Customer Support Is More Than Having Answers to Questions

Trying to solve a problem with your washer or want help setting up your TV? Even as you contact customer support for assistance, you are not just looking for answers to your questions but also want an overall positive experience. Below we look at the factors that play an important part in a positive customer support experience, and getting the right answers to questions is just one of them.

Getting the Answers to Customer Support Queries Right

Customer support agents are first and foremost trained with the aid of a knowledge base available in house, which usually consists of frequently asked questions and answers for each.

While agents are required to deliver the right answers to questions, the support they deliver is composed of many more components which are also included in their training.

Being Polite Pays off Handsomely

Polite behavior is expected of each customer support agent but very often they fail to modulate their tone of voice. This can result in customers becoming wary and irritable as they assume that the support person is in bad mood or just does not want to serve them. It is therefore no secret that a positive customer support experience starts with politeness and courtesy which needs to be maintained throughout the interaction.

Allowing Customers to Find their Own Answers

Customers fixing their own problems without having their questions answered, by a support representative is happening more frequently. As part of this self-service option customers are provided with access to a knowledgebase or tools to fix their own problems.  Not providing answers to questions is therefore a key ingredient of self service. It allows customers to solve their problems faster and results in better customer satisfaction rates, which is a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Clear Communication

Communicating clearly to the customer is vital, even if you are telling them that they have to pay to get their washer fixed. Being able to communicate clearly that they will have to pay for replacement parts not included in a maintenance contract for example, will ensure you do not have to deal with their confusion and anger later on when they check their bill.

Empathizing with Customers

Empathizing with customers as they deal with problems is an important part of a customer support experience. Even before providing the right answers to the customer’s problem being able to walk in their shoes and empathize with them helps mitigate much of their stress. Reducing the stress surrounding issues with products and services that are not functioning properly goes a long way in ensuring that customers do not become irate. Additionally, they remain satisfied with the company even if you cannot answer their question.

The Benefit of Personalizing Answers

While using a template to answer questions, agents are encouraged to personalize it so that it reflects the unique problem the customer has. Personalizing templates and scripts over the phone by adding the customer’s name helps demonstrate familiarity with the customer and their problems.

Keep the Customer Happy

One of the main phrases that customer support teams employ is “The customer is always right”. While it might be a tough pill to swallow when the customer is in the wrong, acknowledging that they are right ensures that they are happy and do not switch over to a competitor. Keeping the customer happy also ensures that they do not go onto social media sites and create negative posts which can result in the company being adversely impacted if they go viral.

Be Honest About Not Having Answers

Being able to provide the right answers to customers every time, is something that most companies strive for. However, there are situations when the right answers to a problem do not exist. Especially when dealing with bugs resulting from a software update there are no “right” answers to be provided to customers, as the cause of problem and the solution for it are not known. In such situations adopting an honest approach and acknowledging that there is no answer is best, instead of making a customer wait on hold for half an hour.

Customer support is increasingly complex with a ton of moving parts that have to be handled with finesse, while ensuring customers get right answers to questions.