How to make your Customer Service team your best asset
In the office supplies industry, customer service is more than just a function. It’s the living, breathing voice of your company, your animated brand image and ultimately the benchmark by which your company will be judged. If things go well, it can account for lifelong customers, bigger orders and impressive reputation. If they don’t, it can lead to damaged relationships and disrepair. It’s reported that 89% of customers who start buying from a new business do so because of poor customer service experienced with a competitor. In an industry full of competition and reliant on customer loyalty, it’s crucial that your customer service team is one of your sturdiest resources. With 20 years’ experience in the B2B office supplies industry, we understand that there will always be highs and lows when it comes to customer service, but a valued, motivated and happy team will always weather the storms. We’re sharing some of the ways in which we manage, motivate and make the most of our customer service team.
LOOK FOR THE KEY TRAITS IN CANDIDATES
It’s important you choose the right people for the job. This starts by identifying which traits will prove valuable in an office supplies customer service role. We’ve found that these essential attributes include patience, empathy, positivity, adaptability, excellent communication skills and the capability to think on your feet. Plenty of people possess these, but for a role in customer service, reserves need to be substantial as by nature it involves resolving problems and rebuilding customer trust.
SET YOUR STANDARDS AND COMMUNICATE THEM FROM THE START
Developing and implementing a clear set of standards, practices and values for your customer service team to follow is essential. Each member of your team is an individual, but they are still communicating the overall company ethos. Therefore, consistency and quality are key. We’ve found that having specific protocol in place for telephone, troubleshooting and operations procedures as well as a resource which can be accessed quickly for answering common queries form a good basis. There’s nothing wrong with your team members employing their personality and individuality to communicate with customers, but balancing this out with clear, structured protocol which represent the company’s brand image and values is key.
MAKE YOUR TEAM FEEL VALUED
Richard Branson made a valid point when he said, “the way you treat your employees is the way they will treat your customers.” Providing recognition, rewards and support for your customer service team paves the way to motivation, customer loyalty, and company success. Research tells us that 77% of individuals in customer service say that they would work harder if they felt more valued. Ensuring each team member’s efforts are recognised is essential. A good way of promoting this is by holding one-to-ones, which will not only allow you to give praise, but also to pinpoint areas for progression and allows the team member the opportunity to talk about any issues or areas that could be improved within the business. We’ve found that reward incentives such as monthly bonus schemes (which consider productivity and customer feedback), an employee of the month award or even something small like weekly doughnuts can go a long way towards creating employee loyalty, boosting motivation and fuelling that all-important driver to support your customers better.
USE COMPETITION CREATIVELY
The day-to-day of customer service can border on the mundane, and most people respond well to a challenge. Introducing a bit of healthy competition to your team can produce a real uplift in job satisfaction and performance. We’ve found techniques such as scoreboards and achievement boards, weekly reward incentives and challenges between teams can work well in improving team engagement. It’s important to ensure, however, that competition is used correctly and not at anyone’s expense.
FACILITATE COMMUNICATION AND KNOWLEDGE SHARING
Communication is key for any company, but a two-way stream between you and your team is particularly vital. At the end of the day, these are the people who have the highest exposure to your customers. Ensuring your team have a thorough and continuously evolving understanding of the business (from the company values to latest offers and developments) is imperative. Equally important, however, is listening to any feedback, suggestions and opinions of the customer service team. This two-way knowledge sharing will not only improve customer service, but also build trust and relationships internally. Finally, listening to customer feedback is an equally valuable tool for understanding what is working and, more importantly, what is not. Give your customers a forum to provide you with feedback and set up a system to respond and act based on what’s provided, whether positive or negative. Sometimes, it can be as simple as explaining how processes work or providing some more clarity on returning items. Regardless, your business will benefit in the long run.
A USEFUL POINTER FROM OUR HEAD OF CUSTOMER SUCCESS, SIMON SHAW:
“Give your customer service team the ownership to be able to make financial decisions and resolve queries whilst on the phone. This not only empowers the individual, as they can take control of the call and know they are trusted in making business decisions, but also demonstrates to the customer that the person that they are talking to is qualified to fix their problem immediately. There is nothing worse than saying you need to get approval from a manager for a refund or discount when you have a customer who is expecting a resolution there and then. This can be done by implementing financial controls which can be audited to ensure you are maintaining good practice, but also ensuring your team are aware of the financial impact of query resolution and its importance. By doing this, you are enabling your customer service team to provide the best possible service to your customers.”
About Office Power Customer Service
At Office Power, we implement all of these strategies to enhance the service we offer dealer partner customers. Our customer service team is highly knowledgeable because of the extensive training we provide and are committed to dealer partner customers. If a dealer partner wants our customer service team to help them with customer queries and support, then our team will spend time in their business, getting to know the dealer, their values, brand and tone of voice. They then communicate this in the service they offer dealer partner customers. Our dealers have full visibility of all communications between their customers and our customer service team, meaning they’re always kept in the loop. Across the dealers who use our customer service support, we see outstanding results, with an average customer satisfaction score of 91%, Net Promoter Score of 80, and average call answer time of 10 seconds. We consistently measure the performance of our team against these KPIs. To find out more about Office Power, get in touch or email chris.armstrong@officepower.net.
