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Written by: Debra Carpenter, Marketing Director at Conversational
Debra Carpenter is the Marketing Director at Conversational. Debra writes for The Huffington Post, Salesforce, Forbes, and SuperbCrew.com. Conversational is a virtual receptionist and virtual assistant provider for small businesses. Find Debra on Twitter: @hello_itsdeb;
Receptionists are often the faces of a company’s customer service department. They are on the frontlines of the company by answering incoming calls, making outgoing calls, managing appointments and schedules, and taking messages.
Receptionists work in most industries and with customers of all types – from gregarious to nefarious.
We asked our team of experienced virtual receptionists to share their top 5 customer service tips with SuperbCrew readers. These tips help our receptionists provide excellent customer service, and they’ll do the same for you.
Top 5 customer service tips
Give your name when answering the phone.
Greeting a caller with your name and the company you represent is a great way to start a customer service interaction. It identifies you to the caller, makes you sound friendly, and confirms that they’ve reached the right place.
Additionally, by giving your name, it’s easier for callers to get back in touch if they need further help or if there’s a problem with the service they received.
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Smile when you speak.
A warm smile is a great way to come across as friendly and helpful, two things customers always appreciate. Whether your customers are in the room with you or not, smiling throughout the interaction is a good idea.
Studies have shown that callers can tell when a person is smiling over the phone – smiling can actually give your voice a positive inflection that tells callers and visitors that you’re happy to serve them.
Keep a customer service notebook on your desk.
Pick up a notebook next time you’re out and consider it your customer service notebook. Keep it at your desk and use it to jot down notes, reminders, call scripts, troubleshooting tips, etc. You can even write down some positive or motivational quotes throughout your notebook for an extra boost during difficult interactions.
Our virtual receptionists use notebooks like these to keep track of all sorts of things – nicknames callers prefer, common solutions to customer problems, company information (hours, services, etc.) and more. It’s one way they go above and beyond in customer service.
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Know when to exit a long-winded conversation.
When you’re in the business of offering great customer service, the last thing you want to do is cut someone off in conversation. But long conversations that veer into personal territory or are simply irrelevant to customer service only ends up hurting your company by keeping you away from other callers who truly need help.
Check out this guide to handling the different types of callers for tips on exiting a long-winded conversation with “The Rambler.”
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Play hold music for callers.
Internal studies have shown us that callers across industries prefer music over promotions or silence when they’re on hold. There are a few reasons for this. First, customers reported that they felt they were on hold for a shorter time when we played music (even classical!).
They also reported that they were in a better mood (rated on a scale of 1-5) after hearing hold music than promotions or silence. On-hold promotions can be a good idea sometimes – just don’t let them loop too often, or the caller will get frustrated and hang up.
If you start using just one or two of these tips, you’ll notice that your customer’s level of satisfaction is slowly rising. Making the decision to offer great customer service is easy, but without a plan of action, it’s only a wish. Try these receptionist-approved tips to offer better customer service to your customers and callers, and remember, do it with a smile!
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