Skills that will help your employees provide the best customer service possible

Working in a contact center can sometimes be a stressful job. Customers are generally calling because they have a problem, not because they would like to say hello. Dealing with these problems in a calm and effective manner is the heart of any good customer service in a contact center. There are a variety of different ways to tackle an upset or rude customer, but they all boil down to an employee’s ability to stay calm and focused on the problem at hand. There are several traits that employees may already have, or possibly need to instill in themselves if they are going to effectively deal with callers.

A Calm Disposition

This one is probably the most obvious out of the bunch. There’s no way an employee is going to deliver good customer service if they are getting caught up in an argument or baited by a stressed out customer. In fact, staying calm and avoiding that same stress is going to allow them to field the call in a professional and helpful manner. It can be tough to keep your composure when a customer starts a call with a poor attitude, but the calmer you are over the phone, the more the caller may realize they shouldn’t be directing their anger at you.

Patience

Sometimes the problem is going to be right in front of a customer’s face, and more often than not, it’s an easy solution that leaves them feeling bashful for calling. However, some customers might not be savvy enough to grasp the first explanation, and it sometimes it will take all the patience in the world to talk them through it. It might seem like a tedious task, but anything less is not providing the level of customer service that your company promises. “Patience is a virtue” may seem like a pretty clichéd saying, but there’s a reason so many people quote it.

Friendliness

This last one sometimes gets overlooked in the rush to make sure the information provided by a contact center is helpful and correct. A friendly tone of voice or touch of concern can do wonders to calm a stressed out customer who may be ready to have it out over the line. We all know it’s possible to hear a smile over the phone, and a friendly demeanor can go a long way with customers at a time when most people are expecting a faceless drone half the world away.

At KOVA, we know all about the many different aspects that go into building a successful customer call center, not the least of which is your employees. If your employees can come off as calm, patient, and friendly over the phone, your customers will take note. If you would like to learn more about our custom call center solutions, and what you can do to improve your contact center, reach out to us today!