Answering customer questions and complaints is all part of being a help desk technician. There are different approaches to this type of customer service, some of which work better than others.
It’s possible to keep people satisfied with good customer service, but you can always do better. If you’re the best at it, you’ll outshine the competition in no time.
Good Customer Service
Good customer service should be the bare minimum of what your IT technicians are providing.
Good customer service meets the standards clients expect. That means doing things like answering the phone or responding to emails and messages promptly, and following up in an appropriate time frame. It means being polite. It solves the problem.
With good customer service, there’s nothing negative a client can say about you, but you certainly are not standing out as an organization that excels in customer service.
What could make customer service better?
Better Customer Service
Better customer service moves up a notch. It’s still not the very best that customer service can be, but it amps up the basics.
Better customer service is more responsive and more proactive. It accommodates clients’ needs without inconveniencing the company.
With better customer service, staff is empathetic to the issues a client is facing, and will rectify the problem. They may not, however, offer any extra step to make up for the hardship.
Better customer service will leave your clients satisfied, more satisfied than good customer service, but it won’t do much for ongoing loyalty or for the long-term impressiveness of your brand.
As a tech director you can build on good service to promote better service and move into providing the best service possible, every time. If the best customer service possible is a hallmark of your company, you won’t just meet customer expectations; you’ll exceed them.
Best Customer Service
This is where your organization, and your IT techs, can truly shine. The best customer service is exceptional. It’s the kind of service people will tell their friends and colleagues about because it was just that impressive.
What the best customer service looks like depends on your clients and their needs, but it can take the shape of quick and effective problem solving, just as was provided in the ‘better’ category, but with something added, like face-to-face personal contact on future work if the client’s problem inconvenienced them – just to show the IT team’s hyper-vigilance in delighting its customers.
The best customer service goes beyond simple satisfaction.
The best customer service is tailored to each client. To offer the best customer service, you will need to consider what they need, and how your techs can get it done in a friendly, efficient, and empathetic way? Exceptional customer service revolves around treating each client’s problem like it is the most important task of the day, and striving to find innovative solutions.
Beyond that, after an IT tech has provided this great service, one of the hallmarks of the best quality troubleshooting is not just seeking feedback, but implementing it to make your ongoing client-company relationship run as smoothly as possible.
This might seem like a lot of work. It is a lot of work, compared to meeting the bare minimums of good service. However, it’s important to know that using soft skills like empathy, friendliness, and innovation will pay off in terms of happy clients who, needs met, will be loyal to the company, and pleasant in future customer service interactions.
Why Focus on Exceptional Customer Service?
Beyond the obvious benefits of improved business and greater profits stemming from happy customers, keeping your client base happy can impact your employees in a positive way.
The American Express Customer Service Barometer shows how important good customer service is. More than two thirds of those surveyed, at 68 per cent, said a pleasant representative was key to their recent positive experiences.
On the other hand, those with poor experience said they will tell people about poor service, sharing with 15 people on average. Poor customer service is bad for customers, of course, but it also impacts staff who have to deal with unhappy customers and their tempers.
These types of experiences aren’t fun for the customer, of course, but they are also unpleasant for service professionals. Focusing on providing quality customer service from the start should help keep customer interactions pleasant and productive, creating a happier and more harmonious help desk environment overall.
Let us help meet your needs, and those of your clients. Contact GroupLink to learn more about our robust ITSM and help desk solutions and how they can promote the best customer service practices for your company.