Online Class: Call Center Customer Service

Course Motivation

The owner of any business or service tends to focus on developing their inventory, promoting their business, developing marketing and business plans, and planning on ways to increase both client base and income generated from the business or service. However, it's vital not to neglect the importance of customer service.

Customer service can make or break your business, plain and simple. Often, the ability of a customer to reach your company or service in person, or by telephone, can encourage repeat business and positive feedback, or bad word-of-mouth that can literally destroy your business before you've even gotten started.

Customer-Centric Service

Call center agents have a big responsibility, and as such, business owners, managers, and partners should choose only the best individuals to perform customer service functions. Regardless of your business, field, or industry, customer service is essential.

Without customers, you don't have a business.

You can spend a fortune on marketing, promotion, and training, but if your call center agents don't provide quality services and communication, you'll be in trouble.

Most of us have had at least one experience with a telephone-based call center agent or customer service representative. Oh, the stories we could tell! One bad or negative experience may have been the deciding factor in whether you dealt with that company or service in the future. After all, if you can't get a straight answer, resolve a complaint, or get the follow-up service you need, you're just as likely to walk away and find a different company or business to fill your needs next time.

That's why customer-centric services are so important. Customer-centric services, in a nutshell, focus attention, service, and satisfaction on, or for, the client, not the provider. Many businesses today, small and large, rely on call centers to engage in day-to-day communication with clients, provide technical and customer support, and handle customer complaints. From major television cable and satellite networks to major airlines, call centers have become the norm in today's business environment. Call center services are found in multitudes of industries today, from telecommunications, to travel, to retail and financial.

Today, many companies contract out their customer service and sales representatives to independent providers, and even outsource their call center agents to foreign countries. Regardless, each and every telephone contact made between a business call center or telephone service representative, and clients, should be positive. If not, they may never contact or deal with your company again.

First impressions do count! The quality and attention to detail those call center agents give to clients over the phone leads to repeat clients and referrals.

What, exactly, is customer-centric service? Do you remember what you just read? Customer-centric service is defined as service that is focused on the customer. How do your customer service representatives go about providing customer-centric service? Start by:

• Encouraging and teaching your customer service representatives to know your customers and what they want
• Creating customer-focused processes around your customers' needs
• Staying on top of customer feedback, especially in regard to call center services

Customer service can be broken down into a simple definition:the act or process of satisfying a customer in relation to a particular service or product. It means addressing their concerns, questions, or issues with understanding, compassion, and efficiency. This is the foundation of a customer-centric service, where business literally revolves around the customer. Always place the customer first to create a positive, loyal, and repeat customer or client.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that in order to be customer-centric, you suddenly turn into a doormat.That's not what we mean to imply. You'll need to make decisions based on company policy and so forth, but by letting the client know that you do respect their point of view, and strive to ensure that the customer's opinion is valued, you're more likely to leave the customer more satisfied, even if they have not achieved the result they were looking for.

By taking the time to listen and to respond to their concerns calmly and reasonably, even if you can't help them, they know they've made that very important human contact with a person on the other end of the line, and not merely an "automaton" droning on about company policy.

Responsibilities of call center agents and telephone-based customer service representatives, and any other customer representative for that matter, are to promote customer business relationships on the front lines.

Basic job functions and responsibilities of a CSR include:

• Taking customer orders  
• Solving customer problems  
• Resolving complaints  
• Answering questions  

Additional responsibilities of a customer service representative include: 

• Your ability to respond positively to a customer's issues or concerns -- This means providing solutions to problems in an efficient and timely manner.  
• Your ability to encourage relationships -- As a call center agent or customer service representative, you are literally the voice/face of a business. Your main job is to provide courteous and friendly service, and be considerate and respectful, no matter how the person on the other end of the line is reacting.  
• Sensitivity to the concerns, issues or needs of a customer  
• Tolerance - It's not easy to deal with people all the time. That's why it's so important to always be respectful and treat the people on the other end of the line with fairness and equality. Objectivity is key in tolerating different opinions, points of view, and approaches to problems. 
• Your ability to solve problems -- Keep in mind that most people don't even contact a service representative or call center unless they already have some type of issue, question, or problem. A call center agent must capably deal with a variety of requests and demands from customers, and find positive and business-friendly solutions to those problems.  

Most of all, customer service representatives - on the phone and off - must maintain a positive and optimistic demeanor. It can be stressful working with complaints from customers on a daily basis.Your ability to cope and deal with such stress requires resilience.

Did you know that most people form a first impression of someone else (whether through face-to-face contact or over the phone) within one minute? That's why it's so important that call service representatives promote positive communication with clients. Each and every call center agent, customer service representative or employee represents the company or business for whom he or she works. This is a huge responsibility for customer telephone service personnel.