subject: Customer Service Skills - Honing The Ability To Connect With Customers [print this page] Professionalism is one of the most important customer service skills. Being able to speak to people without becoming too familiar and maintaining a level of professionalism is considered a key component of taking care of the customer because the customer service representative is the face of the business.
Another important part of being a customer representative is having diligence. You have to be able to keep records. If you deal with the same customer over time, you will need to keep notes of their problems or concerns. If you do not have them, it will reflect poorly on you and your company.
Let's face it, sometimes, customers can just be a big pain in the butt. This is especially true when you have to deal with rude customers all day. They can really wear your patience. However, it is important to keep your patience, because you may be able to change their attitude by serving them politely and patiently. Not only that, but if you finally do snap, you might snap on a customer who didn't deserve it. This would be unfair.
Knowledge of the business or product they are representing is also a key part of taking good care of the customer. It is very frustrating for someone to call a representative and to ask questions about a product only to find that the representative has no clue what is going on.
In this industry, there are fewer examples of good customer service than there are of bad customer service. It is a very trying service, so, many representatives get snappy or are just lazy. When you do not deal with someone face-to-face, it is easy to not care about their problem. However, doing this will leave your customer unsatisfied, meaning they may take their business somewhere else.
The number one thing you must keep in mind when being a customer service representative is keeping your customer happy. Whether they are being polite or not, you must be polite. Whether they are knowledgeable or not, you must be. Regardless of their attitude, you must act professional, polite, and be as helpful as possible.
