10 tips to improve the quality of your customer service

Often overlooked or downplayed, customer service plays a vital role in any company.

As an intermediary, it is in direct contact with customers, while representing the company. A high-quality, efficient customer service department is an essential asset for capturing, satisfying and retaining your customers. It's also a powerful lever for standing out from the competition.

Discover our guide, our 10 tips and our selection of tools to strengthen and enhance your customer service. 👇

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Let's go back to the basics of customer service

What is customer quality?

In practical terms, customer quality refers to a company's ability to meet its customers' needs and expectations in an efficient and satisfactory way.

It manifests itself in positive interactions at every stage of the customer journey, from initial contact to after-sales.

💡 Quality customer service means prompt, personalized responses and solutions tailored to customers' problems, contributing to their satisfaction and loyalty.

What is the role of a customer service department?

Customer service acts as an intermediary between the customer and the company. More than just meeting customer expectations, it must exceed them.

1. Its role is to respond to customers' needs and requests at different stages of the purchasing process (before, during and after).
2. The aim is to satisfy the customer and offer a quality experience.

Even in the digital age, customer service is still a human affair, as it is above all based on exchanges and interactions. It is therefore impossible to automate (at least not entirely)!

What are the 4 challenges of customer service quality?

1. Customer loyalty

For your business to survive and thrive, you need... customers!

And for consumers to remain loyal to your products or services, they need to be :

• be satisfied with what you have to offer ;
• have a positive experience with your company or brand.

Customer service plays an important role in both of these aspects. It can intervene at different levels, depending on the company's activity, customer strategy and consumer expectations.

Some entities only manage customer relations prior to purchase (product information, various enquiries, order taking...). Others are responsible for after-sales, and may even provide assistance (as in the case of technical support).

2. Changing customer expectations

Customer expectations have evolved considerably in recent years. They have given rise to a new notion: experience.

Beyond price, a certain quality or even brand image, consumers expect not only to have products or services in line with their needs, but also to enjoy a qualitative experience. And this is all the more achievable for them given today's broad and diverse competitive offering.

👎 If a buyer has a bad experience and customer service hasn't met their expectations, they'd rather go elsewhere, even if the product suits them. And the figures prove it. According to a PWC study, 32% of customers switch brands if they've had just one bad experience with them.

3. Capture and retain customers

Quality customer service helps to :

• attract potential customers before they buy;
• build loyalty after the sale.

A responsive, well-informed customer service department responds quickly to customers' questions, provides personalized advice and guides them in their purchasing decision.

👉 For example, a customer who is hesitant about buying a product will be more reassured if he or she gets clear, precise answers about product features, delivery conditions and return policies.

After the purchase, customer service plays a crucial role in customer loyalty. By effectively managing complaints and quickly resolving problems, it boosts customer satisfaction.

👉 For example, a customer who encounters a problem with a product and obtains a rapid, appropriate solution will be more inclined to renew his or her purchase and recommend the company to friends and family. What's more, attentive follow-up and personalized responses show customers that they are valued, which fosters their long-term commitment.

4. Company image

Finally, it's important to remember that customer service represents the company, whether in the form of a call center, technical support, online chat or after-sales service.

For the consumer, who very often has only this channel for communicating or exchanging with the company, it is the company. So if the branch isn't optimal or doesn't meet customer expectations, it's the company's image that's impacted.

What are the qualities of good customer service?

A small number of qualities are necessary to ensure positive interaction and, ultimately, boost customer satisfaction and loyalty:

• customer knowledge: understanding customer needs and preferences to offer personalized solutions.
• company knowledge: knowing the company's products, services and values inside out, so as to provide precise, relevant answers.
• active listening: knowing how to listen to customers to fully understand their problems and expectations.
• responsiveness: responding quickly and effectively to customer requests and problems.
• empathy: put yourself in the customer's shoes to better understand and meet their needs.
• adaptability: manage multiple communication channels and adapt to different situations.

What are the 5 essential skills of quality customer service?

An attentive ear and a well-honed discourse are a good start. But it's not enough. Quality customer service is a team that combines know-how, interpersonal skills... and a little resourcefulness when required.

However, certain skills are essential if you want your customer service department to shine on a daily basis.

👉 Excellent communication skills
Talking, writing, explaining, reassuring. A good advisor needs to juggle words like a tightrope walker. And without falling. No incomprehensible jargon or long-winded sentences. You have to get straight to the point, with clarity and precision.

👉 Good priority management
A spike in complaints, an emergency to deal with, a customer to call back... The day-to-day running of a customer service department is often a jungle. You need to be able to identify what can't wait (and what can wait a little), and that's a valuable skill.

👉 A real sense of diplomacy
Dealing with an angry customer without losing your cool is quite an art. It's not about agreeing with everyone, but defusing tensions with tact and respect.

👉 Mastering digital tools
Chat, CRM, databases, tickets, social networks... Tools are an integral part of the job. A good advisor needs to know how to use them with agility, without losing the thread of the conversation.

👉 The culture of feedback
Listening to feedback, learning from it, continuously improving: humility and the desire to progress make all the difference. Because a customer service department that's stuck in its ways is a customer service department that's stagnant.

10 tips for setting up a quality customer service or improving the existing one

Are you getting poor feedback from your customer advisors? Would you like to create a new department or take on new recruits?

Here are the essential characteristics of quality customer service 👉

Tip 1: Know your customers

For customer service to respond accurately to consumers and provide them with a personalized, tailored solution , it needs to know them well. And for this, nothing is more effective than a complete and up-to-date customer file.

Having access to all customer orders, favorite products and after-sales service exchanges is a real advantage for customer service, which can then act in a personalized way and guide its proposals.

It is therefore crucial to regularly enrich the customer file. Advisors should also use it in their communications.

Tip 2: Get to know the company

Giving the customer service team a document with standard answers that they have to repeat over and over is a frequent and damaging mistake.

It's much more productive to have involved advisors who know your company, your expertise, your product or service catalog, your values... so that they can provide customers with a qualitative, non-formatted response.

Tip 3: Listen to customers

To provide an appropriate response in the shortest possible time, the customer service department needs to know how to listen to the buyer. This is a crucial step in identifying the problem and finding a solution.

It's out of the question, for example, to systematically offer a voucher to a customer who hasn't received his order. Disappointed at not having received their product or service, they are unlikely to repeat the experience and place a new order.

This same customer may wish to :

• cancel their order and be reimbursed ;
• receive their order as soon as possible (which requires the reshipment of another parcel);
• obtain an equivalent replacement product, if the one ordered is out of stock or no longer available;
• simply make a modification (color, size, delivery address, etc.).

In order to know how to respond, you need to listen carefully to your customer's wishes.

Tip 4: Admit your mistakes

A late delivery, a broken product, a pricing error or a discount not taken into account - it happens! No company is immune to these internal or external hazards.

Saying that the fault lies with a third party (carrier, manufacturer, preparer...) or, worse, with the customer himself, is likely to scare off the buyer. The consumer has paid for a product or service, and the whys, hows, by whom, etc. are of no interest to him.

💡 It's best to remain fair-played by acknowledging that there has indeed been a mistake and offering, for example, a commercial gesture (return of another product, voucher...).

Heard and satisfied, the customer

Tip 5: Propose a solution

This point has already been covered in the previous tips, as it stems from knowing the customer and understanding his request.

However, as it lies at the heart of customer relations and is one of the main missions of customer service, it's important to come back to it.

👉 Indeed, a quality customer service department must be able to offer a personalized, tailored solution. You can't simply say that the order has been lost, that the product is out of stock or that the change of address has not been made.

Customers expect a concrete, precise and rather favorable response to their problem.

✅ Tip: the ideal solution is to take stock of the various possible responses in advance, so as to be ready when the time comes to propose a suitable solution. This will give the customer the feeling that the company is listening to him and going out of its way to satisfy him.

Tip 6: Be responsive

Communication, information, consumption, transport... responsiveness is essential today. So when consumers contact a customer service department, they expect a quick, efficient response.

This doesn't mean rushing to satisfy the customer in an instant, but it is crucial to react quickly enough with an initial exchange indicating that the company has heard their request and will get back to them as soon as possible:

• to propose a solution;
• to provide the missing information;
• or to find out more about the customer's experience (parcel tracking number, exchanges with after-sales service, etc.).

Response times vary considerably depending on the communication channel used by the customer. They may understand that the customer interface can take 24 or 48 hours to reply to an e-mail (taking into account working hours). But in today's hyper-connected world, they may be rather surprised not to receive a reply within the hour to a message sent via social networks.

Tip 7: Accompany the customer

It's not always about late delivery or damaged parcels. Sometimes a customer contacts customer service for information on the composition of a product, because they are unable to place an order on the website, or because they wish to modify their order.

Customer service must be able to accompany them through the purchasing process and their experience. It must make them smooth and pleasant.

Tip 8: Measure customer satisfaction

To find out how effective and qualitative your customer service is, you can conduct regular surveys among your customers... or you can encourage them to leave their opinion.

This enables you to improve your customer service, by adjusting its skills.

Tip 9: Be proactive

Not all customers are going to take to surveys and reviews so easily. So, to improve your consumers' experience with your products, your company and your customer service, you need to be proactive!

👉 Think, for example, about creating social network accounts and diversifying your communication channels. This way, each customer can use the means they prefer to get in touch with you, talk about you, describe their experience, etc.

All this data and feedback will enable you to adjust your activities (including customer service) and optimize the customer experience.

Tip 10: Train your customer service team

It's important that all employees have the same skills and knowledge to speak to customers with one voice.

Some skills can be developed and improved, such as empathy, patience and adaptability. By training your new recruits, as well as your existing advisors, you'll have a seamless, efficient customer service.

💡 Good to know:

Of course, it's possible to train a team to hone your skills... but to work in a customer service department and thrive there, it's also preferable to have certain predispositions. ☝️

So if you're thinking of hiring, here are the 6 must-have qualities of a customer service employee:

1. Enthusiasm 😃: talking to someone positive and pleasant is always more interesting than talking to someone grumpy or negative. The customer becomes more open and receptive. They also get a good impression of the company.
2. Communication skills 📞: knowing how to draft a clear written message without spelling mistakes, being at ease on the phone, expressing oneself distinctly without resorting to colloquial language... The candidate must be a good communicator.
3. Know how to manage stress 😡: customer service is often the complaints desk (few consumers call or email to say they're satisfied with a product or service). Employees are therefore directly confronted with annoyed customers. They may also have to deal with an influx of dissatisfied customers (on the phone, in chat rooms and in e-mail inboxes). It is therefore essential to know how to control one's own stress and calm that of one's customers.
4. Empathy: the employee must be able to put himself in the customer's shoes, or at least understand his situation and expectations.
5. Patience 😐: knowing how to listen to the grievances of an unhappy customer without flinching, having to repeat the same things several times... The customer service representative must be patient and zen.
6. Adaptability: it's often necessary to manage several channels (telephone, chat, social networks, email...) at the same time. The employee must therefore be flexible enough to adapt quickly to these different means of communication.

What tools are needed for quality customer service?

💡 There are multiple tools for delivering automatic messages or setting up a chatbot that can instantly respond to general or recurring issues.

You can rely on them to start a process of exchanges with customer service and to filter requests.

👉 Some questions (e.g. "Where's my package? "Why haven't I received a confirmation e-mail? "...) can in fact be resolved very simply by a procedure established upstream and explained to the customer.

In parallel, you can rely on customer service software. These management tools enable you to track and manage requests and incidents reported to customer service or technical support.

They offer a wide range of functions, including

• centralization and management of customer requests from various channels (chat, e-mail, telephone, etc.);
• allocation and transmission of requests to the appropriate person;
• a knowledge base;
• analyses and reports on customer service activities.

⚒️ For example, with Salesforce's Service Cloud multi-channel platform, you benefit from a 360° view of all interactions with your customers. Every request is contextualized, so you can provide the most personalized response. Thanks to the Workflow and Approvals functionality, your processes are automated to the maximum, for greater responsiveness. Last but not least, you can set up knowledge bases, FAQs, customer areas, etc., so that customers can quickly and independently find the right solution to their problem.

☝️ And if Service Cloud doesn't work for you, don't worry! Customer service tools are many and varied. You're bound to find one to suit your needs, environment and budget. To help you, here's an overview of 4 other tools.

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Customer service quality in a nutshell!

Quality customer service is essential to a company's health and longevity.

To create or boost your own, you can act on various levers (training, knowledge of the company, diversification of communication tools...) and prioritize certain attitudes such as listening to the customer, empathy, patience and responsiveness.

You can also use specialized software to facilitate the management of your customer requests and ensure accurate follow-up.