an opportunity to get closer to your customer, show their importance to your company and make your service even better. Micah Solomon and Leonardo Inghillery in Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit stress the importance of the next three steps following your apology: going over the complaint with your customer, fixing the problem and making sure you follow up on the issue shortly, and documenting the problem in detail to prevent it from happening again5. Dont be afraid to ask for feedbackMake sure you listen to your customers. They are the people who want your company to perform better, and more often than not, they do have insightful ideas on how to improve your business. Follow up on every complaint, let your consumers share their opinion about their experience with you, keep open to any kind of suggestions or feedback they might have. Most of customers respond positively to an opportunity to help you improve your operations, and by acknowledging the importance of their opinion you bring along the spirit of close collaboration which is extremely important for building long-lasting successful relationships.We at Provide Support get feedback about customer support service quality and efficiency through running short customer surveys after each Live Chat session. If you would like to find out more on this feature youre welcome to read our blog article onpost-chat surveys.What would you add?We would love to hear what sets your small business apart from bigger companies in your industry and how you build on those differences. If you have some useful ideas or a great story to share, you are welcome to add it through comments. Thank you for reading.

Why Do Businesses Still Provide Terrible Customer Service?AUGUST 12, 2014BYMARY SHULZHENKO20 COMMENTS

Why Businesses Still Provide Terrible Customer ServiceAs most business owners already know, its all too easy to lose valuable customers in todays competitive, accelerated, consumer-powered marketplace. And providing terrible customer service is one of the fastest ways to make it happen. So why do we still see so many examples of companies offering awful customer service? There might be 6 major reasons for that:Failing to realize the cost of bad customer serviceSome businesses simply fail to realize and acknowledge the importance of customer service and, particularly, the financial impact of poor customer service on their organizations. Heres some curious statistics to get you rethinking your customer service strategy: 89% of consumers have stopped doing business with a company after experiencing poor customer service (RightNow Customer Experience Impact Report). 86% of buyers will pay more for a better customer experience (CEI Survey). 45% of US consumers will abandon an online transaction if their questions or concerns are not addressed quickly (Forrester research).Not building a customer centric cultureWhat does it really mean to becustomer centric? Customer centricity actually goes further beyond just offering outstanding customer service. Customer centric strategy is based on putting your customers first, at the core of your business. Its about measuring what matters to your customers, designing processes and policies from the customers point of view, engaging with customers from the get go and being committed to customer success. Ultimately, building a customer-centric culture is a forward-looking and profitable strategy for any business.Not having a dedicated customer service teamWhos responsible for customer service at your business? Do they have enough time for customer support in their daily workflow? Do they possess the needed skills for providing a really great customer service? Are they equipped with the righttoolsto serve your customers effectively? No matter how small or big your business, having a customer service team totally dedicated to supporting your customers (and trained to do it right) is a must-have aspect of any successful business.Hiring the wrong employeesWhen it comes to customer service, in most cases its the people who make all the difference. Are you sure youre hiring the right people to do the customer service job? Its not only about having the needed skill-set, being a great listener and an effective communicator. Its more about having passion for this kind of job and really enjoy doing it. Some people are just not cut out for customer service work, and hiring them for customer service positions might just do more harm than good for your business.Not empowering your customer service frontlineCustomer service is more than answering simple questions about your products or services. When dealing with complicated issues andcomplaining customers, your customer service agents have to be real decision makers and problem solvers. Are they empowered to take responsibility and make it right to the end when things go wrong? To ensure customer satisfaction, your customer service team needs to be authorized to make decisions on their own and act quickly, responsibly and effectively in difficult situations.Refusing to invest in customer service trainingTrue professionals in any field are lifelong learners. The same pertains to customer service which is a hard and challenging job. So no matter how good you think your customer service reps are, theres always room for improvement, and investing in it would pay off in a number of ways such as: Higher employee engagement Improved customer service skills Enhanced customer satisfaction Increased profit for your businessBottomlineCustomer service plays a crucial role in customer acquisition and retention for any business of any size in any industry. Can you really afford to keep losing your customers simply due to lousy customer service and your inability and unwillingness to keep your customers satisfied? If not, its about time for some serious changes in your customer service strategy in order to take it to the next level.Paul Hartssays:August 26, 2014 at 2:57 amThe answer to the question why so many companies / businesses provide horrible customer service is simple:because they think they can. And as a matter a fact it very often is not that easy at all to go to the competitor. Try changing your phone number or your bank account. Finally; what people say and what people do tends to differ. Sure, a high percentage will say that they are willing to pay for better customer service. But as the owner and manager of a very good (and yes, a little bit more expensive) contact center, I have experienced customers walk away for a 2 cents difference.So..as long as customers dont have the energy and wont spend the extra dime for better customer service, things are not going to change. Lets face it; people are complaining more than 30 years about bad customer service. I would really be surprised if that would change in the next 30 years.Dave Katzsays:August 30, 2014 at 12:35 pmThis entire article leaves the basic question, Why Do Businesses Still Provide Terrible Customer Service? unanswered. But towards the end, under the heading Bottom Line, it at least rephrases the question in a form that leads to the answer:Can you really afford to keep losing your customers simply due to lousy customer service and your inability and unwillingness to keep your customers satisfied?The answer to this question for most offending businesses is, unfortunately, a resounding YES!So this raises the original question again. The real issue is why to so many companies have knowledge of the negative impact of poor customer service, yet enthusiastically and knowingly continue to follow policies that drive many customers away?The answer is: MARKET FAILURE.Market failure is a term that describes failure free market forces to do their job, resulting in poor outcomes.So, what is standing in the way of free market forces doing their job here?Monopolies and oligopolies.Poor customer service is a behavior that makes bottom line sense to companies that feel their customers have no place better to go when they are disrespected, mistreated, or cheated. To companies like this, the loss in business they experience by delivering poor customer service is simply collateral damage which to them is an investment in the larger goal of extracting maximum revenue from a captive audience in a non-competitive environment.Think of it this way: If you are the only fishing boat (or one of a small select few fishing boats) that has exclusive access to prey in a fishing ground that you are able to wall off with nets so the fish cannot escape, you can be as inefficient as you want and still rake in a large catch each time you go out. It pays to be cheap. Improving your methods wont happen because you dont have to spend the money in order to make a profit. All you have to do is keep your fish from escaping to other waters.The only flaw in this thinking for monopoly or oligopoly fishermen is overfishing, which eventually reduces the fish population to zero, resulting in bankruptcy. When this happens its too late to fix it. But smart fishermen simply abandon their boats shortly before the end and move on to the next slash and burn opportunity, leaving nothing but ruins in their wake.Unfortunately there is a name for the ruins they create: the economy. What happened in 2007 can happen again. Just not exactly in the same waters. While we are supposedly watching the real estate and banking industry (and doing even that poorly) the foxes have moved on to other hen houses (or new still viable fishing waters to consume and destroy).We have to start thinking about the larger picture. Simply teaching the converted how to offer better customer service is a good thing. But the larger problem of the unconverted will require a much larger effort to make our market economy competitive again.Failure to provide good customer service often reflects the quality of employees hired and thus the hiring process. The employees should have the passion and not only the skills in customer service. The hiring process should not solely focusing on the qualifications but also capable inf identifying the said passion by implementing project or assignment type of interviews, instead of filling up stacks of checklist/forms. Credit should be given to candidates who have the initiatives in problem solving, innovation and exerting extra effort to please the customers rather than candidates with good accent or charming voices etc.Aside from that, the organization has to equip the employees with knowledge and details of the company itself, the vision and mission, the people in the company, the stakeholders, the products and services. These information should be updated frequently and disseminated to all employees.Proper tools and training are definitely critical in any customer service. The employees should be provided with the right tools for delivering, following up, monitoring and giving feedback to customer inquiries or complaints. Training should focus on i) developing new skills ii) rectifying weaknesses or continuous improvements iii) updating information iv) introducing new technology or tools.And last but not least, the organization willingness to invest in building customer centric culture through developing and branding good customer service team(s).How to Hire the Right People for Customer ServiceSEPTEMBER 4, 2014BYMARY SHULZHENKO13 COMMENTS

How to Hire the Right Customer Service PeopleDo you agree that exceptional customer service begins with the hiring process? Having the right people on board to do the customer service job is the first step towards delivering outstanding customer service at your business. Akio Morita, Sony Corp. co-founder once brilliantly said:No matter how good or successful you are, or how clever or crafty, your business and its future are in the hands of the people you hire.But how do you find the best customer service talents and, most importantly, how do you know if they are actually the right people for representing your brand and serving your customers effectively?Challenges and Hiring PainsHunting for customer service people is no simple task. Too often, the goal of a company is to simply fill a position rather than actually find the right person. Besides, sometimes the people with the right qualifications, experience and skill set do not have the right attitude and mindset to blend in with your team and match your business goals.Moreover, great service stars can be found in all business areas. If you narrow your search and focus on a specific education background, particular industry or a certain number of years of experience, you might miss out on many potentially great candidates. A resume will only show the previous experience but wont tell you anything about their personalities.Forget the Resume, Focus on the InterviewWhen you hire for customer service, interviewing people is the key to understanding who they really are. The interview should be an audition, the time for your potential candidates to open up and let their personality shine. For instance, at Four Seasons, candidates go through at least four interviews so that managers could find the most appropriate people to deliver great customer service at their organization.The Ideal Candidate for Customer Service PositionsSometimes were getting too obsessed with hiring a perfect candidate. But in fact, its nearly impossible to find an ideal candidate because: a) they are already working in other companies; b) you wont be able to identify them based only on the resume and interview. The good news is: theres no need to chase for perfection. The most important thing is to know what to look for in your potential candidates and keep that in mind during the interview while asking your questions and analyzing the answers. Heres some tips to help you along the way.Tip #1: Hire excellent communicatorsCustomer service is a people-focused job. Great customer service is all about creating personal, positive connections in daily interactions with customers. Thats why excellent communication skills are a must for customer-focused positions: effective communication creates better relationships and builds trust.Tip #2: Hire good earsIn customer service, being a great listener is the key to understanding customers needs, wants and concerns, especially when dealing with angry customers. A good listener will be able to ask the right questions and figure out the real issue behind customers frustration in order to offer the best solution.Tip #3: Hire team playersServing customers, especially in large-scale organizations, requires effective teamwork. Team players will build fast and strong rapport with all the team members and will be comfortable working in a collaborative environment with colleagues, management and even customers.Tip #4: Hire the leadersLeaders are not only great examples for other team members to follow, they are also excellent problem solvers, responsibility takers and decision makers. Leadership skills are critical in complicated situations when a customer expects someone to take the wheel and offer them a quick and efficient solution.Tip #5: Hire the right mindsetTo effectively serve your customers, a person needs to have a mindset of service, which is not only being always ready to serve others but rather a willingness to go the extra mile for creating a truly positive and memorable customer experiences and making customers happy.Hire for Attitude, Train for SkillsCustomer service people are the face of your brand, and they can actually make or break your company reputation. Once found and hired, you need to put enough effort into regular trainings to make sure they not only perfectly know your products or services, but are also able to serve your customers efficiently while showing the highest level of professionalism.When you invest in finding great customer service people and training them to be even better, you give your team the best opportunity to grow and succeed within your organization. It will pay you many times over in the long run. Remember, the right people who are able to deliver a truly outstanding service create loyal customers, referrals and the long-term success of your business.What is your policy for hiring customer service people? Feel free to share!Provide Support is a leading software provider in customer service, offering live chat and real-time visitor monitoring tool for businesses:www.ProvideSupport.comBuilding Customer Loyalty: What Does It Take?AUGUST 1, 2014BYJULIA LEWIS6 COMMENTS

How to build customer loyaltyIn todays marketplace too many companies tend to obsess over getting new customers instead of focusing on the ones they already have. Looks like businesses are putting all the energy and effort into giving out heavily discounted offers to attract new customers and do not care much about longtime relationship.Ironically, buying growth through discounts, sales promotions and advertising is more expensive than retaining current customers. And while in the short run this strategy can fuel the growth and bear fruit, you cannot maintain it in the long run unless you have customer loyalty.Why is generating loyal customers so important? What does it take to create customer loyalty and what benefits can it bring to your business? In this article Id like to share some insights on the significance of customer loyalty and how to get more of it.The only number you need to growAccording to Frederick F. Reichheld the author ofThe Ultimate Question, the only path to profitable growth and business success is in treating customers right, or in other words, in a manner that is worthy of their willingness to share their positive experience with friends or colleagues. Reichhelds way of measuring how well an organization treats the people is based on a single simple question On a zero-to-ten scale, how likely is it that you would recommend us to a friend or a colleague?Reichheld also introduces the NetPromoter Score (NPS) metric which is simply the percentage of promoter (who respond with a nine or ten) minus the percentage of detractors (who rate the company six or below), and according to the research conducted by Bain & Company, the average US company has a score of 10% to 20%.If people feel they are treated right, in a manner that is worthy of their loyalty, they are likely to buy more over time or devote a larger share of their wallets to the company they feel good about. A loyal customer may not necessarily make frequent purchases because of a reduced need for a product or service, so its not always about buying again and again from the same company. But if they believe that it offers superior value and also feel good about their relationship with the company, they are willing to promote it. The more promoters your company has, the bigger the growth.What does it take to treat customers right?How do you go about creating a successful and loyal relationship with your customers? What does it take to serve them in a manner that will earn their heads and hearts? While many marketing gurus will tell you that you should go above and beyond for over-the-top customer service experience, the Harvard Business Review researchStop Trying to Delight Your Customersargues that companies spend too much time and effort trying to figure out how to exceed customers expectations, when simply addressing the basic need will do.The research suggests that making the customer service interaction easy and helping customers solve their problems efficiently and effortlessly is the best path toward building customer loyalty. During a three-year period, more than 75,000 B2C and B2B customers were surveyed about their recent contact-center interactions, and as a result the authors introduced the Customer Effort Score (CES) emphasizing that companies should focus on reducing the effort customers have to make. Doing so increases the likelihood that they will return to the company, increase the amount they spend there, and speak positively (and not negatively) about it in other words, that theyll become more loyal.5 straightforward tactics to make it easySo how do you go about ensuring an easy-to-navigate process that addresses the customer service needs? Findings from the study are summarized by five loyalty-building tactics that companies should adopt:1. Reduce the need for repeat calls by anticipating and dealing with related downstream issues2. Arm reps to address the emotional side of customer interactions3. Minimize the need for customers to switch service channels4. Elicit and use feedback from disgruntled or struggling customers5. Focus on problem solving, not speed.There is little to argue with here. When it comes to service, companies create loyal customers primarily by helping them solve their problems quickly and easily. Certainly the main point is a need to put your customers first and commit the effort into serving them well. So the key to building loyalty is creating a customer-oriented company. Because only through efficient customer interaction you can know their needs and find out the best ways to cater to those needs. The more you commit, the clearer you see new opportunities for growth.My Key TakeawaysHaving more than four years loyal relationship with acompanythat really cares about making its customers and employees happy, as well as making its customers clients and staff lives easier, I especially enjoyed these great thoughts from the sources I used for this post:We buy from a company because it delivers quality products, great value, or compelling brand. We leave one, more often than not, because it fails to deliver on customer service.Stop Trying to Delight Your CustomersIf you truly care about your companys effect on its customers lives, you wont even be tempted to stop with a score. You will use the score as a prod, an incentive, a reminder that you can get better as an organization.The Ultimate QuestionOver to youHow is customer service success and customer happiness measured at your company? Are you struggling to grow profits, cut call-handle time or achieve better NPS/CES rates? Got a great customer loyalty story or ideas to share? We would love to hear your thoughts, so you are always welcome to add them into the comments.Provide Support is a leading software provider in customer service, offering live chat and real-time visitor monitoring tool for websites. Empowering customer service with live chat. www.providesupport.com

How to Deliver Proactive Customer ServiceMAY 15, 2014BYJULIA LEWIS2 COMMENTS

How to Deliver Proactive Customer ServiceAccording to the Forrester Report,Navigate The Future Of Customer Service In 2014, the growing importance of proactive customer service is one of the top trends for customer service in 2014, higlighting demand for proactive customer engagement and shift in customer knowledge management model from purely reactive to giving advice.Are You Ready To Take It On?Customer expectations continue to rise, and in order to address this challenge companies need to develop new strategies and implement innovative technologies in proactive customer service. Are you looking for creative ways to make the shift to a more engaging customer support? In this article well share some tips for strengthening and expanding customer relationships through proactive approach.We atProvide Supportsuccessfully use some of the tools and strategies listed below to support a proactive service environment. We would be glad if they would work for you too. This list is in no way complete so we invite you to add your thoughts, tips and ideas in the comment section.1. Reach Out To Them ProactivelyGone are the days when outbound marketing meant annoying cold calling and brute-force telemarketing. Now, proactivity is the name of the game. Moreover, today customers expect you to directly reach out to them with relevant information when they need it, and via the channels they want to be contacted.Outbound CommunicationA good modern outbound strategy means that you can offer your customers multiple forms of contact to choose from (including automated voice messages, text alerts to mobile phones, and emails) to notify them that something relevant has occurred. For example, this can be a notification about their status as a customer (Your account is overdrawn) or something the customer has previously asked about (Notify me when the product is in stock). And the result is a more collaborative conversation between a company and a customer.Proactive ChatThis type of engagement is successfully used on many websites to offer finely-targeted assistance to the visitors when they really need it, making sales and customer service processes vastly more user-friendly and productive. For example, a chat invitation can be triggered when a visitor spends too much time on a checkout page or a specific website section with complex information about a product.According to the 2013 Survey of Internet Shoppers, using Proactive Chat yields very good results with 64% pollees showing receptiveness of invitations sent through Proactive Chat. If you would like to find out more on Proactive Chat implementation and strategies you may read our blog article on proactive chathere.2. Customer Knowledge: Make It Structured, Make It RightHave you ever asked yourself what makes a great customer experience? Believe it or not, its all about delivering the right knowledge to the right place at the right time. And with proactive approach in mind, its about giving answers to customers before they even ask questions. With a rich, constantly self-improving knowledge base in place, you can empower your customers with highly effective self-service while driving down costs.Self ServiceIn todays world of sophisticated and experienced online consumers, self-service is one of the cornerstones of delivering knowledge to your customers. Whether it goes to looking for a product details, companys terms of service or simply finding your contacts and directions to your physical location, customers expect you to make it easy to find this information whenever they need it. It is important to invest time and effort into creating a well-designed, easily accessible knowledge base as well as continuously work on organizing this knowledge according to customer needs.Content CurationWith the explosion of online content and social media, finding and sharing relevant information has never had more value than it does today. In fact, it allows you to build your profile, demonstrate your knowledge and expertise, educate your customers, and increase engagement by letting them share their thoughts and feedback on your product and services through comments and likes. The more people visit, like or follow the content you share, the more awareness your brand gets.3. It Pays To Listen To Your CustomersHow well do you know your audience? Are you aware of their needs, wants, suggestions and challenges? Customers like to be heard, and taken seriously. And for you, getting to know and understand your customers and prospects is the key to changing, improving and optimizing, which means growing your business by focusing on your customers needs.Surveys and PollsYour customers are your greatest source of learning, arent they? You can learn from them almost everything you need to know to make them happy. Ask them about what features they consider the most important, what new functionality they are looking for, what discounts and offers they are more likely to respond to. If you take the time to ask your clients what they really want, you will be able to deliver value at a higher level and strengthen the relationship with your customers.Customized Service OffersOne of the most important things you can actually do for your customers is to consistently and sensitively respond to their needs. Its a good practice to use every piece of knowledge available to understand your customer, and just give them something better, no matter whether it comes to improving your products quality, available features set, prices or preferred communication channel. Do all your best to evolve in line with customer demand, and your effort will be rewarded with loyal, long-term customer relationships.

Social Media Tools for Customer ServiceAPRIL 21, 2014BYJULIA LEWIS8 COMMENTS

Social Media Tools for Customer ServiceAs companies gain more experience in social media, they further integrate social communication into their customer service strategies. In the Age Of The Customer, it is extremely important to ensure your business has a strong online presence and equip your team with the right social media tools for customer service. Whatever platform or channel your customers choose to reach out to you (or just tell the world about their experience with your company), stay relevant, be ready to respond and make the most of customer feedback.In this article on using social media for customer service, we would like to get you familiar with some great tools designed to optimize your social customer support performance. Read on to discover trends and tips that will give your customer service a chance to shine.Keep an Eye Open for Client FeedbackWhat is the first step into a great social media customer service?Make sure you know everything thats being said about you online. With the growing popularity of sharing customer experiences online via social platforms and through review websites, you have to keep your eye on the ball and respond when needed.Social media monitoring tool would be a great help to have finger on the pulse by bringing alerts every time somebody mentions your name, brand or target keywords. This way you would be able to quickly track whats going on through the mentions in blog posts, forums, Twitter and Facebook and timely respond to situations that could damage your reputation. For our company, we useMention.Net, but there are many other options such asSocial Mention,Talkwalker,Topsy.How Would You Respond?Like it or not, social is very public, and any time theres a review, feedback or complaint, youll find yourself appearing on a public stage. Would you take any action? Dont rush through it. Take the time to understand where you really need to step in with an apology, rebuttal or acknowledgement. According to aNetbase surveythat asked consumers how they feel about social listening from brands,51% of consumers want be able to talk about companies on social media without them paying attention, with 43% even feeling brand listening is a direct invasion of their privacy.Handling customer issues through social media is not an easy task, and theres no cure-all advice. Try stepping into your customers shoes and asking yourself what is the real meaning behind the comment or question. Would they share their experience with you directly? Did they have a chance to be heard by you in private before airing their gripes to the public?Make It Easy to Reach OutLets move to another important step of outstanding customer service ensuring you give your customers and prospects a convenient way to reach out to you whenever they run into a problem, need an answer or have an information request. Thats where a Live Help tool comes in. WithLive Chat softwareyou can easily and immediately deal with customer concerns, tackle problems and provide great customer service.Rich withmultiple advanced features, Live Chat gives your team an ability to serve your customers better, respond faster and gain higher satisfaction rates while saving your company time, costs and even reputation in some cases. Most Live Chat providers offer special codes for integration with each of social networks (Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Google+) letting you easily increase the number of channels through which clients and prospects can contact you.All in a Single BasketAs the volume of private messages and posts increases, communicating with customers through social media might become quite a challenging task. You can often be talking to a person across Twitter, Facebook or a blog, and need to keep track of a history of your communication in one place, especially if others in your team could be talking to the same person as well.To keep track of requests and customer service questions without having to switch back and forth from support desk to Facebook, Twitter, etc., consider using a software solution that automatically distributes social media messages to your customer support representatives. There are lots of options available, you can choose a solution suitable for the size of your business and what you want to get out of it.The most popular options for small business includeInsightly, Nimble, BuzzStream,Sprout Social, SparkCentral just to name a few.What is more, there are some state-of-the art solutions out there that combine both monitoring and contact management functionality to help companies deliver delightful online experience through social media. To get a quick insight of how it works, take a look at the Anatomy of a Social-Powered Customer Service Win by SalesForce, a short, sharp Prezi that takes you through a typical case, from angry tweet to happy ending.Bottom LineHave you succeded to integrate any of these tools in the customer service in your company? We would love to hear about your experience, and if there are any other useful social media tools for customer service, please share your experience with us too.As always, you are welcome to share this article to anyone that you feel will benefit from it.

7 Reasons Why Your Customers Are Leaving YouAPRIL 23, 2014BYMARY SHULZHENKO9 COMMENTS

7 Reasons Why Customers Are Leaving YouWhen complaining customers walk away from your business, its easy to understand why. What about those who go quietly? If you think about it and try to put yourself in your customers shoes, theres always a reason why they get frustrated and leave. Most probably, you are losing your customers because of the following reasons:# 1 You dont care about your customers needsIs your companycustomer-centric? If it really is, then the very first question you should be asking yourself every day is How can I help my customers? instead of What can I sell to my customers?. The truth is your customers are the sole reason your business exists and brings you profits. But lots of companies seem to have forgotten that. If youre focused on only your own needs and dont put your customers at the core of your business, youre most likely to be playing a losing game.# 2 Your customer service quality is less than satisfactoryThe number of consumers switching companies due to poor customer service experiences is growing year by year. Which means that whether you like it or not, customer service is more important than ever today. Its the Age of The Customer. The quality of your customer service determines how successful your business is. So if its less than satisfactory, youre in trouble and its about time to rethink yourcustomer service strategyand define its weak points.# 3 You dont have a strong customer service teamLets admit it Customer Service is hard. If anyone tells you its not, they simply dont know anything about it. Thats why it should be done by the right people who not only perfectly know your products/ services, but who are also great communicators and problem solvers, who are trained to effectively handle difficult situations and equipped with the necessary tools. The key is paying a little more attention to hiring, motivating, training and managing your customer service team. In the end, happy employees mean happy customers.# 4 You dont provide multi-channel supportWhich customer service channels do you use for customer support? While phone and email still remain the most frequently used channels for consumers to contact companies, they expect to be able to get in touch with a brand through a number of different customer service channels such as online forms,Live Chat support, SMS and social media networks. Not offering these options is likely to frustrate a significant proportion of your customer base.# 5 You fail to deliver on the promiseTheres nothing more disappointing for your customers when your company fails to deliver on the promise. And thats probably one of the worst mistakes you might be making as a business. Whether its the quality of your products/services, return policy, delivery times or anything else, you do make promises to your customers. By making them, you ask your customers to trust you. And if you break that trust, you run the risk of losing them once and for good.# 6 You dont learn from negative customer feedbackAs Bill Gatess famous saying goes: Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. If you approach negative feedback with the level head and the right attitude, youll see a great value in it for your business. Your customers are your best critics and when theyre not happy with your products, services or customer experience with your brand, they simply show you where you need improvements. So why not use it to your advantage?# 7 You havent given them a reason to returnHow do you treat your loyal customers? Once earned, customer loyalty needs to be maintained and properly rewarded. Show that you really appreciate them being your long-term customers and that they are important to you. Adding a little extra WOW factor can be really huge for your business. The options are nearly endless here, from special offers and discounts to a series of exclusive perks. As a bonus, you might find yourself attracting new customers who see how you treat and appreciate loyalty.What other reasons for losing customers can you name?Useful Customer Service Tools for HotelsMARCH 21, 2014BYJULIA LEWISLEAVE A COMMENT

Useul tools for hotel websitesIn todays competitive environment, delivering superior guest service is a critical success factor. Its the service you provide that sets you apart. In order to meet the challenge of ever increasing customer expectations equip your staff both technically and professionally and let them enjoy their job.In this article we would like to focus on technology used by customer service staff in hotel and hospitality industry. We assume that you are familiar with some of customer service tools for hotelsalready, but hope youll find some new useful ideas here as well.Hotel & Hospitality Management SystemsToday you will hardly find a hotel that performs management of properties, equipment and personnel using old-fashioned, paper-based methods. The new technology era of business applications has radically changed hotel management and its operations, from saving files and records to cleaning and cooking.The Property Management System (also known as PMS)technology market offers a wide range of applications designed with the specific needs of hospitality industry in mind. From basic solutions covering operational functions of the front office to highly sophisticated systems providing insights into sales analysis, marketing research and planning, housekeeping optimization, energy management, etc., PMS is the key tool to facilitate guest service efficiency, minimize wait time and ensure delivering a better guest experience.In general, by automating functions like guest bookings, guest details, online reservations, sales and marketing, food and beverage costing, quality management and many others, PMS make life far easier for hoteliers and let them better focus on service and quality in everything they do for their guests.Live Chat SoftwareWondering how you can ensure delivering the best possible online customer experience? Looking for innovative new ways to engage prospects browsing your website? Then its about time you check outLive Chat software.For many potential customers your website is the first point of contact with your hotel. They form opinions before having set a foot at it, just through what they experience online. When it comes to getting a reservation confirmation, quote or just an answer to a quick question, making prospects wait for a call back or a return email may drive them to your competitors.Dont let them go!By implementing a Live Chat tool on your website you give your visitors the option to reach you within a click of a mouse to get any kind of information they might need, in real time. Live Chat is less expensive compared to call center service and rich withmultiple advanced featuresthat can improve hotel online customer service.When it comes to last minute changes in arrangements or urgent reservation inquiry, hotel support agents should be ready to tackle any questions, concerns, and issues quickly and efficiently.If they manage to help a customer in time, it will create a positive image of the company, and also might help to earn more loyal, repeat clients.Right Social Media StrategyWith the growing popularity of sharing travelling experiences online, social media becomes a larger and more powerful marketing and customer service tools for hotels. It really pays to know whats going on through the mentions in blog posts, forums, Twitter and Facebook and timely respond to situations that could damage your reputation.On the other hand, a quick response to positive tweets and Facebook updates is just as important as responding to complaints. So start monitoring conversations on your hotel now and use this valuable information to improve your guest service where needed.Social media is also an incredible resource for staying in touch with your customers and engaging with them. Encourage them to become your followers on social platforms by offering a discount or special offer, and do your best to drive participation.Share news and updates on your special offers, deliver interesting, relevant content that encourages your followers to interact with you. When the audience participates, especially on social networks, it creates buzz around you and your business. And as people Like, comment, or share stories, their participation becomes visible to their networks (your new prospects!).Over to YouHow do you use technology in your hotel to improve Guest Service? Please share your experience on using customer service tools for hotels with us. Your comments and suggestions are welcome and very much appreciated.Provide Support is a leading software provider in customer service, offering live chat and real-time visitor monitoring tool for websites. Empowering customer service with live chat.www.providesupport.com

15 Ways to Improve Customer Service at Your Business (Infographic)SEPTEMBER 30, 2014BYMARY SHULZHENKO1 COMMENTWeve all been victims of poor customer service in the past and we perfectly know what disappointed, dissatisfied and angry customers mean for a business. On the other side, great customer service can do wonders by creating happy, loyal customers or even brand advocates.While there can be numerous and various reasons why so many businesses fail at providing great customer service, lets focus on how exactly you can make it better. In fact, even small changes in your customer service strategy and daily customer service operations can actually have a huge impact.This Infographic shows you 15 simple yet powerful ways to dramatically improve customer service at your business, no matter how big or small it is, and no matter what industry you are in. Have something valuable to add to this list? Feel free to share your thoughts, ideas and experiences in the comments.

The 5 Musts of Social Media Customer ServiceJULY 17, 2014BYMARY SHULZHENKO6 COMMENTS

5 Musts of Social Media Customer ServiceIf youre using social media purely as a marketing tool, youre probably doing it wrong. Social media networks have become a prominent channel for customer service. Yet, theres still a huge gap between what consumers want from customer service on social media and what many businesses are actually delivering. Heres the 5 musts of social media customer service to help your business bridge this gap and improve your social customer support performance.1. Never ignore social media customer serviceThe very first and the most important step is simply realizing that social customer service matters. You might be skeptical of variousstatisticsreflecting the social media role in customer service, but you cant deny the fact that customer feedback on social media is public and visible to anyone. While consumers are more likely to turn to social media for sharing their negative experiences with companies, your brands reputation might be hurt if you let things go hang.According to the study by Sprout Social, 4 out of 5 (80%) customer service inquiries on social media go unanswered. Which means that most of consumer complaints on social media are completely ignored. On the bright side, that means theres a huge opportunity for your business to stand out and wow your customers by providing a great social media customer service (or a huge opportunity for your competitors if you fail to do it).2. Understand customer expectationsIf someone complains about your products or services on social media networks, for the most part they expect you to see it and react to it. Moreover, they dont just expect you to respond, they want you to respond quickly. The Edison Research study found that 42% of consumers expect a response from a company on social media within one hour. The sooner, the better. But if you cant provide an immediate answer / solution, make sure to respond anyway letting them know that youre going to work on that.3. Make it easy for them to reach youOne of the main reasons for consumers to go to social media for customer support is that they want a quick response. In many cases, having aLive Chatoption on your website and giving your customers an opportunity to connect with your brand instantly, will save them from the trouble of seeking customer support through your social media pages. On top of that, with many chat providers you could set up Live Chat on your social media pages too. If you cant provide live support 24/7, just make sure to specify its exact working hours.4. Monitor customer feedback regularlyIf you want to be up on everything thats being said about your brand online, theres lots of tools you can use to make it happen (Mention, Social Mention, Talkwalker, just to name a few). While you might not have enough time or resources (or both) to monitor all your brand mentions and respond to all of them, the least you can (and should) do is to regularly keep control of your own social media company accounts and react whenever someone asks questions, needs help or leaves feedback. Ignoring your social media pages or not having them at all might only do more harm than good.5. Know when and how to respondHeres some food for thought from theNetbasesurvey: 51% of consumers want to be able to talk about companies without them listening 58% of consumers think that companies should only respond to complaintsIt means that even if youre monitoring what people are saying about your brand, not every mention, feedback or complaint is a direct invitation to join the conversation. Sometimes its better to just listen. But once you decide to step in, before you respond, think of the best way to do it. Should it be done publicly or privately? I believe that in most cases brands should reply publicly which might give them a bunch of advantages such as improving engagement and customer satisfaction, increasing brand loyalty and customer trust.P.S. Are you still going to ignore social media customer service?Provide Support is a leading software provider in customer service, offering live chat and real-time visitor monitoring tool for businesses:www.ProvideSupport.comSmall Business Customer Service Fails That Drive Your Customers AwayJUNE 23, 2014BYMARY SHULZHENKO13 COMMENTS

Small Business Customer Service FailsBeing successful in any business is about constantly doing the right things and avoiding costly mistakes. While numerous factors are responsible for success, providing outstanding customer service that is beyond industry standards is a surefire way to grow. Especially for small businesses that mostly rely on repeat customers, word-of-mouth and referrals.Unfortunately, a huge number of small business owners refuse to take customer service seriously and keep making the same mistakes again and again. Most of them are fixable and avoidable with a smarter customer service strategy. Heres the most common of them.Being inaccessible to customersMany small businesses are trying to maintain a distance from their customers but it might simply backfire by throwing them right into the arms of their competitors. Finding contact information on your website and getting in touch with your company should be an effortless process for every site visitor. By not having contact details easily accessible or providing inaccurate information (which is even worse) you might be missing out on many potential sales.Slow email response timesIn todays digital, customer-centric age, time is precious. Highly demanding consumers expect quick answers when questions or problems come up. They dont really care if you dont have enough time or resources to handle their queries. For many of them, waiting for hours to get an email response with the answer to a simple question seems like an extraordinarily long time. Thats why improving email support and making it faster is a must for small businesses.Not offering multichannel supportEven though phone and email still remain the most frequently used channels for the majority of consumers to get in touch with brands, they do expect to be able to use different customer support channels. For lots of small businesses implementing Live Chat still seems an almost impossible task with limited time and resources to handle this customer support channel. But in fact, even if you cant run your Live Support Chat 24/7, it can still be very effective with theright strategy.Ignoring social mediaWhether you like it or not, customer service has gone social. While managing all social media accounts can be toughfor small business owners, ignoring them is not an option either. Your customers are already there and the conversation about your brand is already going, the question is will you participate?Social customer servicedoesnt have to be that hard and time consuming. It can be optimized by using various tools to track mentions of your company across social networks. The key is to respond to them publicly and immediately.Failing to train employeesAt small businesses, every single employee, from the bottom line to the top, will most likely have to interact with customers at some level. Thats why each of them should not only perfectly know your products or services, but also be properly trained on at least basiccustomer service skills. Every customer interaction matters as it can influence your business reputation. Negative customer experiences spread like fire and might easily scare your potential customers away.Being afraid of negative feedbackCustomers feedback, whether its positive or negative, is always an amazing opportunity to learn what youre doing right and where your products, services or business processes need improvement. So why not ask you customers? Small business owners are often afraid of negative feedback because they dont quite realize its value. The truth is when your customers honestly tell you theyre not satisfied with something, they actually show you what you need to focus your efforts on and help you make better business decisions.Is your small business guilty of any of the listed above customer service mistakes? Admitting them and realizing that they could be fixed and avoided in future is the first step to improvin