Wednesday 18 April 2018

Customer Service Champions.

Did you know I used to work in retail? For many years prior to becoming a Nurse I worked in the animal industry, I started working when was 15 and I left school after my G.C.S.E's and embarked on an animal care qualification at college. In all honestly I didn't really enjoy it, I wanted to be working and earning money, the thought of studying was awful but I stuck it out for a year and then continued to work in the pet care industry, retail was part of my life for several years and at times I really enjoyed it. 

I loved the buzz of managing a pet shop, loved beating targets and making a little shop come alive. It was tough of course, you have to deal with rude people on a daily basis and I was always amazed (and still am now even in nursing) at just how rude and nasty people can be. I suppose it made me develop a bit of a thick skin though and I try not to take things to heart if someone does complain. It is hard though and of course at times it can be upsetting if people aren't satisfied but thus is life. One of the things I took pride in was being able to provide high quality customer service, no matter the situation I always maintained a friendly and professional attitude, providing top customer service can really make a difference to a persons experience. Here are some more examples of great customer service https://www.qualtrics.com/blog/customer-service-examples/ as you can see it really does make a difference. 

When I moved I wanted to pursue a career in healthcare and worked for NHS Direct for a while (this is now 111), oh my word this was not one of my favourite jobs I cannot tell you how much abuse we would get over the phone, I genuinely think because people can't see your face they find it much easier to be vicious and nasty, but still I like to think that I continued to offer a polite and courteous experience. Recently, CCSN (https://contactcustomerservicesnumber.co.uk/) have published this infographic all about what people expect from a phone call to customer services. Please do have a read.....I definitely agree with the points featured and since my working in retail and over phones I like to think that I would offer good customer service.

Many people will ring a customer services number from day to day. I have had both excellent and terrible customer service in the past so below are what I consider to be good customer service and what I expect when ringing a company. 

  • Be polite! It really doesn't take much to be pleasant and polite on the phone, it can make a huge difference as to which direction the phone call goes in. 

  • Don't keep waiting too long. Now I know that this isn't the fault of the call handler but I am not the most patient person and if I have to wait more than 5 minutes to get through to someone it makes me quite a grumpy customer so quick response times are always good for the soul!

  • Resolve my problem. There is nothing worse than speaking to someone who doesn't have a clue what they're doing and can't sort my query out. 

  • Don't be too over familiar. I don't mind friendliness of course but being too over familiar is not a good thing in my opinion. Be professional, chatty and polite but don't act like you're my friend. 

  • Finally, be proud of the company you work for and offer the best customer service you can. It really can go a long way. 

What would your best customer service tips be?

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