Like in every sport or profession, there are good teams and bad teams, good players and bad players. And there are certain things good players do, that bad players don't do or activities they don't do, but the bad players do. The world of customer service isn't much different than that. When trying to provide the customer with exceptional customer service, the good agents always avoid some pitfalls, that can turn good service into a disaster. Here are the pitfalls:
1. Focusing on the "can't" - while there will always be situations where customer agents are helpless or they just don't have control over the outcome of the situation, the good customer service agent will always try to take a few more steps toward success and happy customer. So, he will try everything he can to find out the problem for the complaint or at least give some more information on the problem just so the customer can calm down and see that things are actually going his way. The bad customer service agent will focus on the "can't" and will explain that he can't help the customer, because he can't control the problem and he can't give him more information;
2. Redirecting - it might seem as a necessary thing (people can't know everything) to redirect the customer to the department that actually has the answers to his problem, but it is extremely frustrating to have to explain your problem twice. So, the good customer agent will tell the customer that he will look into it and will contact the customer when he has the needed information or solution to the problem, than he will contact the department that is responsible for the problem and find out the solution, while the bad customer service agent will redirect the customer;
3. Acting like machines - there is a big chance that more than one client will call with the same problem, he solution for which is written in the Terms and conditions of the company. The bad customer service agent will start reading the company policy to the customer believing that he will understand it, while the good customer service agent will use the policy information to help the customer in a more human kind of way;
4. Avoiding responsibility - the customer service agent is the face of the company, he represents it and is responsible for the actions it takes in front of the customer, so when things go problematic, the good customer service agent will take responsibility for the problem and will do everything in his power to make things right, while the bad customer service agent will avoid taking responsibility and instead transfer it to another department or employee;
More articles:
1. 11 Tips for Live Chat Agents pt.1;
2. 7 Examples of Awesome Customer Service;
3. Customer Service of the Future