What is customer service?
Finding the right occupation for yourself is a difficult decision to make. Having to decide so early on in life so you can get the correct education is a lot of pressure to put on someone. From being a police officer to a chef, or unrealistically to a famous actor, there are many different jobs available that all have majorly different lists of skills necessary to acquire the occupation. One thing that nearly all careers have in common is the necessity of customer service skills. Customer service is presenting current (and possible) customers with constant support and assistance. Learning how to communicate and cooperate with others is helpful in many ways, even if you have a job that doesn’t necessarily require customer service skills. Though some might find it hard to possess all these skills, there are multiple different forms of customer service skills and ways to gain them.
Communication
Communication is arguably the most important part of customer service. Being able to talk to someone using the correct language and tone seems like an easy thing to do, but it can be a very hard thing to get used to. Though it’s just basic manners, today’s society has become so used to more casual vocabulary, and it can be hard to remember what the appropriate way to speak is in a working environment. When talking to a customer, the main thing to remember is that they aren’t your friend. It might seem like the best way to communicate with them is to be friendly, but being over-friendly just comes off as unprofessional. Using formal phrases like ‘Hi, how can I help you?” is much more professional than saying “Hey, what do you want?”. Even if both phrases are accompanied by a congenial tone, the words speak for themselves, and those words act as if you don’t care. Being personal with a customer is another important aspect. Making small talk, giving appropriate compliments, or just flashing a smile could quickly make the customer’s experience ten times better. Another important thing to remember while speaking to customers is that the customer is always right. Even though customers are not actually always right, and sometimes can be humorously incorrect, they came to you for help, and using an aggressive tone or foul language could bring a bad reputation to your company or yourself. The best thing to do in a case where a customer becomes angry and acts out is to just act professional, unless of course, they become aggressive or violent, then get assistance from another employee/manager, or depending on how hostile they are acting, law enforcement.
Time Management
Time management is a skill that should be developed no matter your age or career. Being on time for events and doing tasks in a timely manner is very important in all cases. Though it’s not necessarily a part of customer service, being on time is a key factor of a job. Not only could you be jeopardizing your own occupation, but you could be delaying your coworkers in completing their own tasks, or if you work somewhere where there are shift changes, you could be forcing them to work later hours and miss possible plans. Time management is also important when working on assignments. Whether it’s an office job where you need to fill out forms and papers, or you’re a Starbucks barista making Pink Drinks all day, no customer should have to wait an excessive amount of time for their product. If there is ever a time when you are unable to get to work when needed, or you cannot complete a task you’ve been assigned, you should be quick to let your supervisor or coworker know about the situation and see if there is any way they can help you. If your “reasoning” for not working efficiently is that you were too caught up on your phone or wanted to take an extended break, that won’t be acceptable. Especially if you work in food or retail service, your phone or any other distractions should not be out unless you or on your break or you got permission from a supervisor during dead hours. Letting a customer stand in line waiting while you’re liking your friend’s most recent Instagram post is not a good look for you or your company. The best thing to do to prevent this is to only use your phone on your breaks or personal times, and not risk upsetting a customer or embarrassing yourself by being inattentive.
Listening
When assisting a customer, your main focus should be on them and what they are asking for. Listening and paying attention to your surroundings is an extremely important part of having a job. If you mishear a customer or another coworker, it could cause the whole system to malfunction. For example, if you work at Carvel and thought a customer said vanilla ice cream with Reese’s Cups, so that’s what you handed them, but turns out they actually said without because they’re allergic to peanuts. A small mistake like mishearing the word “out” could have just put someone in the hospital. While a mistake this severe is rare, and most probable to only occur in the food industry, it shows how important listening is and how it makes or breaks the outcomes of your job.
Emotions
Though whether you are emotional or not won’t necessarily impact your customer service skills, it’s important to know how to control them. Customers can sometimes say really harsh things, and while they might be hard to put behind you because they seem so personal, they aren’t. The majority of the time when customers insult employees it’s just taking out their anger over whatever silly mistake was made, and there’s most likely no truth to it. If someone ever says anything commenting on your looks how you present yourself, or overall any insulting phrase, the first thing to remember is to stay professional. Try to calm them down, and if deserving, respectfully tell them to leave the establishment. If the situation reaches a certain extent, and the customer becomes more agitated than before, get a supervisor (as said when discussing communication). When working, you’re supposed to be a professional and mainly focus on doing your job, but at the end of the day, you’re still human. Things happen, and sometimes our emotions get the best of us. It’s okay to need a minute for yourself while at work if you’re having a bad day, but don’t take out your stress on others, especially customers. You never know what is going on in a person’s life, and one sentence with a rude tone could easily change a customer’s whole day. Be kind to all customers and people around you and make sure to treat them all with respect.
Customer service has a lot of main points besides the few mentioned, but the most important thing: be kind! No one wants to have a bad experience with a customer, and a customer doesn’t want to have a bad experience with an employee. Treat people with respect and communicate properly with them.
