customer service | Imamother

Tamiri

Thu, Jul 10 2008, 9:22 am

For me, it's important that the CSR understands what my problem/issue is. Too frequently these days, we get people in foreign countries (those other than the U.S.) who just don't get it! Also, we too frequently get less than stellarly brilliant CSRs in the U.S. who are just... dense.
So, to me a good CSR listens carefully and makes sure to understand what is going on, before moving forward (or forwarding my call, as it were).

amother

Thu, Sep 11 2014, 1:42 pm

I used to head up a customer service dept geared toward a certain 'niche' that the store I worked for was targeting.

I dealt with mainly frum people so thank G-d I didn't really have too many encounters where I have to say I felt like I had to smile while the customer was yelled at me and I had to say they were right. Actually bH I don't think that ever happened!

-Always be honest and upfront. If you are shipping, give realistic shipping times, don't assure you can have something there when it can't be there. If you are waiting on a product to come in and people are pre-ordering, give a realistic timeframe when the product will come in. NEVER PROMISE! Because guess what..things go wrong and don't always come on time.
If it's the winter and there's a snowstorm in the forecast allow for that (you may not be available since your kids will be home, or UPS may not be able to deliver). Also be aware of legal holidays as the companies don't always ship then.

(sorry if that's not relevant if you are not doing any shipping)

-Figure out your policy for putting things on 'hold' for someone. If you only have 1-2 left and stock and some one wants it but has to ask her husband first, let her know that you can't hold it for her (or determine the policy you want to make for this)

-I think a major part of why my customers referred friends was because we really took achriyus for the products after they were bought, even years later. If something broke and they needed help with the warranty, we helped them with that. I'm not sure what your item is and it's not always going to be shayach to give refunds (the product I was dealing with didn't get refunded, the issue was sent to the manufacturer and they dealt with it.) We kept track of all orders and invoices so we could easily reissue an invoice.

-It's okay to say I don't know, I'll get back to you

Lots of Hatzlacha I hope the business will booom!!

I just reread your original post - if you are offering a service not a product, I would say stick to your appt times to get customers coming back. I am very frustrated when I go out of my way to make a service appointment with some one who is then backed up (waxing, buying from the home, nails, etc). I made an appt b/c I don't have that extra 15 minutes to wait!