Active listening and attention
Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2024 10:10 am
3.
Listening and being attentive to a customer's feelings and problems is one of the most fundamental customer service skills you need. Before you can apologize and offer assistance, you must listen to your customers—and listen to understand.
Mindfulness also applies to how you read emails, chats, texts, or social media correspondence. Understanding the context by asking the right questions and reiterating what your customers are saying is also key to active listening.
It's important to ask relevant questions to gain a thorough understanding of the core issue. You can also summarize in your own words and share that feedback with the customer in your correspondence to ensure you're listening effectively.
This skill in action
It's easy to read a few lines of a customer's message and jump straight to the most obvious solution. Read the entire message and any relevant attachments before responding. You may find that they've already tried your suggestion or that it may not apply to their situation. If you tend to gloss over details, read the message two or three times before responding.
4. Ability to work in a team
Teamwork is another key component of customer service. Representatives will need to consult with staff, partners, and contractors to gather knowledge, leverage collective experience, and find the best solution.
Great customer service also means working as a team with your customers. The key is to recognize that everyone wants the same result: a solution that works.
When you frame customer service that way, canadian email addresses it's easier to view the customer as a partner and companion rather than an obstacle or annoyance.
This skill in action
Customers often reach out to brands via social media for support. It's an accessible channel and often easier to find than searching for a dedicated support email.
Therefore, it’s important to sync up with whoever is managing your brand’s social media channels to ensure there is a clear line of communication between them and you (or whoever is handling customer service inquiries).
Check out this example from Seea , which makes sustainable swim and surf apparel for women and girls. If a customer uses Instagram to reach out about an issue, the brand immediately alerts its dedicated support team, who reach out via email with next steps.
The email reads: “Thank you for contacting us! I am so sorry for the delay. We apologize for the inconvenience. While we do our best to provide exceptional service, sometimes we fall short. I have created a discount code just for you.”
The discount was a nice addition to sweeten the deal.
Seea Customer Service
5. Patience
Patience is necessary in each of the following situations:
When a customer is angry and venting.
When a customer takes a long time to explain the problem.
When a customer disappears for minutes in the middle of a chat.
At the end of the day, patience underlies many of the other skills needed for customer service. With patience, you can stay calmer, listen actively, and remain attentive while customers vent, explain their problem, and try out solutions.
Patience is a key part of being a customer advocate. Proactively resolving issues before they become a problem for the customer may be a more involved process than implementing makeshift solutions as they arise, but it offers a much better experience for customers .
This skill in action
Here’s an example from skincare brand Versed . When this customer received an automated email asking for feedback, she responded that her skin hadn’t reacted well to the products.
Versed suggested the customer initiate the refund process and help them get new products that would make their skin happy. After receiving no response, Versed followed up with a friendly “We’re not sure if you received our response, but the email below is waiting for your feedback! We want to make sure we resolve any questions or issues you may have.”
Notice how the brand responded with empathy and kindness too.
Versed Customer Service
6. Ability to assume responsibilities
A basic rule of customer service is to be able to take responsibility for customer issues. At the end of the day, customers are looking for brands to take ownership of both the problem and the resolution process. This requires a combination of humility, integrity, and sincerity. The last thing you want to be is defensive.
While you shouldn't have to tolerate or put up with abuse, accepting blame where appropriate for customer issues and taking responsibility for finding a solution are two of the quickest ways to make customers feel good about your business again.
Listening and being attentive to a customer's feelings and problems is one of the most fundamental customer service skills you need. Before you can apologize and offer assistance, you must listen to your customers—and listen to understand.
Mindfulness also applies to how you read emails, chats, texts, or social media correspondence. Understanding the context by asking the right questions and reiterating what your customers are saying is also key to active listening.
It's important to ask relevant questions to gain a thorough understanding of the core issue. You can also summarize in your own words and share that feedback with the customer in your correspondence to ensure you're listening effectively.
This skill in action
It's easy to read a few lines of a customer's message and jump straight to the most obvious solution. Read the entire message and any relevant attachments before responding. You may find that they've already tried your suggestion or that it may not apply to their situation. If you tend to gloss over details, read the message two or three times before responding.
4. Ability to work in a team
Teamwork is another key component of customer service. Representatives will need to consult with staff, partners, and contractors to gather knowledge, leverage collective experience, and find the best solution.
Great customer service also means working as a team with your customers. The key is to recognize that everyone wants the same result: a solution that works.
When you frame customer service that way, canadian email addresses it's easier to view the customer as a partner and companion rather than an obstacle or annoyance.
This skill in action
Customers often reach out to brands via social media for support. It's an accessible channel and often easier to find than searching for a dedicated support email.
Therefore, it’s important to sync up with whoever is managing your brand’s social media channels to ensure there is a clear line of communication between them and you (or whoever is handling customer service inquiries).
Check out this example from Seea , which makes sustainable swim and surf apparel for women and girls. If a customer uses Instagram to reach out about an issue, the brand immediately alerts its dedicated support team, who reach out via email with next steps.
The email reads: “Thank you for contacting us! I am so sorry for the delay. We apologize for the inconvenience. While we do our best to provide exceptional service, sometimes we fall short. I have created a discount code just for you.”
The discount was a nice addition to sweeten the deal.
Seea Customer Service
5. Patience
Patience is necessary in each of the following situations:
When a customer is angry and venting.
When a customer takes a long time to explain the problem.
When a customer disappears for minutes in the middle of a chat.
At the end of the day, patience underlies many of the other skills needed for customer service. With patience, you can stay calmer, listen actively, and remain attentive while customers vent, explain their problem, and try out solutions.
Patience is a key part of being a customer advocate. Proactively resolving issues before they become a problem for the customer may be a more involved process than implementing makeshift solutions as they arise, but it offers a much better experience for customers .
This skill in action
Here’s an example from skincare brand Versed . When this customer received an automated email asking for feedback, she responded that her skin hadn’t reacted well to the products.
Versed suggested the customer initiate the refund process and help them get new products that would make their skin happy. After receiving no response, Versed followed up with a friendly “We’re not sure if you received our response, but the email below is waiting for your feedback! We want to make sure we resolve any questions or issues you may have.”
Notice how the brand responded with empathy and kindness too.
Versed Customer Service
6. Ability to assume responsibilities
A basic rule of customer service is to be able to take responsibility for customer issues. At the end of the day, customers are looking for brands to take ownership of both the problem and the resolution process. This requires a combination of humility, integrity, and sincerity. The last thing you want to be is defensive.
While you shouldn't have to tolerate or put up with abuse, accepting blame where appropriate for customer issues and taking responsibility for finding a solution are two of the quickest ways to make customers feel good about your business again.