VIRTUAL TRAINING

CUSTOMER
SERVICE
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 BASIC CUSTOMER SERVICE PRINCIPLES

1. Treat customer with respect

• Communicate with your customers the same way would like to be treated. Always speak
professionally and address customers appropriately.
2. Acknowledge customer feelings

• Remember customers are human beings too, empathize with them. Empathy is an act of
understanding, being aware of and being sensitive to the feelings, thoughts and experiences of
another person without having to fully experience the emotions communicated by the other
person, regardless of whether the feelings are distressing or pleasant.
1. Apologize when necessary
• Always apologize for any mistake or inconvenience caused by the company you work for, but
never apologize for something that is not our fault.
2. Say please and thank you
• When ask for anything from your costumer always say PLEASE, and when your customer
gives you anything, always say THANK YOU.
3. Use the costumer’s proper name
• Always address your costumer with the last or first name depending on how the costumer
wants to be addressed. Remember, the sweetest music to anyone’s ear is his own name.
4. Be patient with difficult customers
• Remember, customers are calling you because they need your help, they may be angry or
frustrated so we must be patient at all times.
5. Ask permission to place the call on hold or transfer
• There are times we need to place the customer on hold or transfer them to the proper
department, make sure we ask their permission before doing so.
6. Use proper pace, voice, tone and volume
• Pace is the speed of our speech, tone is the emotion involved in conveying our message and
volume is how loud we say it. Always speak in a friendly and accommodating tone, pace,
volume and suited for the customer and their situation. Smile! It takes 72 muscles to frown
only 14 to smile. A smile can be felt on the phone.
7. Assure the customer you will help them.
• Customers call because they need your help. Win their trust and confidence by assuring them
you can help them.
8. Do all you can to help the customer.
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 • There are times when the customer’s situation is very difficult, use your resources such as
references, other departments or your supervisor to resolve the issue.
9. Listen to and understand the costumer’s questions
• Communication is a two way process, a sender and a receiver. Make sure that you understand
fully the question or message of your customer to effectively give the appropriate solution.
10. Allow a customer to completely explain the issue

• Always be a good listener, and do not interrupt your customer while he is speaking. Never
assume what the customer feels you are concerned.
11. Use probing questions to identify the need.
• If you do not understand the customer’s issue, do not be afraid to ask questions. This will also
make the customer feel you are concerned.
a. Open-ended questions
Designed to encourage a full and meaningful answer using the customer’s knowledge and or
feelings, usually starts with “WHY”,”HOW” or phrases such as “Can you tell me about….”,
“How do you fell about….?” Examples: “How can I help you today?”
b. Close-ended questions
Obtain clarification and maintain control, questions answerable by “YES” or “NO”,
choosing between two options or the answer is specific, usually with is, are, can, may, could,
should, do or does. Ex. “Are you currently using your phone?”
c. Confirming questions
Designed to summarize the customer’s understanding of what was explained by you. These
questions can also rectify any confusion that may have occurred during the conversation. Ex:
“If I understand you correctly….Am I correct?” “Just be sure we are on the same page…Is
that correct?”
12. Keep the costumer informed of what you are doing
• As you resolve the customer’s issue, you may need to make changes on their account, make
sure you inform the customer on each step you do on the system to resolve their issue.
13. Talk and type simultaneously
• Multi-tasking is one of the skills a call center agent must practice every day. You must learn
how to type and speak to your customer at the same time so that you do not waste the
customer’s time.
14. Handle all customer issues in one call
• Customers call for different concerns; sometimes there may be more than one. Resolve all
issues in one call so that customer does not have to call again. This is will lead to customer

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 satisfaction.
15. Be friendly, but keep the conversation focused
• We must treat our customers like friends, initiating a friendly conversation can make the
costumer feel comfortable, however, we must always focus on the original issue that the
customer has called us about.
16. Provide clear and direct information

• Make sure that all information requested by the costumer is conveyed clearly so that they
understand completely and never beat around the bush or give unnecessary information that
will waste their time.
17. Don’t use jargon or technical terms that the customer will not understand.
• Remember that your customer is not familiar with all the technical terms you have learned
as CSR/TSR. Make sure you translate all this information into simple and understandable
words.
18. Use correct grammar and no slang
• Slang is different in each part of the world, so if you use. American slangs from a certain
region in the US other countries or regions in the US may not understand you. Make sure you
use proper grammar so that the message you are trying to convey is not confusing.
19. Recap all your actions at the end of every call
• At the end of each call, it would be best to summarize all the changes you have made on the
customer’s account and all of the resolutions that you have discussed with the customer.
20. Provide the most recent accurate information
• Information changes every day, always ensure that whatever information you give your
customer is the latest.
21. In record all information for each call
• At the end of each call , you must record all information in regards to the customer’s issue, the
resolution and the action taken. This will help the next CSR/TSR when the customer calls
again.
22. Personalize every call
• It is important to note: The things that frustrate and alienate you as a customer are very the
same things that frustrate and alienate your customers.
• The opposite is also true: The things that impress you and cause you to do more business with
the company are the same things that will impress your customers and encourage their
return.
• The key to effective customer service is to treat every caller as you personally would like to be treated.
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23. Use positive focus in your words.
• Many times, without us knowing it, we contribute to negative responses from customers by
using the wrong words. Being aware of our words, can benefit you when speaking with
customers on the phone.
Example:

• “What you need to do is I don’t know, we can’t do that, like I said, I told you, It’s not my
fault, there is nothing I can do for you, you aren’t listening to me, It’s a regulation”.
24. Use courtesy words that EMPOWER
Examples:
• “I would be happy to help you”
• “That’s a good question: let me check on that for you”.
• “Here is what I can do for you”
• “I apologize for that happening to you”
• “I am here to help you.”
• “I can see how frustrating that can be”

TYPES OF COSTUMERS

1. The Assertive/ Demanding Customer

• The bottom-line is “don’t get in the swamp with the alligator”. A customer of this type can
be easily judged as the one who talks business, wastes no time in exchanging pleasantries
and does not believe in relationships. His approach is straightforward and logical. Dare not
commit any apparent mistake for this customer keeps looking for chances to gain control of
the call and if he gets you on the wrong foot then hell might let loose. An assertive customer
is quick to show authority and demands quick redressal of his concerns.
• Some examples of very common lines are:
a. I want this fixed now.
b. I don’t want to know how and why, just tell me when?
c. I can’t wait, let me talk to your supervisor.
• Some of the skills required to successfully handle this type of customer are:
a. Get the details
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 b. Relate the concerns
c. Be professional

• Best practices:
a. Be direct in your approach, the agent’s assertiveness should be just a level below the costumer’s
the catch here is matching the costumer’s style of communication rather than completing with it.
b. Use close-ended questions to a maximum while keeping non-business conversation to a
minimum.
c. Remain courteous.

2. The Angry Customer

• Angry callers are a challenge even to the most experienced agent. The task can be very
difficult but, it gives a great feeling in satisfying an irate or angry customer. It feels like a
successful matador after finishing an angry customer’s call. When an agent is successful in
pacifying the irate customer-he has actually added two customers to the represented
company’s clientele.

• A customer will be angry mainly because of two reasons

a. Some kind of a service deficiency like late shipment of ordered goods, overpricing,

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 frequent follow-up calls etc.
b. Some misunderstanding on the part of costumer or some communication gap.

• Some of the techniques to achieve call success with the angry customer are:
a. Cool the temperatures:
b. Relatively apology is very general in content.
• Examples:
• Mrs. Watson, I understand how you feel and I’m sorry for that.
• Well Sir, I apologize for the confusion and assure you of my best efforts to resolve
the situation.
• Ma’am, I don’t blame you for being upset about the situation. Let’s see if we can
correct the problem.
a. Clarify the situation.
b. Be calm and be patient.
c. Keep commitment. Don’t promise the moon, remember the angered customer is
watching your stand very keenly and would go to extent if he draws conclusion of
you having a non-serious and unprofessional attitude.

• Best practices:
a. Concentrate on getting the root cause of customer ire rather than his emotions.
b. Appease the costumer by offering relative apology first and then specific apology,
if necessary.
c. Propose an agreeable solution and make sure it works, follow it up personally.
d. Remain courteous; never be rude even if the customer is wrong on blaming you or
the company.

3. The Passive Customer

• It is easier to provide service for a passive customer. They are generally satisfied customers
who have a time-test relationship with the company. Experience has taught them that they
will receive a better service by just asking for it rather than bullying or complaining. They
are patient, understand the agent’s point of view and co-operate with the agent to the
maximum. But one mistake is frequently made while attending passive customers is that
agents take them for granted.
a. Get friendly. A passive customer demonstrates an attitude which is something

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 between formal and informal.
b. Ask for feedback. This customer needs to be asked periodically about the service
level.

• Best practices:
a. Never take silence as satisfaction. The patience level of a passive customer is
high but not insurmountable.
b. The passive customer doesn’t panic or press the fire alarm before leaving, he just
vanishes leaving everybody in astonishment and of course, regret.

4. The Talkative Customer

• A healthy conversation is always welcome but the agents have to keep tab on the call targets
and should try to apply brakes to an unending conversation. The talks may start from
something

• The three skills helpful in managing a talkative customer are:

a. Ask closed questions. The short answers to such questions would act as a speed-
breaker and keep the customer with limited scope of answering questions in a
brief and concise manner.
b. Use space control. Providing that little space in between conversation would
prevent the talkative customer to wander off to unexplored territories.
c. Provide minimal response. Don’t encourage on invite unnecessary conversation.

5. The Analytical/Detailed oriented Customer

The detail-loving customer exhibits his love for accuracy, record-keeping, and demands the same
from the agent. More often than not, you will identify this customer by his recall of the earlier calls with
your organizations. He would give the agent’s name he spoke with, the subject of conversation and the
solutions arrived at.
a. Get your facts right. Remember that this customer has all the details necessary and there
is no luck trying to make him satisfied with incomplete, inaccurate details.
b. Think before speaking. Presentation of facts should be made in a clear and concise way
and the agent should ensure that there is no information distortion, and the customer has
understood it in the same way as intended.
c. Document for future sake. Once the agent has taken the call successfully, care should be

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 taken to documents the interaction properly to provide the data for future use.
• Best practices:
a. Don’t try to avoid questions or take shortcuts in answering to the queries posed by
this type of customer.
b. The answers should be accurate and told in matter- of- factly approach

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