The importance of customer service skills to the success of your business just can’t be overstated. In this post, we discuss five basic customer service skills and give you tips on how to foster them throughout your organization.
1. Empathy
Psychologists define empathy as the ability to recognize, understand, and share other people’s emotions. Empathy can help you with everything from dealing with a distressed customer to sensing what are the most persuasive arguments to close a sale.
Some ways to develop one’s empathy include interacting with people from different backgrounds, reading novels, and meditating.
2. Active Listening
Active listening, as opposed to passive listening, means making an effort to process and understand what the other person is saying during a conversation. This is an important skill because it helps you gain a detailed understanding of your customers’ needs.
Some simple steps go a long way toward improving your active listening abilities. For example, don’t interrupt the other person, make eye contact and pay attention to nonverbal cues such as body posture and voice inflection.
3. Patience
Customer service isn’t always easy — but that’s what makes it worth it.
One of the most challenging parts of delivering great customer service is to remain even-keeled even under stressful situations. You and your team will need generous amounts of patience to deal with customers who are angry, demanding, or upset.
Remaining calm under those circumstances isn’t always easy, but it helps to not take things personal by remembering that the customer’s reactions aren’t related to you but to the situation they are experiencing.
4. Conflict Resolution
Let’s be honest: nobody likes conflict. However, the way an organization handles conflicts is what separates good from great customer service.
This is one of the most complex customer service skills because it includes all the others skills we have mentioned here. Being an effective conflict solver means displaying empathy, using active listening, and having the patience to reach a solution that leaves the customer satisfied.
In addition to developing the skills described above, other useful tips for conflict resolution include:
- Focus on offering solutions
- Avoid making assumptions
- Don’t get into a verbal fight with the customer
- Apologize if necessary
About The Pomona Chamber of Commerce
At the Pomona Chamber of Commerce, our mission is to keep you up to date with the most relevant developments in business management and administration so you and your company can take advantage of new opportunities
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