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Great Online Customer Service: Techniques for Teaching and Problem Solving

We've been talking the dramatic impact that top-notch online customer service can have on the success of your business.

Some people may be under the false impression that providing customer support is a no brainer, but actually that couldn't be further from the truth. It takes skill, self-control, tact, sensitivity, compassion and the ability to write clearly and teach effectively.

A huge part of providing customer support is teaching and problem solving. Here are some tips for giving information in a way that is easy to understand:

1 - Use visual explanations.

Recently I showed you how a video capture tool like SnagIt can greatly aid in teaching customers how to do technical things that may otherwise be very confusing. 

Another great tool is a simpe screen shot with boldly written instructions telling what to do on the page. 

I've worked in the online business world for several years now, and one of the things I've learned is that people learn from seeing. If at all possible include a visual aid. 

2 - Tell the person exactly what to do.

It helps to assume no knowledge--you know all the little steps for doing a particular task, but the customer doesn't. Start from square one and get as basic as possible. 

Ideally, break your instructions down into steps that you number--people find it easier to follow instructions that are clearly numbered. Get as detailed in your instructions as you can. For example, start with "Step 1: Log into your account".

I once heard an internet business guru evaluating a membership site that was newly launched. He pointed something out that struck me as being spot on. He said: 

When I go to a website, I want to be told exactly what to do in language that I can't miss. If I'm supposed to enter my email and name and hit a "submit" button, spell that out and make the button big and orange or yellow and have the word "submit" on it.

Above all, don't make me feel stupid. If I go to your site and I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do, it makes me feel dumb. When people feel stupid when looking at your website, it makes them get frustrated and mad (at you). Nobody likes to be in a situation where they feel like they can't figure out something that lots of other people have been able to figure out fine.   

That sentiment is also true of customer support--your answer to the customer's question should be so thorough that the customer cannot miss the answer. If there are steps to do, each step should be specified in order. 

3 - Be sure to answer all the customer's questions.

If someone has several involved questions, I recommend listing the questions, numbering them, and then underneath each question writing "Answer:" and then listing the answer. That will help you not to overlook any of the customer's questions. 

It is really annoying to customers when they write in with several questions, and then only their first question is answered. Then they have to write back again to get the rest of the answers. It ends up taking longer for both the customer and the support person, and it frustrates the customer.

Take the time to read the customer's questions and be sure that all of them are answered thoroughly. 

4 - Anticipate questions. 

Part of being a teacher to the customer is giving him information that he needs to know that perhaps he didn't know to ask. Go ahead and give the extra information. It takes a little extra time on the front end, but it ends up saving time in the long run. It saves the customer from having to run into a problem and then contact support again. It also saves the customer support person from having to process another support ticket. It's easier to process a person's questions all at one time than to keep re-opening a ticket. 

5 - Appreciate and encourage questions.

Your attitude in handling customer support requests will be evident in your reply. If you're annoyed at having to answer the question, the customer will be able to detect that in your reply. If you're happy to hear from the person and eager to help, the customer will also be able to pick that up.

This is my attitude when doing customer service or teaching others how to do it: 

We are so glad that you got in touch. We're happy to hear from you, and your questions are great. I enjoy the chance to be able to help you do something new. I'm confident that we can turn this into a positive experience for you. 

Some words that come to mind as far as attitude goes when answering customer support questions are:

• Graciousness, hospitality, welcoming--The customer should feel like his questions are welcome, that you are eager to provide the knowledge that he needs, and that you want him or her to feel totally comfortable with using your service or product. 
• Validating--There are no silly questions. It is helpful to empathize with the customer in understanding how the question came up, even if the answer seems obvious to you.  
• Nurturing--Customer service is for people who need help, and that's a vulnerable position to be in. They are depending on people they don't know for information that they need. It can make a huge impression on the customer if they feel like they are "being taken care of". 
• Investing in the future of the relationship--Each question that a customer asks is not just a question--it's an opportunity to build a relationship with him or her. That is why customers who have problems that are ultimately solved will feel more loyalty to your business than people who never needed any customer support in the first place. 

Next time we'll cover one of the hardest aspects of serving customers--how to deal with customers who are upset. 

Stellar Customer Service for Online Businesses

One of the most powerful opportunities for growing your online business is through developing an absolutely amazing customer service experience. 

You may think of your business as being all about your product, but any time you have customers, part of your product is the customer support you offer.  

Here's something that I find fascinating, and I don't remember where I heard this, but did you know that a customer who has had a problem that has been adequately addressed through customer service will usually have a higher level of satisfaction with your business than a person who has never had any problems at all? 

When dealing with the general public, it is inevitable that some sort of problems or questions will come up that customers will bring to your attention and expect to be fixed or addressed. It's empowering to realize that that challenging experience can actually be a springboard for improving your relationship with the customer and causing him to tell others about how great your business is. 

I love doing online customer service and teaching others how to do it. Online customer service is very different from doing "in person" customer service in that you communicate totally via the written word. Great online customer service is an art form that requires finesse, sensitivity, and ingenuity. 

Here are a few tips for developing a customer support system that works as a tool for building your business.

Online customer support people fill the roles of Teachers and Problem Solvers.

Teachers

Customer support people are on the "front line" of the business, and they are perhaps the only "real people" associated with the business that the customer will interact with.

Each customer support person works on behalf of the business as a teacher. People will write in because they want to do something that they don't know how to do. Much of a customer support person's job may simply be teaching customers how to use the service and what to expect from the service. The better you are at teaching, the more satisfied the customer will be with the service or product. 

Problem solvers

Inevitably a customer will contact you with a problem--something is not working right or something didn't get done that should have. It is the customer support person's job to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it (or contact someone on the team who has the knowledge to figure out what the issue is).

There will always be people asking you questions that you don't know the answer to, but that's a great opportunity. Every time someone comes up with an off-the-wall question or an intricate question that you're just not sure about, it's a great opportunity for you to expand your knowledge of the business.

Don't be afraid to ask someone with more knowledge how to address a hard question. Then, once you get the answer make a note of both the question and the answer so that when that question comes up again you'll know how to answer it.

An online procedure manual is great for this purpose--anytime someone asks a common or difficult question, enter it in the manual along with the answer. It saves time in the long run, and it makes it so that your entire customer service team has access to that new knowledge.

Today we're just covering the tip of the iceburg with online customer service. Next time we'll go more in depth and cover actual techniques for teaching and problem solving in ways that will impress your customers. 

For now though, have you ever had an absolutely outstanding customer support experience? What made it so good/memorable?

Men Who Built America: Strengthening Areas Of Weakness By Outsourcing

I am not a history buff by a long shot, but that show "Men Who Built America" on History Channel has me hooked. I am fascinated by the personalities of Carnegie, Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan, and the others. It's really opened my eyes to what goes into being a trailblazer and phenomenally successful entrepreneur.

There was one lesson that really stood out to me:

These titans of business would look for business associates who had totally different skillsets from themselves. By adding someone to the team who could do things that they could not, the company developed an edge that it wouldn't have otherwise. 

These men were good at recognizing their strengths and weaknesses and were also good at identifying people who were strong where they were weak.

Several of the modern day business titans interviewed for the TV series agreed that that is how business partnerships today are made as well--you want to work with someone who is good at the things that you're not good at. 

That is also what wise people do who enlist the services of a virtual assistant. They know they are not administrative people--their skills lie in another area. So, instead of spending time trying to do something that they're not cut out to do, they outsource the parts of their business that someone would do better. That is when the business starts to really take off. 

I am an organizer, a teacher, a writer, a customer relations specialist, and administrative get-er-doner. A person with a successful business would not necessarily be strong in those areas, but yet he or she needs someone who is so that the business can thrive. 

I knew that principle was at work between me and my clients, but I didn't realize that it was a principle that legendary business moguls used to get ahead. Really, if they didn't seek out others who had different strengths from themselves, they would have never accomplished the amazing things they did.

These men from "The Men Who Built America" may have been lone rangers in their personal work styles, but they were not afraid to outsource work to others.  

Here are some other things I've learned from the "Men Who Build America" series:

• These men don't necessarily invent things, but they are good at spotting a good invention and making it so that that invention can make money on an ongoing basis. Carnegie didn't invent steel or the machine that could refine steel. Instead he searched for the person who had already done that, and he used that invention to make his own steel plants. Interestingly, Carnegie probably made much more money than the original person who figured how to make the steel. 
• They are good at convincing people to invest money in their ideas, and they are willing to risk everything for their idea. They are not careful--they really are risk takers and place everything on the line.
• They thrive on competition. I get the impression that business is a big game to them, and their goal in life is to win at all costs. Competitors spur them on and make the game fun. 
• They seem less concerned with making money and more concerned with winning. The money is just a tool in the game, a measurement of who is winning. 
• They are never satisfied. No matter how much money they have or how big their business is, they always want to raise the stakes.
• They think about "going down in history" and leaving a legacy. It is very important to them that they are remembered.
• They are trying to prove something to themselves and others. The movie went into the motivations of each man. For example, Carnegie came from a very poor family and he had to be the breadwinner from a young age. That early experience really drove him to succeed in business. He never forgot the bad experiences in his life. Rather, he used them to spur him on. 
• All of these men were optimists. When bad breaks happened or things didn't go their way, they didn't give up, but rather took it as an opportunity to come up with a different solution. They always believed there was a way for them to win. 

In case you haven't seen the show, here is a clip from the History Channel called "Traits Of A Titan". (There may be a commercial at the beginning, but you can skip it after a few seconds):