Customer service is the support you offer to your customers — both before and after they buy and use your products or services. That helps them have an easy and enjoyable experience with you. Offering amazing customer service is important if you want to retain customers and grow your business. Today’s customer service goes far beyond the traditional telephone support agent. It’s available via email, web, text message and social media. Many companies also provide self-service support, so customers can find their own answers at any time whether day or night. Customer support is more than just providing answers, it’s an important part of the promise your brand makes to its customers.The Hotel School is one of the best Hotel management institute in Delhi which provides the information about the importance of customer service in hospitality sector to future hoteliers.
Golden rules for customer service:
1. Smile genuinely
Smiles translate through the phone, but should be used at appropriate times. You don't want your customer service to come off as inauthentic, but you should still always be cordial during conversations. Smile as you would in a face-to-face conversation while responding to questions and conveying necessary information.
2. Mirror a customer's’ language and tone
Part of the job in customer service is mirroring a customer's language and tone. Mirroring another person’s language and tone can help create connection. As said, if a customer is angry, you don’t want to copy his/her frustration. Instead, you can try increasing your volume just a little and then quickly work to bring the intensity down a notch.
3. Listen first, then validate the problem
When customers are upset or frustrated, they might not be able to take in what you say even if it’s the right answer. Listen first, let them calm down and then try to help solve their problems. Empathy is a crucial ability in customer service, so make sure you know exactly what you're showing empathy towards.
4. Acknowledge the customer
Customers need to feel heard, so tell them that you understand the reason for their call. They'll appreciate the touch of empathy and it'll go a long way towards making an angry customer experience much better. Customer service that accurately recognizes what ails the customer comes off as more human and reflects well on the company.
5. Summarize your help
You’ve got to listen to a customer's problems in order to repeat information to them with supportive language and do so in way that summarizes the help that you’re providing them. Being able to adequately communicate all that you’re doing to help is a top job skill for customer service agents.
6. Prompt communicate holds key
Even if you’ve just handled a call really well, you can lose a customer by leaving them on hold for too long. This is especially true if you haven’t set their expectations first, it will make them feel like their questions don't matter, and ultimately reflects poorly on your customer service and your company's reputation.
7. Use templates, not boilerplates
For efficient customer service, you’ll want to use templates that include some pre-written text. At Zendesk, we call them macros. Templates are like guidelines they shouldn't be overly rigid and unwavering, but can provide a helpful structure for common responses (like a list for step-by-step responses). Even though the whole team can use it, you’ll want to personalize your own answer before replying to customers. This leads to a more personal interaction (and a more fulfilling customer service job).
Customer service challenges in the Hospitality and Tourism industry:
- The Constantly Changing Expectations of Customers
- Continued Technological Changes and regular innovation
- Political and Security challenges
- Skilled labor shortage, staff turnover and irregular working hours
- Booking and Revenue challenges
- Seasonality of the hospitality industry
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