Delivering quality products along with exceptional customer service seems like a huge task? To streamline this operation, you need to identify top customer service challenges that your representatives face and their subsequent remedies to win your customers’ hearts!
Fact:Around 70% of a customer’s journey is completely based on how he or she feels they are being treated. (McKinsey)
Usually, customers interact with your service team and this team is the voice of your company. Adapting to the specific needs of the situation, your support team has to present some flexible resolutions. Let’s observe what these challenges are and their solutions in detail.
Table of Content
10 Most Common Customer Service Challenge
When You Interact with Irritated Customers
One thing is for certain; your customer service team will have to deal with irritated or angry customers. Angry customers calls are one of the biggest service challenges for the team.
The customer service agent has to understand that the anger is because the customer is unable to solve the issue despite their attempts.
Efficient customer service executives empathize with them, hear what they have to say, apologize for making them feel that way, and then try to solve the problem and ensure the customer’s issue will be resolved.
Technique to Resolve:
- There is a method developed by Disney, which hosts millions of customers at its parks every year, intended to diminish interactions with enraged customers and bend things around – H.E.A.R.D. technique.
- Another promising approach would be to use a knowledge base like CloudTutorial to make sure an angry customer gets the answer from this robust platform immediately. Our advanced AI-based search will ensure the customer avails the right answer even if there is a typo.
When the Query is Transferred
Sometimes, customer service agents have to transfer the query to another department to better resolve or do more research before giving any solution. This can increase the customer’s frustration as they have to wait more and might have to explain the issue again from the beginning to a new resource.
Explain to the customer why transferring the query is necessary as it will help diagnose the issue better. Also, keep a system where the customer does not need to explain the problem again, but the system already has enough details for the new resource to know precisely what the customer is talking about.
When You Have No Answer to Customers’ Inquiries
Customers call service centers to get answers. If the service agent does not know the resolution, that will raise frustration as the customer is already in a difficult situation; that is why they have called.
Acknowledge the fact that you do not know the answer. Beating around the bush or giving vague answers will not help. Tell them you understand the problem, give me some time, and I will get back to you with the answer.
When You Lack Proper Tools
These days, customers are extremely busy. They demand you to provide the latest technology and tools to simplify transactions and lessen unwarranted communication. Not having the right tools to handle incoming inquiries can become a challenge, even if customer service teams are capable enough to handle it all.
Plan and use the right tools. If you want a quick solution with less use of customer experience agents, you can bank on knowledge base platforms like CloudTutorial. Our advanced analytics can also help you see what questions are asked the most, what your customers are reading, and if they are finding the right info at the right time.
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When You Beat Customers’ Expectations
If you can meet, nay, exceed customer expectations, you will have a high customer satisfaction rate. What customers want is to chat about the problem and it to be resolved quickly.
Be kind to the customers as they might not be able to convey the exact scenario. Let them repeat the problem as many times as they want, to get the whole picture.
Go above the normal interaction and try to solve the issue, even if it means going out of your comfort zone a little. This can guarantee the best customer feedback about the product and your services.When A Feature Requested isn’t Build
Your business has limited resources. A customer demands certain features that are not available or not even in the timeline to be built, keeping the client lingering is not a good option, and rejecting the product idea straight away is a mistake.
Keep the team members informed about what features are on the to-do list. If the requested solutions are in your company roadmap, inform customers about them.
If not, be polite and explain this functionality might not be available in the near future, but you value their feedback and positive response. Give users tips for the available workaround.When Resolution Time is Sluggish
Sometimes an issue resolution takes more time than expected. Debugging an issue takes more than one team and moving the ticket to different departments will slow things down. This can be frustrating for the client as they have to wait more again.
Keep the clients in the loop. Apologize for the delay and explain that the issue needs more debugging.
Tell them precisely what is happening. Keep updating the client about the latest status instead of them pinging you back and asking for an update. Pre-emptive information will always be welcomed.When You Deal in a Crisis Mode
One of the biggest customer service challenges is issues like security breaches, server crashes, or power outages that can cause your business to stop working. This situation can be a challenge for the support team. There can be a significant backlog of incoming inquiries.
Customers want the issue to be resolved quickly, and the customer support team wants to offload the incoming queries quickly.
The best way to handle a crisis is to create a crisis protocol. That way, the customer support team will know exactly what needs to be done beforehand instead of panicking.
- To decrease the load on customer service agents, you need to pre-empt the issue by sending an email/SMS or sharing this info through CloudTutorial’s knowledge base to all customers informing them that there is an outage, and the team is working hard to resolve it.
- If you have a call system, the same audio message should be played when a customer is waiting for an agent. That way, the customer will know the issue is being handled.
When You Let a Customer Go
Sometimes, letting go of a customer becomes inevitable as they are not suited for your business. This can quickly become an intense situation as letting someone go when they are paying you for the services can be a shock. Handling this situation needs a lot of effort and attention.
Stay positive.
Appreciate the client for all the time they have spent with your product. The best action would be to create an article in the knowledgebase explaining the criteria of being your client.
Share the article with the client and explain why they are not the right fit to use the product. Tell them it will do them more harm than benefit them. Take the blame on yourself.
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When You Handle Several Customers
Serving multiple customers at a time can slow things down and frustrate them. Everyone wants their resolution to be done yesterday, so keeping them waiting for an answer can become a stressful situation for both.
The agent needs to make everyone comfortable. Ask them for some time to research their issue or tell them you are doing some steps for them. This can buy you some time to talk to other waiting customers. But do not keep anyone waiting for a long time as it will give the impression that your customer is not valued.
How Do You Handle Angry Customers?
Approximately 93% of users are more expected to make repeat purchases with the brands that deliver better customer service. Your customer service representatives have to deal with unhappy or angry users as part of their roles, and it is certainly not easy. But if they know what to say and how to say it, they can save the situation and earn customer loyalty.
Here are some tips and training activities that you can exercise to handle angry customers and improve customer service:
- Stay calm and carry on.
- Keep in mind that you are interacting with a human being.
- Always keep your voice low.
- Sympathize, empathize, and apologize to build the relationship.
- Exercise reflective listening.
- Be polite and thank the customer.
- React as if your clients are watching.
- Propose a solution and then follow up.
- Understand when it is wise to give in.
- Never take it personally.
- If you commit a callback, please call back.
Conclusion
Customer service is very important in today’s world and age as it can make or break businesses. But, as we see, there are certain customer service challenges that are unavoidable.
If you follow the solutions mentioned above, your customers will feel less frustrated, and you will find ways to exceed their expectations. With CloudTutorial robust knowledge base, create and share info that your rep team needs in order to deliver a great customer experience.
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