For a large number of companies the current economic situation is already having a detrimental impact and there is a lot of political rhetoric about the current wave of Industrial Action when the financial environment is already bleak. There is always a knock on effect, it is not just the customers of the company affected […]
As cuts continue to be made in both the public and private sector, customer-facing staff will come under increasing pressure to deliver services in times of heightened emotions.
In order to avoid confrontation, and to better manage relationships (business or personal), below are some insights into when or not to be assertive, aggressive or submissive.
Assertiveness derives […]
During our customer service training courses we encourage our delegates to put into action 6 essential rules of customer care.
These crucial rules are –
Be ‘customer driven’, not ‘process-led’ or ‘task focused’
Be flexible where you can be
Acknowledge the customer’s perspective
Work hard to understand your customer’s need and situation
See the bigger picture and not just the task in hand
Give a […]
Have you ever been served by someone either over the phone or face-to-face and thought to yourself “how an earth did you get through an interview for this job?” and “why did you apply for this job in the first place when you are clearly not suited to it?”
You know the type of person – […]
GA Training’s head office is in Barnet, Hertfordshire and our local customer service team has just scooped the title of customer service champion for London in the Institute of Customer Services annual awards.
Sharon Dyra has been a member of Barnet Council’s customer service team for the past 11 years and in her own words she […]
When you call someone at a call centre their ability to keep you informed as to what is happening is vital.
We have all been in the situation when a customer service advisor puts you on hold and you are simply left there hanging on. This is even more disconcerting when you are on hold and there is no music. Annoying though hold music often is, it is also quite reassuring as it lets you know that you are still connected to the number that you called.
What is even worse is when you are placed on hold but there is absolutely no reason given for this. When this happens you have no idea how long the person will be or even if they have simply placed you on hold to go to the toilet or finish their lunch!!
There are correct procedures for dealing with people on hold, which can be implemented very easily. Of course every company or organisation will have a slightly different approach to this but if you follow the procedures below you will go a long way towards dealing with your customers effectively when you need to put them on hold.
The following techniques are the ones that we recommend on our customer service training courses – they are not set in stone but provide a best practice guide:-
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