We’ve all been stuck on the end of a support call after a thirty minute on-hold wait, only to be met with a less-than-enthusiastic retail customer service employee. This sort of experience doesn’t make us feel great as customers and it certainly won’t drive us to call back in the future.
In fact, according to a Fonolo survey, only 26% of surveyed consumers feel the state of customer services as a whole is good.
So how can this be improved?
You should deliver support via several channels, for example phone calls, chat, cobrowse, social media, or email. Whatever the combination, however, you must find customer support staff that customers love. Here’s what to look for when interviewing and how to hire a retail customer service employee that your clients will love.
Empathy
80% of Americans believe smaller businesses deliver superior customer support than larger businesses. Small businesses sometimes make it a priority to show empathy in response to a problem.
Huge corporate companies may emphasize remaining “calm” in response to dissatisfaction. In actual fact, customers respond more positively to someone who shows sympathy.
Of course, you don’t want to respond with anger. At the same time, it’s appropriate to show emotion and empathy when an upset customer contacts your business.
Hire a retail customer service employee who is able to see things from the customer’s point of view. It could be your best hire ever.
Responsive
A study published by Twitter shows that receiving a prompt response to a complaint is a high priority. In fact, customers are willing to pay more money for it.
Furthermore, 41% of surveyed consumers said they’d expect an email back from customer support within 6 hours. Only 36% of businesses respond that quickly. Therefore, hire customer service employees who think fast, work efficiently, and remain courteous.
Using visual engagement as part of your customer service plan allow you to provide effortless assistance. With a visual engagement solution like Glance Panorama, you can gain clarity at the click of a button. Customer service agents connect with customers from the CRM – without compromising privacy. It then becomes easy to guide them through any questions, issues, or problems.
Moreover, customer support agents can use remote control to install software and set preferences. Visual engagement software also allows agents to train customers effectively and efficiently.
Quick-thinking
Using scripts in place of fluent, natural conversation? You may as well replace your customer service team with a group of AIs.
It is so obvious when an employee is using a constricted script to answer complex questions. In fact, 69% of surveyed consumers prefer a more natural dialogue.
Hire a retail customer service employee who is knowledgeable and able to address customers’ problems. Your employees may, at times, need to engage a more technical resource. At the same time, they should be able to deliver information in a engaging, personalized way.
Some offerings, like enterprise resource planning implementation, financial services, or healthcare services, are always going to be complex. You therefore need knowledgeable employees that can field most questions without additional technical support.
Listen to the way in which prospective employees answer interview questions. Their answers also provide clues about their ability to take on unscripted calls.
Respectful
It used to be that an unhappy customer told only a few of their friends about their poor customer support experience. In the world of social media, unhappy customers can reach thousands of people. In fact, 31% of folks surveyed recently say they will post online about the bad customer service they receive.
A customer support representative should demonstrate an awareness of the speed of bad reviews. A retail customer service employee should respect each customer as a powerful, influential force.
Humble
It costs nothing to say you’re sorry. All businesses make mistakes at one point or another. Customer support teams are only human. Your employees need to know when to apologize without blaming another person or a technical glitch.
A good example of this is when Amazon deleted a large number of users Kindle books from their Kindles without prior warning in 2009. Doing so caused outcry and encouraged an influx of complaints. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos published an open apology on the site. Many customers were grateful for his honesty and transparency.
Studies have shown that 37% of customers with complaints are satisfied if they receive a refund or discount. When that same company also includes an apology, that number becomes 74% – a huge leap.
Hire a retail customer service employee that reflects your good name
Customer support representatives are at the forefront of the company. They play a vital role in keeping the business running. A failure to find empathic, speedy, switched on employees can be detrimental in both the short and long term.
Select the best candidates at interview with care. Hire a retail customer service employee that will give your business a good name. A strong team member can potentially boost revenue, improve customer satisfaction, and drive your business to new and exciting places.
Glance visual engagement for customer service
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About Matthew Murray
Matthew Murray is the Managing Director at Notable, a business solutions firm based in Singapore. Notable helps businesses start up in Singapore and matches them with clients looking for their services..
About Glance Networks
Glance helps enterprise organizations create the ultimate customer experience with smart, omni-channel visual engagement solutions based around integrated cobrowse, screen share, and one-way agent video. We are one of the world’s simplest, most reliable and secure platforms that enable companies to see, show and share anything online, creating a frictionless path to great experiences in sales, support and customer service. The result is improved customer satisfaction and loyalty, increased revenue growth and operational savings. From financial services and healthcare to retail and travel and leisure, even the most advanced technology and SaaS organizations – we transform the customer experience for today’s business. Learn More »
