10 Customer Service Skills a Customer Service Representative Needs

By Valentine Okolo

Exceeding customer expectations is no mean feat. In today’s business world, customers are increasingly knowledgeable about product choices, service standards and above all consumer rights. And so exceeding customer expectations has become a must do for any business that is serious about gaining market share, loyalty and customer trust.

Customers will continue to patronize you as long as they continue to have good experiences over and over again. This means that as a customer service representative or service person, you must continue to provide a wowing experience every time a customer visits you which lead to customer satisfaction. It therefore follows that for your business to be successful there is no substitute for satisfying the customer. In order for you to deliver that superb customer service experience, you must learn to demonstrate at all times those customer service skills that portray you a true service professional.

So here are customer service skills every customer service representative should possess.

1.       Exude Integrity at all times: Customers trust you when they know you maintain a high sense of integrity. This means that you will always treat customer transactions transparently, exude moral excellence in all deals, keep to commitment and accept full responsibility for your actions.

2.       Be Emotionally Intelligent to their needs: Customers learn to trust you when they discover you genuinely care about their feelings and their business. Showing empathy demonstrates to them that it’s not just about their money but that friendship is equally important. Emotional intelligence is the ability to learn or understand the feelings of others. When translated to service delivery, emotional intelligence becomes the ability to learn or understand the feelings of your customers. . Companies’ that display a high sense of emotional intelligence in service delivery ultimately get rewarded with repeated patronage. Please read “How to Develop Emotional Intelligence in Customer Service”.

3.       Be the Expert they need: Having excellent product/service knowledge helps you perform your duties quickly and accurately. Customers trust you when they know you have the expertise and knowledge to deliver.

4.       When you promise, always deliver: The ability to keep to promises demonstrates to the customer how dependable you are. It is better not to promise than to fail. If you discover that you will not be able to fulfill a promise due to circumstances beyond your control, quickly inform the customer and make amends if you can.

5.       Be Skilled in the Act of Managing Problem Customers: Customers do complain when they are unhappy with a situation. These customers may sometimes pour their frustrations on you. You must remain calm and understand that the customer is usually not angry at you but at the situation. In such situations, try to win the customers respect by handling the situation professionally with a view to providing the customer a pleasant experience at the end. You will find an extensive guide on how to do this in the course “Delivering 5 Star Customer Service”

6.       Communicate clearly and professionally: Ensure that your communication skills are excellent. To do this effectively, you need to learn the basics of customer communication skills. This involves learning to listen, how to ask questions, being courteous, use of wordings, how to positively use nonverbal language in communication, the use of technical knowledge and concepts in communicating with clients, anticipating and responding to customer objections etc.

7.       Be Responsible: Accept responsibility when wrong or when the company is at fault and resolve to fix the problem immediately. Do not be quick to blame others for problems or difficulties at work. Blaming yourself doesn't work, either. Understand that no matter how many mistakes you may have made, tomorrow is another chance to do better.

8.       Dress Smart: Your dressing is a reflection of who you are and the company you represent. Remember that you will be perceived and addressed how you dress. Dress beautifully, smart, professionally and responsibly.

9.       Understand What Drives Customer Behavior: Customer behavior relates to how individuals and organizations select, buy, use and dispose of goods and services to satisfy their needs and wants. Customer buying behavior is influenced by a number of factors which include cultural, social and personal factors. Please read “Understanding Customer Behavior”

10.   Finally get certified: This is not a skill but is instrumental to acquiring a skill. It is interesting to note that only a small fraction of customer service representatives have a certificate in customer service. Getting a professional certificate will help ensure that customer service representatives are able to acquire the professional skills they need to deliver service like true professionals. To get a comprehensive skill set on customer service get the course “Delivering 5 Star Customer Service”.

By Valentine Okolo