Written by

Seon Barbera
January 29, 2016

5 Common Customer Service Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them!)

customer service rating

In the world of customer service and customer experience, new scenarios constantly arise. But what remains constant are a number of basic customer service tenants that must be observed. Here are 5 common customer service mistakes that companies make that are entirely fixable or avoidable.


 

1.Treating your employees poorly

Customer service starts on the front lines, so it’s important to ensure that those front lines are taken care of. Higher employee satisfaction and engagement leads to customer service professionals who buy into the brand promise and do their best work.

As outlined in the infographic ‘5 Easy Steps to Ensure Agents Success,’ only 35% of call center agents who are often tasked with customer service report being satisfied with their jobs. To increase employee satisfaction and improve customer service results, invest time in training, simplifying systems and creating a healthy working environment. You may also want to read the ‘5 Ways C-Suite Executives Can recognize and Motivate Call Center Agents.’

call center, infographic, customer service,

Shep Hyken, customer service and experience expert and New York Times bestselling author, may have said it best:

Shep Hyken, @Hyken, employee, expectations,

Source: Twitter @Hyken (https://twitter.com/Hyken/status/518839385547341824)

2. Hiring the wrong people

While employee engagement and satisfaction is certainly crucial to delivering the great customer service, hiring the right talent is just as important. Be selective with you choose to hire and get involved as much as you can afford to. Oftentimes getting personally involved in the hiring process leads to the best results.

3. Using the wrong language

For many customers, it’s not about what your customer service professionals do, it’s how they do it. That includes the language that the reps use when talking to the customers. From word choice to intonation, their manner should come off as friendly, personable, helpful, and, of course, on-brand. In addition to saying the right things in the right tone, customer service professionals should be aware to avoid saying the wrong things as well.

4. Not saying sorry or not being authentic with your apology

“Sorry” is not a bad word and customer service professionals should keep it in their back pocket as a valuable tool for handling unhappy customers. They should not be afraid to say sorry and – what’s worse – they should certainly never refuse to say it. An authentic apology can go a long way in a potentially volatile customer service interaction.

5. Not listening to your customers

This may sound painfully obvious, but customers need to feel as though they’re being heard. Customer service professionals must know how to listen to, and understand their customers. As customer experience expert Annette Franz discusses in ‘The 7 Deadly Sins of Customer Experience,’ it is of the utmost importance to listen to your customers, understand what they are telling you and act upon it.


 

There are many variables in customer service and customer experience that cannot be controlled, but there are constants that remain true. Basic customer service mistakes can and should be avoided at all costs. Keeping these principles in mind will help your customer service team deliver an exceptional customer experience.

 


 

 Do you have any great customer service tips? Let us know in comments below.

Written by

Seon Barbera

Call Center