Clear Communication
If anything has intensified during COVID it is the amount of communication that is needed to keep customers abreast of continually changing business practices, policies, product availability etc etc etc!
When a communication is given to customers it must be in their channel of choice, and spelled out in clear terms so that no confusion arises. Even communication on WHERE to find such communications is important in today's rapidly changing environment.
Concise Communication
Time is of the essence in today's customer world. They do not have time to sift through multiple paragraphs of a communication in order to distill it down to what could have been written in two sentences. Make communications as brief as possible and as easy to navigate as possible with headers, bullet points and the like to enhance readability.
Courteous
Several years ago, Dimensional Research put out a study on what makes a customer encounter 'good' or 'bad' in the eyes of the consumer. One of the top five qualities of a 'good' encounter is that the representative was NICE! Now that is common sense if I have ever heard it - yet how many of us have had encounters recently that were anything but NICE?! We can blame it on short staffing or product delays or any of twelve other reasons but the bottom line is this... BE NICE and courteous to your customers or they will find someone who will!
A great exercise in my customer service training programs is called "Saying it Better". We look at things that people actually have been heard saying and participants are asked how to Say it Better by making the statement or questions more clear, more concise or more courteous. Common Sense right? Give me a call if you need a Common Sense Service wake-up call at your business!
Teresa Allen is ranked #5 on Global Gurus list of the world's top Customer Service Experts. She is often asked to share strategies for customer service success at meetings held across the globe. Teresa can be reached through her website at www.AllenSpeaks.com or via telephone 850-460-7105. This article may be reprinted if this credit box is included.
If anything has intensified during COVID it is the amount of communication that is needed to keep customers abreast of continually changing business practices, policies, product availability etc etc etc!
When a communication is given to customers it must be in their channel of choice, and spelled out in clear terms so that no confusion arises. Even communication on WHERE to find such communications is important in today's rapidly changing environment.
Concise Communication
Time is of the essence in today's customer world. They do not have time to sift through multiple paragraphs of a communication in order to distill it down to what could have been written in two sentences. Make communications as brief as possible and as easy to navigate as possible with headers, bullet points and the like to enhance readability.
Courteous
Several years ago, Dimensional Research put out a study on what makes a customer encounter 'good' or 'bad' in the eyes of the consumer. One of the top five qualities of a 'good' encounter is that the representative was NICE! Now that is common sense if I have ever heard it - yet how many of us have had encounters recently that were anything but NICE?! We can blame it on short staffing or product delays or any of twelve other reasons but the bottom line is this... BE NICE and courteous to your customers or they will find someone who will!
A great exercise in my customer service training programs is called "Saying it Better". We look at things that people actually have been heard saying and participants are asked how to Say it Better by making the statement or questions more clear, more concise or more courteous. Common Sense right? Give me a call if you need a Common Sense Service wake-up call at your business!
Teresa Allen is ranked #5 on Global Gurus list of the world's top Customer Service Experts. She is often asked to share strategies for customer service success at meetings held across the globe. Teresa can be reached through her website at www.AllenSpeaks.com or via telephone 850-460-7105. This article may be reprinted if this credit box is included.
RSS Feed