Training is important and tools are important. Support and encouragement certainly helps. But those who are the most successful at great customer service have a desire that wells up from inside them to take care of the person they are helping in every way.
There are the obvious things such as being pleasant, courteous, helpful, honest and communicate clearly. These things can be done without the internal desire and still deliver good customer service. These things can really be accomplished even by those who don’t like being in customer service. They are simply good manners.
Delivering great customer service goes beyond the basics. Just as in any skill, the great do things that the good don’t. Jim Zorn, former NFL quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks identified one of the characteristics about NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver, Steve Largent, that made him great. This was that he ran precise routes.
There are a lot of people who play the position of receiver in American football. Few of those ever make it to the NFL. Those who do make it to the NFL are good. No doubt about that. They are very talented at what they do.
There are fewer yet that are great. Steve Largent was a great player because he did what the good players did not do.
In customer service, precision is just as important as it is in running routes in football. Without precision customer service comes up short.
Some areas that precision can make a noticeable difference would be:
Listening to and understanding what the customer is telling you
Repeating back to the customer as feedback what they told you to get a confirmation that you understood correctly
Word choice and tone of voice during your communication with the customer
Including the details of this communication to your teammates
Correctly completing all the necessary documentation in a timely manner
Explaining the process and what was performed in a simple manner that the customer will understand
Anticipating possible obstacles so they can be resolve or eliminated before the customer is even aware
There are many more areas as great customer service is a dynamic activity that has more facets to it than a diamond. Hopefully, these few thoughts from a high level view will start your thought process going for ways you can move your customer service from good to great!