As in every profession in the world, the people that do it
should have a certain set of skills. Some of them can be acquired, some you are
born with. Customer service agents also need some special skills to do their
work more efficiently and with ease. If you are an employer, the perfect
employee should have most of these skills:
1. Patience - it is the most important skill for a customer
service agent (or for a person for that matter). The job will put you in a
position that requires patience in more than one situations. There will be
angry customers or customers with questions you don't have answers to - the
list is endless. But if you succeed in staying cool you will be one step closer
towards the solution of the problem. Of course, patience doesn't mean you need
to be slow and slothful;
2. Communication - the good communicator will leave the
mumbling and big pauses aside. Yes, it is a good idea to get more information
about the customer and to get a bit more personal with him (within normal
limits), but no one would spend their time listening about how your day is
going when they are actually calling for some answers and solutions. So, be
clear and avoid your normal communication habits, like filling pauses with
"uuuhm" and "eerr";
3. Positivism - yes, sounds sugary and all, but putting a
little positivism in the communication with customers can drive you a long way.
Try to avoid words like "no" or phrases like "can not",
"will not" etc. For example, if a customer needs a product that won't
be shipped to your store until next week, don't tell him "I can't supply
you with the product, because it won't be here until next week", instead
say "We will have the product next week";
4. Time management - spending time with a customer is a good
idea or at least better than skipping through questions and trying to get over
with it as fast as possible. However, giving too much time to speaking with a
customer can also be a bad idea. Both yours and his time will be wasted away.
The good customer service agent knows how to manage his time in a such matter
that will help him communicate with his customers efficiently;
5. Staying calm - some people just have the ability to stay
cool in every possible situation (or at least most of the possible situations)
and even influence others. Such person is one step ahead when it comes to
customer service, because he/she can keep their cool when things get bad and
can calm down the frustrated customer with ease. It goes without saying that
the calm customer explains his problem thoroughly.
More articles:
1. What Every Potential Customer Wants to Hear
2. How to Handle the Situation: Difficult Customers
3. Customer Value - How to Calculate it