What is customer service?
Customer service is a company department whose mission is to respond to customer requests, questions and problems. Customer service can be accessed by different means, such as telephone, email, social networks or even chatbots. Customer service is generally responsible for handling customer complaints and complaints, but may also be called upon to obtain information about the company’s products or services, or to make reservations or purchases.
What is a company’s customer service for?
Customer service is a key element of the relationship between the company and its customers. It plays an important role in customer satisfaction and loyalty. Effective customer service can be a real asset to the business and contribute to its long-term success.
The different customer service missions
Customer advice
Customer service must be able to provide a quick and efficient response to customer inquiries and resolve their problems satisfactorily. He must also be able to give advice and recommendations to customers on the company’s products and services, and direct them to the right people or services when necessary.
Propose solutions
Customer service must be able to work collaboratively with other departments within the company, such as sales, logistics or production, to find solutions to customer problems. He must also be able to collect and analyze data on customer requests and complaints, in order to detect trends and implement actions to improve the quality of service.
Listen to customers
Customer service must be professional and courteous, knowing how to listen and understand the needs and expectations of customers. He is responsible for the good image of the company. He must be able to handle difficult situations in a calm and diplomatic manner, and know how to find compromises acceptable to all parties.
How to set up customer service?
Customer service can be provided by company employees, or outsourced to a specialized company. In the latter case, it is important that the company ensures that the service provider has sufficient resources and skills to ensure quality service.
Internalized customer service
There are several steps to follow to establish effective customer service:
- Define your goals: What are your customer service goals (e.g. increase customer satisfaction, reduce churn, etc.)?
- Choose your communication channel: options include phone, live chat, email, social media, etc.
- Train your customer service team: Make sure your team is qualified and able to effectively handle your customer requests.
- Establish procedures and protocols: define the steps to follow to manage your customer requests, including how to handle complaints and claims.
- Measure and analyze your customer service performance: Use tracking and measurement tools to evaluate the effectiveness of your customer service and determine areas for improvement.
- Continuously improve your customer service: use the data collected to identify weaknesses in your customer service and implement action plans to correct them.