Many articles mention the so-called best practices in customer service, but the truth is that every company has to find what works best for them, given their own conditions. Therefore, let's concentrate now on the "worst practices" in customer service because these are the same for all companies regardless of their size or industry. The following observations are based on an article by Micah Solomon published on Forbes.com.
1. Hiring bad employees
This basic mistake is hiring employees who do not have the necessary prerequisites for working in customer service. A good customer service employee should be warm, empathetic, optimistic and have a strong sense for team work. The most common causes of poor recruitment include decisions based on intuition.
2. Training as a one-off activity
Many customer service employees are only trained when they enter the company and then their training ends. While they are doing their job, nobody makes recommendations on how they should behave and what they can improve.
3. No interest in seeing things through the customer's eyes
Many companies are not interested in investing time and effort into understanding the customer better. Customer service employees should have far greater practical experience with their company's products from the point of view of someone who is actually using it. This also includes tracking customer responses in publicly accessible places, such as the Internet.
4. Underestimating the language
The quality of customer service largely depends on the language of the company's representatives. They should speak politely, be friendly and reflect the brand without sounding stilted or contrived. This is a big deal, every company should keep on improving in this area.
5. Unrealistic deadlines
Even the best product will suffer if it is delivered to a customer late. The same applies to promises of unrealistic deadlines for handling customer complaints, or the inability to let customers know how their issue is being handled.
6. Misunderstanding the importance of money
Money is a very tricky thing. It means different things to different customers. However, the equation "even a small amount of money + unfair conditions = great customer problem" can be applied generally. On the other hand, a large amount of money that the customer is required to pay under fair conditions is understandable to him. Money should always be approached individually.
7. Separation of communication and sales channels
This category includes gift vouchers that can be applied only on your company's website, or forcing customers to visit your branch to make a complaint. The customer should be able to choose the way in which he wants to do business and communicate with you.
8. Missing process to restore customer satisfaction
No matter how great the things are you are selling, you must be prepared for mistakes and know how to correct them. If your people always have to come up with their own way to respond to a dissatisfied customer, this is a mistake.
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