How to Achieve Astonishing Customer Service

Failing to deliver on service can be extremely costly. 93% of people will take action following an inadequate experience. US Businesses felt the truth of it reporting a $41 Billion loss each year due to poor customer service.
With a customer satisfaction score of 100% achieved monthly, we asked Lil Lambert Willis from Business Systems’ Customer Service team to share their approach to customer service.

How long have you been working in customer service for?

I have been dealing with customers since the age of 16, so around 8 years. I first started working in customer service in the retail industry and moved to multi-channel B2B customer service 3 years ago.

From your experience, what do customers care most about?

Confidence in knowing that their issue is being taken care of. Here at Business Systems we make a point to ensure our customers know their case is going to be dealt with and that we will not just ignore their call or push them on to another department.
One way we achieve this is by keeping them constantly up to date with the case status and answering any of their queries as quickly as possible.

Issues being resolved. It may seem like a given, but the customers need to know that their issue is important and will actually be resolved in one way or another and will not just be abandoned. It doesn’t matter what type of problem they are having. We always do everything we possibly can to resolve it.

A recent study conducted by CEI showed that only 1% of customers in the US feel that vendors consistently meet their expectations. With an astonishing customer satisfaction rate, how do you go about consistently delivering on your customer expectations?

Reactiveness. 98% of our calls are answered within 3 rings. This is important because it shows we are willing to deal with their issues immediately and not make them wait.
Proactiveness – We chase the customer and not the other way around! We arrange visits without having the customer chase us for them. We want to make sure our technology is working well and delivering on its promise.

Listening. It is really important to listen to the customer and know what the problem is and what end result they are trying to achieve. Letting them know we care about achieving their desired outcome helps build trust and confidence.

Communication. We keep the customer informed the entire time. From the moment we get the call we ensure the client is fully aware of the steps we are taking to resolve their issue.

What do you find is the biggest challenge when trying to provide astonishing customer service?

Keeping everyone happy, external and internal customers alike! Everyone wants their cases and projects dealt with as soon as possible. So prioritising and juggling becomes a vital skill. Especially when dealing with multiple cases, locations, skill sets and personalities.

What are the most important thing for you when answering a customer call/request?

Being confident. By conveying confidence the customer knows straight away that their case is going to be dealt with by a professional and that they can trust us.

Being prepared. We have a script that helps us get all the vital information we need to deal with the customer’s query. We don’t rely on it heavily but it gives us a base to ensure we ask all the important questions to get a clearer picture of the situation. Being prepared allows us to show the customer we know what we are doing but, most importantly, we can get the case logged and assigned without having to go back to the customer for more information. It’s important to note that scripts are not rigid. They are there as a guide, checklist, to help you get the right information. It’s very important to add your own personality to it.

If you had 3 top tips when dealing with customers, what would these be?

Empathise. Listen and reassure customers that you are dealing with their issue. Let them know you understand their issue and care about it so they can feel confident you will be dealing with it.

Communicate. Keep the customer updated with the progress of their case so that they don’t need to chase you for it. It’s always better for you to get in touch with an update than the customer having to call back.

Stay in control. Make sure you know what your clients’ SLAs and response times are, so that you can ensure issues are responded to and resolved as quickly as you can within those SLAs.

Interviewer: Jas Matharu (Digital & Social Media Exec, Business Systems (UK) Ltd)
Interviewee: Lil Lambert Willis (Customer Service Coordinator, Business Systems (UK) Ltd)