After years of working with internal and external customers in corporations, nonprofit organizations and government, following are a few lessons in customer service I’ve learned.
- Treat others the way you want to be treated. Period.
- Be kind to everyone. You may be the nicest person they encounter that day.
- You will make mistakes. Try to correct them ASAP.
- Be patient.
- Don’t be disrespectful or disrespected.
- Customers want to be heard. They want to tell their stories and rant. Take time to listen.
- Customers want their needs addressed. Ideally, you’ll be able to solve their problems. However, if you can’t help them, try to direct them to other resources.
- Some people don’t know what they need or how to articulate what they need. Ask questions to get clarification.
- Ninety-nine percent of the customers I’ve encountered are easy to work with. The not-nice 1% is the exception.
- Don’t take people un-cool behavior personally. They had issues before they got to you.
- Some customers are not tech-savvy and won’t admit it.
- There will be language barriers and no translators available. In these cases, try Google Translate.
- If there’s something you don’t know, admit it. Don’t make stuff up.
- Some people have disabilities we cannot see. Sometimes they’ll tell us; sometimes they won’t.
- When people talk loud, they may not hear well. They are not yelling at you…all the time.
- When people look like they are straining to hear you, speak louder, slower and clearer.
- Try to enunciate words correctly.
- A few people have big egos and even bigger expectations. Know that you may be unable to satisfy either.
- When people “threaten” to speak to your supervisor, invite them to do so.
- Some people can’t be helped, no matter how hard you try.
- Some people want you to do everything for them. Help them to help themselves.
- Everyone is not honest. Check identification and turn on your BS detector.
- Talk to people, not at them or over them.
- Some people react to the smallest things. You will learn how to handle these situations based on experience.
- People will ask you personal questions. Steer them back to the business at hand by staying on topic.
- Notify your supervisor or security if you are threatened in any manner.
- Don’t take people’s words or actions personal. They were emotional before they got to you.
Most importantly,
Image credits: The Digital Artist/Pixabay, Sunshiny SA Site
Read previous posts:
Week 1 post: How to Manage Multiple Blogs and Maintain Your Sanity
Week 2 post: 4 Quick Tricks for Growing Your Social Media Following Organically
Week 3 post: Rejection Therapy: What It Is and Why You Should Do It
Week 4 post: 9 Aspects of Blogging
Week 5 post: The Last Shall Be First
Week 6 post: Step Out on Faith and Keep on Stepping
Next week:
Week 8 of Blogger’s Block Challenge: List Post