13 tips how to improve your customer support

[Music]
customer service cheat sheet for live
chat operators with examples of
responses this video is made by provide
support live chat team our company has
been successfully operating in the
market in the field of customer service
solutions since 2003 and we've gained
tons of knowledge about customer
relations we want to share our knowledge
with you and bring a personal touch to
online communication here are some
guidelines on how a customer service
agent can best handle the major key
points in a live chat conversation the
topics are how to start a chat how to
ask for more information or verify your
understanding of the question or problem
how to say I don't know how to transfer
how to put on hold
how to admit fault how to say no
how to follow up
how to handle complaints and angry
customers how to deliver on a promise
how to handle several clients
simultaneously how to treat those who
contacted the wrong chat how to wrap up
the call
how to start the chat use a proper
greeting
it may sound very basic but actually not
everyone does it right greeting is
important as it sets the tone for the
whole conversation quite often the
service agents fall into one of the two
extremes either their greeting is too
short and informal or too long and
formal both of which betray the lack of
respect and concern for the customer
greeting should be professional while
remaining friendly and personal at the
same time a good example would be hello
John thank you for calling provide
support how may I help you or you can
start with a shorter but more personal
greeting hello John
how are you doing we like this one as it
works really well many customers are
actually surprised by this question in a
good way probably because support
elsewhere rarely asks them this question
it instantly sets the rep on friendly
terms with the customer and the
conversation becomes less formal and
template-based
while keeping a business tone after the
customer confirms his well being you can
move on with perfect I'm really glad to
hear that how may I help you today or
you can express your sympathy if the
customer is not doing well I'm really
sorry to hear that is there anything I
can do to help you
if the customer starts the chat with a
description of his problem you can
respond in the following way hello Mary
I understand the problem and will be
happy to help you let's see what I can
do
if the customer did not provide his name
you can ask for it it will show your
concern and attention hello may I have
your name please once you have the name
make sure to spell it correctly how to
ask for more information or verify your
understanding of the question or problem
to avoid any confusion and a long chat
make sure you understand the customers
issue before giving your instructions or
offering solutions there are many ways
you can ask for clarification politely
let me check if I have this right let me
see if I have this correct you want me
to or you would like for me to if I
understand you correctly tell me more
about so you are saying that correct
this is what I understand you are
telling me
how to say I don't know
if you don't know the answer to the
customers questions be frank about it
however avoid using the too
straightforward I don't know
here's how you can play it out nice that
is a good question let me find out for
you
I'm not sure but let me find out for you
I'm sorry I don't have the information
on that may I put you on hold for a few
minutes I will clarify this with our
manager
I'm sorry I don't have the information
on that may I have your email or phone
number I will find this out with our
accounting department and get back to
you shortly
I'm sorry this question would be out of
my expertise but Daniel from the tech
support department will be able to help
you would you like me to connect you
with him
to transfer it is no secret that most
customers do not enjoy being transferred
so if you have to transfer do it only
when it's absolutely necessary otherwise
try to find out the information for
yourself before transferring inform the
customer why and to whom their call is
being transferred
Jerry I am gonna connect you with Steve
from the shipping department he will be
able to help you with this problem
jerry let me transfer you to the
marketing department steve will be able
to answer your question
it is also important to notify the
person to whom you are transferring the
chat give them the customer's name and
explain the nature of their question or
problem
to put on hold if you need some time to
investigate the problem ask the
customers permission to put them on hold
would you mind holding on for a few
minutes while I'm checking this with our
administrator
may I put your call on hold while I'm
checking your odor can I put you on hold
for a moment
on receiving their consent make sure to
thank the customer before leaving the
chat when you are back thank them again
for waiting thank you for waiting or
thank you for holding I have the details
of your latest payment let me send it
over to you
if you feel resolution of their problem
is going to take a longer time ask the
customer whether they would like you to
call or email them back rather than
waiting on hold
gen-i we'll need to put you on hold for
a few minutes to run a few tests and see
if i can reproduce the problem would
that be okay with you or would you
prefer I call or email you back with the
details
if you have been away for too long and
the customer has been inquiring about
your absence
make sure to apologize to them I'm sorry
to keep you waiting I have managed to
reproduce the problem here's what needs
to be done to fix it how to admit fault
be direct and clear about the fact that
you made a mistake if it is your
personal mistake say that Rob I'm sorry
I made a mistake and gave you the wrong
price for this item the correct price is
if it is someone else's mistake say that
it was our mistake attributing it to the
company rather than to the individual
person who is not present in the chat
room with you John I'm sorry we made a
mistake and sent the invoice to the
wrong email address which is why you did
not receive it we are going to resend it
now to the correct address and add a few
more days to your subscription to make
up for our error how to say no saying a
blank note to the customer may appear
quite rude the best approach is to use
the compliment sandwich a great tactic
which John Riedel beautifully describes
in his article simple tips on having the
hard conversation this tactic is
basically about adding two positive
statements on either side of a bad one
for example if the customer is asking to
be connected with a team member who is
not available for a chat you would
usually say I'm sorry Joan is not
available right now may I help you with
something
first you express empathy that the
customers desire cannot be fulfilled at
the moment I'm sorry then you make the
actual negative statement Joan is not
available
after that you complete your response
with something positive an offer of help
may I help you with something
you could extend this to deal with more
complicated situations here are a few
more examples I'm sorry we cannot lower
the price for this item any further but
we have a similar product which is
priced cheaper because it doesn't have
the built in face recognition would you
be interested to take a look at it
I'm sorry we don't have this feature at
the moment we do intend to add it to our
service and we can notify you when it
has been done would you like to receive
an email update
how to follow up if you promise the
customer to call or email them back it
is desirable that you do that within a
24 hour time frame even if you don't
have an answer to their question yet
Rob I just wanted to let you know that
we are still investigating the problem
we don't have a solution yet I will
email you as soon as we have found the
bug
jerry we haven't been able to complete
the transition of your account yet due
to a small database issue on our server
we are fixing this now and hope to have
everything ready for you by tomorrow we
will keep you posted
if you missed a chat request then have
the customers contact information your
client will no doubt appreciate it if
you follow up with them right away
hello Tom I'm sorry we have missed your
chat is there anything we can help you
with
how to handle complaints and angry
customers start by showing sincere
sympathy and understanding acknowledge
the customer's feelings I am really
sorry this has happened let me see if I
can find a solution to it I'm really
sorry about that tell me what happened
I'm sorry you're having this problem
let's see if there's anything we can do
to help the situation
express your willingness to help commit
til you find a solution or compromise to
deal with the issue
I'm sorry you are not happy with our
product or with your purchase let's see
what we can do to make things right
I'm sorry you didn't receive your
purchase on time let me find out what I
can do to make it up to you
I'm sorry this has happened I understand
your frustration and I will do my best
to help you
how to deliver on a promise sometimes it
happens that a customer has been
promised something which is impossible
to accomplish either through lack of
knowledge or misinformation instead of
direct denial we could not have promised
anything like that reassure the customer
that you are going to verify that which
he had been promised and offer him
apologies if there was a mistake
let me put you on hold for just a few
moments and verify this information if I
understand you correctly you were
promised
it appears there's been a mistake let's
figure out how we can resolve this
how to handle several clients
simultaneously
when you have to deal with several
clients at the same time do not give the
impression that you are rushed if it is
necessary take the extra time for
yourself by telling the customer that
you are going to check the information
for him and asking him to hold for a few
minutes
the customer is not concerned with
slower responses or minor delays they
are concerned with lack of your
attention it is okay to make them wait
if you first ask their permission for it
jerry let me review your transaction
history please bear with me for a few
more minutes
if your responses are delayed and the
customer inquires about it never tell
them you were dealing with other clients
the customer should always have the
impression that he is the only one you
are dealing with at that moment if there
are delays attribute them to your
checking up the information for the
client
I'm sorry for the delay on my part I am
pulling up your account details please
allow me another minute I'll be back
with you right away
how to treat those who contacted the
wrong chat
it is important to treat all colors with
respect even if they are not your
clients or potential customers most
people who are contacting you by Chad
have some sort of online presence and if
you are rude with them or reluctant to
give them a clear answer they can leave
false negative comments about your
company in online forums or on social
media to avoid such situations make sure
to come up with a friendly response to
such callers
I'm sorry you've reached the wrong
company this is we are not affiliated
with
if they apologized for having reached
the wrong chat reassure them everything
is okay and in the chat no problem thank
you for your call have a good day
if they insist that you should still
help them don't let yourself be trapped
into an endless chat give the user a
reason why you cannot help them and
close the chat room
I'm sorry we would not be the right
company to help you with your question
we don't deal in we appreciate your
contact have a good day
how to wrap up the call
ask if you can be any further assistance
if any further action is to be taken
clarify what was agreed upon
Mary is there anything else I might help
you with today
John is there anything else I can do for
you has agreed I will post the note to
our billing department regarding your
payment and we will follow up with you
on that by tomorrow
thank the customer for calling your chat
line invite them to chat again and the
conversation with a definite goodbye or
any other expression which leaves no
doubt that the conversation has ended
if any other questions arise please feel
free to contact us at any time thanks so
much for calling goodbye thank you for
chatting with us today have a nice day
goodbye
who should hang up first preferably let
the person calling hang up first
if they forget to close the chat room
right away keep half a minute pause
after your last message and then close
the chat room
so there you go we hope you find these
recommendations useful just a quick
final tip you can turn some of these
phrases into canned responses in your
live chat client and save time to
yourself and your operators typing this
over thanks for watching we hope this
video was helpful if you want to read
more useful tips please visit our blog
on provide support com