Call centre agents are usually the first line of contact for a customer when they call a company with a problem a query, and with this they are entrusted with maintaining the business’ reputation and delivering a high level of customer service. Anything could arise during a customer service call and agents need to be equipped with the skills in order to deal with that, they need to be versatile and ready to adapt and deal with any situation that may come their way. Here are 5 essential skills every contact centre agent needs to get them through a day of calls.
Attentive Listening
Not only is this essential to finding out what the customer’s problem is and what they’re really after out of this call, but it shows that you respect the customer by letting them speak and not interrupting, it makes them feel like you really care about their issue and that you are really paying attention. A customer may also not explain their problem outright for fear of being rude and causing an issue with the agent, it’s also not in our nature to give orders to a stranger so someone might find it difficult to say something along the lines of “You need to improve ___, it’s terrible”. So, it is incredibly important to carefully listen to what the customer is saying to decipher what their problem is.
Patience
Sometimes being a call centre agent isn’t always plain sailing and can prove to be a difficult or frustrating job at times, you encounter a range of different customers over the course of the day and some might require more attention than others to make sure they understand things and some may even be angry. Losing your patience can be one of the worst things to do for a few reasons, as a contact centre employee your task is to uphold the company’s image and maintain their level of customer service, losing your cool on a call with a customer can damage that and make an already angry customer furious. Not only does a lack of patience in these situations affect the company but it can also affect ourselves, in a study carried out by the University of Toronto it was found that impatience can have an effect on how much we enjoy our life and it can become harder to complete more difficult tasks.
Empathy
Putting yourself in the shoes of the customer on the other end of the line is one of the most important things you can do to help to deliver great customer service. Understanding how the customer feels helps you to figure out what they are looking for and how to come up with the best solution for them. Showing interest in the customer and taking time to listen to them is not only polite and respectful, but it is something that will stand out for the customer, that they will always remember and make their experience even greater.
Clear Communication
You don’t want to blind a customer with technical terms and confuse and bore them at the same time, but there is a balance to strike. You need to remain professional, conversational and friendly while giving the customer clarity and understandable answers at the same time. A customer really does value the human touch you get from actually speaking to a real agent opposed to an automated system, but at the same time you shouldn’t overdo the small talk either, you need to value the customer’s time as much as they do. It’s a difficult task to handle but making sure communication is clear and to the point while remaining friendly is an important key to delivering great customer service.
Positivity
A slight alter in your tone and the language that you use on a call can sway the customer’s experience from bad to good. Avoiding as many negative words throughout is important, using a word such as ‘unfortunately’ is letting the customer know in advance that you’re about to say something bad and phrases such as ‘as you know’ and ‘I’m afraid that…’ equally set the customer up for bad news. You need to stop telling the customer they’re about to receive bad news, and when you do have to deliver some bad news to a customer you should always try to put a positive spin on it. For example, if a product is out of stock don’t just tell the customer it isn’t available and that you can’t get it for them, let them know of its unavailability but offer to order it for them on the spot and say it can be delivered as soon as it becomes available.