Excellent Customer Service on the Web
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Good customer service skills are required in almost every business, but especially so on the Internet. Good customer service maintains current customers and helps attract new ones, so it's important that you develop and refine effective skills that will assist you in meeting the demands of customer service. While good customer service involves a wide array of skills and experience, there are several skills every person should have.
Product Knowledge:
The best customer service representatives are the ones who have a firm understanding of their company's products and services. These representatives understand the processes and procedures and can easily explain them to others. Whether they have obtained this information through the company's continuing education programs or hands-on company experience, they are able to assist customers quickly and efficiently.
A majority of Internet sales are made up of training systems and software. This presents a unique problem over brick-and-mortar, physical based products. Customers are often under-educated in basic conputer techniques such as opening PDF files, downloading .zip files and other ways to deliver electronic products. This makes it more crucial that the employees of any Internet company are well versed in how the product is sold and delivered, how to walk through its use, and the practical applications that it can be used for.
Communication and Listening Skills:
Strong communication and listening skills complement product knowledge and enable you to provide clear instruction and assistance. Your verbal communication should be clear and include proper word selection. Your tone should be pleasant and friendly. You must listen to the customer, ensure that you clearly understand the question or concern, and respond in an effective manner. On the Internet, a majority of customers will contact the company via telephone when they have problems. Exceptional telephone skills will be required to solve these problems effectively. This includes being able to pace your explanations, not talking to fast and not talking in ‘jargon' or words that only insiders are aware of. This will confuse the customer quickly and turn into a bad customer service experience.
The Internet business world requires strong written communications as well. Your written language should be free of grammatical errors, include the proper punctuation and read in a clear and concise manner. This includes proper wording on email instructions, autoresponder messages and on webpages such as the Terms of Service. Writing in clear, concise wording will avoid costly mistakes and headaches later.
Customer service skills will make you more desirable as an employee. Learn the skills you need in the fastest amount of time.
