Have you ever chatted with customer support on the phone or online? Most people don’t realize that there are lots of guidelines and protocols that customer support agents must follow and that they sometime have to talk to several people at once. I am going to show you five tips that I, an online customer support agent, use to solve the customer’s problem as quick as possible with the least amount of questions.
Don’t rush the customer
Even though the customer might be talking forever to send their message, you have to always be kind and helpful to them. Don’t be impatient and cut them off. You don’t want the customer to get angry with you, because you are the face of the company. If you don’t care about their problem, the entire company must not care, as it may seem in the customer’s eyes.
The customer is always right — even when they’re wrong
If the customer is wrong, and it does not interfere with you solving the problem, just ignore it. If, however, the customer is incorrect and you cannot solve their problem with their mistake, kindly correct them. Avoid directly telling them that they are incorrect, just correct them and continue on with the subject as if it isn’t that big of a deal.
If the customer is requesting, try to fulfill their request
If the customer’s request is reasonable, try to fulfill it. If their request is, however, too large for you to fulfill, let them know another path they could take that could get them closer to them being happy. If you know that in the long run, their request could never be fulfilled, don’t be rude, just try leading them to a representative who could then explain to them that their request could never be completed. Avoid making yourself tell the customer that it would never happen.
Make the customer feel cared for and special
You never want an angry customer. You could lose a long-time customer, but not only that, they could tell others that your company is uncaring, and lose even more customers. For all you know, the person you made angry could be a famous blogger, and post an article about your terrible customer support. Making a single customer mad could potentially lose several customers. You want the customer to feel cared for – You are, once again, the face of the company.
Let the customer know who you are, and become temporary friends with the customer
Tell the customer your first name, give them a nice greeting, and ask kindly for their name. If they refuse, accept it and continue on with the conversation. Act as if you are their friends with the customer, even if you could care less about the person. Keeping the customer happy is the key in being successful in your job, as you don’t want people to report you.