We
need to mean what we say and for this we need to say what we mean.
While a customer would be interested in your company history, service
standards and product line, he does not wish to hear it more than once.
There could not be a situation more infuriating than being kept on hold
for eternity. If there is a problem or something that requires
clarification, please get back to the customer frequently and regularly.
Keep him abreast of the situation and what is being done to help him.
Remember the customer cannot see you. Hence words have to be louder than
actions.
Do not put him on hold and go to
the other end of the office to check. If so, get his number, reiterate
his requirements and assure him of a call back. Having said that please
call back promptly. By keeping him on hold for too long you run the risk
of losing him forever.
Today's telephone and call
centre technology help you with features where an instrument gives a
call back every minute or 2 reminding you that there is a call on hold
in your telephone. All you need to do is to pick that call, thank the
customer for holding, apologise for the delay and explain to him as to
what is being done to assist him.
Voice mail, Automatic Call
Distributor, Voice Response Units, Automatic number identification all
help service customers more efficiently and effectively. Today's
telephone technology helps in monitoring, gathering statistics and
analysing data to better serve customers.
PLEASE LEAVE YOUR NAME AND TELEPHONE NUMBER AND WE WILL GET BACK This sounds very impressive and
assuring to the customer but something that invariably does not happen.
You leave your name and telephone number hoping for a call back. If you
get a call back, it's great. The company has moved a notch further in
impressing the customer and securing his business. On the other hand if
you do not get a call back or if there is a delay in call back then, you
land with a very disgruntled and unhappy customer. Now it is going to
take you twice the effort to impress him and you are still not sure of
securing his business. "IT TAKES LESS TIME TO DO A JOB RIGHT, THAN TO
EXPLAIN WHY YOU DID IT WRONG". So, if you want the customer to leave his
name and telephone number then make sure you use it efficiently.
TELEPHONE FEATURES Being aware of all features of
your company's telephone instrument only makes customer handling a
pleasure. It makes you feel in command of the situation to ensure
optimum efficiency while servicing the customer. It gives the
opportunity to go the extra mile. Something in contrast to the mundane
activity of handling regular calls.
Knowledge of telephone features
helps you to take better care of your customers as you know how to
retrieve messages, transfer a call, retrieve a transferred call, pick
your colleagues telephone in his absence, how to use multi-conferencing
features effectively, how to connect a customer's call to a staff
outside the office or how to use central paging features to name a few
situations.
While technology helps to an
extent, a positive attitude and customer focus eventually ensure
superior customer service and business success. |