Poor Customer Service Habits To Break Today

I think it’s safe to say that when it comes to our personal and work life, we’ve all developed some bad habits. Whether it’s skim reading through emails, never taking a work break, inefficient multitasking or even going over the speed limit to get to work quicker, we’ve all developed a robotic routine to help us cope with normal day to day chores. Though we understand these methods aren’t always the best way to achieve a goal, bad habits allow us to at least reach the goal in a timely manner. Who cares if the work is our best, right? Hmmm… not necessarily.

When it comes to customer service, it’s very easy and also very dangerous to fall into bad habits. Bad habits can easily turn into poor user experience which can negatively affect your churn rate. Here are some helpful tips on recognizing poor customer service habits and how to break them today!

Turning A Blind Eye To Customer’s Feedback

Working in customer service comes with the task of receiving feedback regarding the improvement of the product as well as new features the user would like to see in the future.

A bad customer service habit that some companies fall into is telling the client that they will pass along their feedback but never actually doing so. When you share your customer’s enthusiasm for a feature request, they believe they are being valued and listened to. However, if they were to check back a few months later, could you confidently and honestly tell them that their feature request was passed along and being evaluated?

Listens to your customer’s needs and make sure they are being shared with someone on your team who can actually implement the request. It is important for any business to have a feedback channel where care agents or even customers can submit feedback and the product team can view when they are looking for new features to put into effect. Make sure that the product team is well aware of the user’s pain points and what features they would like to see in the future.

Don’t pick and choose who to share feedback from. Sometimes feedback from a new customer can be just as effective as feedback from your most loyal customer.

Loyal customers can share feedback based on their day to day experience with the product whereas new customers might be comparing your service to other similar products and a feature that you currently do not offer might be offered by a competitor.

If a prospect shares that another product has a feature that your team may offer in the future, let them know that although you currently do not have this feature, it would make a great fit and you’ll pitch the idea to the product team – then follow up on your promise.

Whether the product team decides to implement the feature or not, make sure that the user is continuously in the loop and explain why the team went in one direction or the other.

Apologizing Too Often And Insincerely

When something goes wrong, it’s natural for your first instincts to be to apologize. As customer service reps we are skilled in recognizing an opportunity to apologize and taking it. But more often than not, you’ll find yourself apologizing to a customer for the most mundane reasons.

For example, if your customer is having a difficult time finding a feature within the app, is your first sentence:

Screen Shot 2017-01-18 at 5.16.40 PM

If so, you are guilty of over-apologizing.

Now you may be asking, “why is this so bad” and this is a fair and honest question. It’s necessary to understand that apologizing is never a bad thing. There are plenty of situations that call for it. But it’s how you do apologize and when that counts.

By simply apologizing in the above sentence, you are not truly showing empathy for the issue the user is experiencing. You are simply going through the motions and saying sorry sounds like something your customer would like to hear. However, when you apologize insincerely or too often, your customer will begin to recognize this which can hurt your credibility as a reliable and knowledgeable care agent.

Instead of apologizing in the above sentence, try:Screen Shot 2017-01-18 at 5.18.29 PM
This sentence is more proactive and meaningful to your customer. Not only does it effectively answer their question, it raises the mood to a more positive interaction. The customer will then see you as someone they can go to immediately with their questions.

Choosing Quantity Over Quality

On our busiest days, many of us have been guilty of choosing quantity over quality. Holidays and new product releases are the two main reasons for an influx in support tickets. In this situation, one might become overwhelmed and simply try to answer questions as quickly as possible without doing research on who the customer is, how long they’ve been with the company, testing any issues they are experiencing before replying and more.

Though choosing quantity over quality can sometimes allow you to answer more question in your work day, it can also take away from the customer’s experience as well as leave you vulnerable to mistakes that are bound to happen when rushing from one question to the next.

Instead of considering shortcuts when it comes to high volume days, challenge yourself to deliver quality over quantity. When users submit support tickets, make sure you have an autoresponder set up with some of your most common questions and links to support articles. This way, the user knows you are working on the best reply to their question and with providing a link to your support articles, they can quite possibly answer the question on their own.

Neglecting To Make Every Customer Experience Personable

It is all too easy to simply respond to a customer’s question without adding a personal touch to your email. For example, consider whether you are guilty of the following:

Screen Shot 2017-01-18 at 5.20.24 PM

Screen Shot 2017-01-18 at 5.21.14 PM

Although this does answer the question in a very direct way, it lacks enthusiasm and personality which are crucial in every interaction. A proper personable response includes the mention of their name, extending a thank you for their email, and recognition of their time with your company.

Instead, try the following:

Screen Shot 2017-01-18 at 5.22.34 PM

There are many approaches to addressing your customer in a personable manner. By responding to the customer in this way, you not only share the answer to their question but you also show that you care about their time with your company, provide more details and you open yourself up for any additional questions they may have.

A bad habit is never too difficult to break if you put the time and energy into doing so. Remember that it’s vital in today’s industry to take all customer feedback into consideration and share this with your team for future improvement. It’s also important to provide your client with quality support that doesn’t include insincere apologies. The next time you interact with your client, apply these suggestions and you are guaranteed to leave a memorable and personable experience.  🙂