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Customer service is one of the most important components of your business. If a customer service agent is in a bad mood or does not have the right tools to perform their job, it normally isn’t long before the customer and the agent get frustrated. An up-to-date customer service software can help customer service representatives provide better service and improve your company’s efficiency. Fortunately, there are other ways to make your company better. Below are some helpful tips we have compiled to help your company – and your customer service department – transform itself.

Step 1: Listen to your employees for ideas

The best ideas for how to improve your company will most likely come from customer service agents and other employees that interact with customers every day. Instead of only inviting senior executives to brainstorm meetings, ask your employees to pitch in with their ideas. Once they understand that their opinion matters, they will be more likely to speak up and offer their opinion.

Step 2: Listen to the customer for ideas

In order to succeed, you can’t only look within the company for feedback on what to improve. This kind of thinking leaves out the most important aspect – the customer! The best way to revamp your company is to focus on how you can make your customers happy. What do they want? What do they need? How is your product or service meeting their needs? Is there any way you can better serve them? When you listen to your customers you can get a better idea of what your company needs to change in the future.

Step 3: Make a plan

After you know what your customers want and received feedback from your employees, you can develop a plan. Track your improvement with different metrics you can measure. When your company’s business leaders develop a well-planned strategy, it will be easier for employees to know what they should focus on.

Step 4: Set ambitious goals

Now that you have a plan, make big goals that outline what you want to accomplish. In fact, the bigger your goals, the better! Ambitious goals can motivate you and everyone else in the company to work harder to achieve them. Your customers may also notice the extra effort and appreciate that your agents consistently try to exceed their expectations.

Step 5: Identify your company culture

How would you describe your company culture? Are employees happy to come to work? If you aren’t happy with your company’s current culture, work on changing it! When you work on improving the company’s culture, it will be easier to find employees who are a good fit.

Step 6: Only hire employees that fit your company’s culture and values

Now that you have examined your culture, it is important to recruit people who are a good fit. After all, every employee reflects your company’s brand. New hires should understand what your company stands for and its underlying values. Do they agree with your mission and future goals? Can they see themselves contributing to the culture in a positive way? Cultural fit is especially important when you are hiring customer service agents. They are the face of your company since they interact with customers every day. Therefore, it is very important that they align with the culture of your company. A bad customer service experience can be the difference between the customer becoming a loyal customer for life or vowing to never buy from your organization again.

Step 7: Respect and trust your employees

Does your company give customer service representatives a script to read when they talk to customers? Although it is not unusual for companies to have strict guidelines and rules about employee conduct and what they can say, sometimes you can receive better results when there is more trust involved. If you take away the script, your employees will appreciate your vote of confidence and feel empowered. It will also give them more freedom to tailor their conversation according to the needs of the customer they are talking to. When customer service agents can use their own judgment when handling customer issues, your employees are more likely to feel happy and inspired to provide superior customer service.

Step 8: Watch what you say

Words are powerful. How do your employees describe customers? What words are used when they talk to each other in the office? The type of words and language they use speaks strongly about your organization’s culture.  When employees are careless with their words, they may not understand how it impacts other employees and the customer’s experience with your brand. Once you have a better understanding of how your customer service agents speak to customers and each other, you will know how to make improvements. Encourage your employees to think positively and view their job as a joy. Employees who provide exceptional customer service skills will create a positive work environment for their coworkers and improve the customer’s experience.

Step 9: Share your journey with your customers

Lastly, this process doesn’t have to be a secret! Let you customers know about your journey and what you are trying to improve. This will help you create a more personal experience and allow them to feel like they are a part of the process. Customers love it when companies include them and value their feedback! When they understand how their input matters to the company, they will be more likely to become fans of your brand and make more purchases.