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8 Rookie Mistakes You’re Making About Customer Service

What if you were making major mistakes at work and you didn’t even know it? 

In a customer service job, it all comes down to how you communicate with your customers. They come to you with problems, and you need to find answers to their burning questions. 

In the course of dealing with customers, you might be making some real “rookie mistakes.” Keep reading to learn what kinds of mistakes we’re talking about and how you can stop making them! 

1. Not Listening Well Enough 

Ever hear the phrase “you hear, but you don’t listen?” Every now and then that describes how we approach customer service. 

If you are distracted by something, or maybe even rushing to solve the customer’s problem, you may not hear all the details related to their issue. Without these details, you can’t really proceed. When this happens, you’ll have to ask the customer to repeat himself, and most customers don’t like to do that. 

Bottom line? Write down all important details when someone calls in, so you know exactly how and where to find the answers, and always be an active listener

2. Guessing Answers 

Speaking of answers, some customer service agents sometimes guess at answers to caller questions. While this may seem like a good idea in the short run, it’s a bad idea in the long run. 

In the short run, you might think guessing at an answer (for example, just repeating something you’ve heard another agent say) is a good way to get someone off the phone. But if this answer ends up being incorrect, the customer will call back and get very frustrated when they get a different response. 

Once more, it all comes down to listening and asking the right questions. Make sure to add that to your daily to-do list

3. Not Asking Follow-Up Questions 

Customers call with problems they need you to solve. Express what the issue is can be a challenge for some customers. In some cases, they may not know the right terminology to even describe the problem. 

In these cases, it’s important to ask follow-up questions and not just focus on making a sale. Beyond getting basic things like their name and account number, you need to get more details on exactly why they have called. Often, this is just a matter of asking the customer to walk you through the steps leading up to the problem. 

By asking just a few follow-up questions, you can solve the issue very quickly, saving time for both you and your customer. 

4. Not Reviewing Caller History 

When you work in a call center, cutting down on your average call time is usually a big priority. If you really want to speed things up, you should check out someone’s call history and records when they call you. 

If your call center uses a CMS, you may have opportunities to explore info about previous calls. Reviewing what this customer has called about before can help you figure out what the issue is, which can shorten your average call time. 

female customer service agent on laptop with head set on smiling

5. Not Having Empathy 

Empathy is an important quality for anyone working in customer service. However, dealing with customers all day can grind your empathy down, as can dealing with very frustrating callers. 

Nonetheless, it’s important to go into each new call with both an open mind and an open heart. Openly express empathy when a customer tells you their problems, and don’t be afraid to use language like “you are right” and “I apologize” as customers describe the issue. 

When customers are angry, a bit of empathy can defuse the situation. Even if callers aren’t angry, a bit of empathy will help any call go a bit smoother. If you’re having trouble with empathy, make sure you are practicing self-care

6. Sticking to the Script 

Chances are that you have a script (either from the company or one you made) for dealing with different kinds of calls. While scripts can be useful, you should know there are times you need to ditch the script entirely. 

We recommend not sticking to a script past the first one or two lines and relying instead on certain useful phrases. That’s because each caller’s situation is different. If you try to use the same script on everyone, it will be clear to customers you aren’t paying attention to their particular problems. 

By treating each caller as unique and ditching the script as need be, you can improve your customer service in a big way. 

7. Failure to Deliver on a Promise 

As a customer service agent, one of the things you should always be careful about doing is making promises. That’s because nothing angers customers more than your company breaking a promise! 

This goes back to why you need to listen carefully to customers and ask follow-up questions. Never promise a result unless you can deliver it, and never promise anything until you know exactly what the customer is calling about (this helps you avoid angry callers). 

As long as your company keeps its promises, you will keep your customers. But if you fail to deliver on them, it’s possible to lose your customers one false “promise” at a time. 

8. Transferring Customers Too Quickly and Too Often 

There are times when you cannot resolve a customer issue and must transfer them to someone else. However, it’s important to make sure you have exhausted all the options before making the transfer. 

First, make sure there is no possible way you can solve the customer’s problem. Second, if you must transfer them, make sure you get them to the right person or department. 

This is important because customers always hate it when they get transferred too much and keep having to wait longer and longer for someone to pick up. If you can cut down on how often you transfer someone, you can really improve your customer service. 

Put Your Customer Service Experience to Use Today! 

Now you know how to avoid customer service rookie mistakes. But do you know where to make the best use of your customer service skills? 

Here at Seguros Confie, we are always looking to hire new customer service professionals to join our team. To see how we can help find the job you’ve been dreaming of, all you need to do is apply today