Q1 Capital Partners

1. Use their name. Though it may seem obvious, you’d be surprised how much of a difference addressing a customer by name can make. If a customer has their name somewhere in their email (as well as in the actual email address such as bob@bobinc.com), start the email with “Hi Bob.” If someone is calling you, ask for their name, and then actually address them by name when appropriate (basically anywhere you’d use sir or madam). Another good way to make the customer service experience more personal is to ask for the customer’s name instead of just a reference or a ticket ID. If there’s a lot of people with their name, then ask for another personal piece of information like an email address or phone number. If all else fails, use the reference or ticket ID.

2. Don’t give them a sales pitch. Never give customers a sales pitch unless they’re calling your sales department. Most customers that call for customer service, technical support, or whatever are not in the mood for a sales pitch and they can be downright annoying. Avoid putting a sales pitch in your hold recordings or actually having the representative say “Would you like to hear about our special offers?” at the end of the call.

3. Have operating procedures, not scripts. You’ve probably called at least a few companies and you’re sure the representative is reading a script - it’s annoying and certainly not personal. Have standard operating procedures (SOPs) for common things like cancellations, frustrated customers, etc. to ensure the job is done properly, but never ask or train your representatives to read from an actual script or anything like it.

4. Use operators. Endless PBX systems (the push 1 for sales, 2 for billing, etc.) are extremely frustrating for customers. If possible, hire an operator. Make it so the operator can answer basic questions (like how do I signup?), collect information about problems, assign a ticket number or reference ID, and find an available representative to take the call. The operator should somehow communicate with the representative before connecting the customer to provide the reference ID (so the customer is not forced to repeat the problem), whether it be via some sort of chat system, in person, or by phone. If you must use a PBX system, keep it very simple. Have it be one level with three or four options as well as an option to be connected to an operator.

5. Keep customers in the loop. Customers should never have to ask...

The full list can be found on Guy Kawasaki's blog.