By Anthony W. Hill & Course Technology1 Chapter 3: Customer Service Skills for User Support

By Anthony W. Hill & Course Technology2 Communication Skills and Customer Service Customer Service Ethics –Dissatisfied Customers generate Lengthy calls – the call might took lots of time and the time wasted can be used for entertaining other customers. Repeated callbacks – unsatisfied customers will get to you every time until they are satisfied. Complaints and ill-will among clients – your company reputation will get worse if they tell to each other.

By Anthony W. Hill & Course Technology3 Communication Skills and Customer Service Customer Service Ethics –Dissatisfied Customers generate Rerouting of calls to higher-level support specialists – instead of forwarding their problem to the customer support, they might go beyond that. Product returns for refund – this will reduce the profit for the company.

By Anthony W. Hill & Course Technology4 Communication Skills and Customer Service Customer Service Ethics –In pursuit of customer service excellence, support staff members: Provide users with information, service or a solution. Explain to customers what can be done for them if a problem can’t be solved. Treat customers and potential customers with respect

By Anthony W. Hill & Course Technology5 Communication Skills and Customer Service Customer Service Ethics –In pursuit of customer service excellence, support staff members: Communicate to callers how long they are likely to be on hold and provide time estimates on how long it will take to solve a problem. Return calls when promised, even if just to report that no progress has been made.

By Anthony W. Hill & Course Technology6 Key Concepts To be an articulate User Support Specialist –Listen Carefully –Build Understanding –Speak Effectively Sincere Greeting Scripts Appropriately (Prepared sequence of questions) Tone and Style Effectively

By Anthony W. Hill & Course Technology7 Call Management Strategy CMS is a collection of tools, techniques, and approaches that successful support specialists use to move through a call effectively and efficiently. Goals are: 1.Provide user with information he or she needs 2.Manage stress levels for both the caller and the support specialist 3.Ensure that the call progresses from start to finish in an effective and efficient way 4.Make the user more self-reliant

By Anthony W. Hill & Course Technology8 Ask goal-directed diagnostic questions Be honest Say “I don’t know” when you don’t know Apologize Say thank you Use call management, not caller management Teach self-reliance Call Management Strategy (cont’d)

By Anthony W. Hill & Course Technology9 Strategies for Difficult Calls Calls: –From those who complain –From Power Users –That get off track –Who are upset or angry –Who abuse –Who won’t talk –Who won’t stop talking or hang up