Customer Service Skills

Being in the IT industry, trained in technology, our staffs are pitted to do customer service due to the nature of our business. Not only we develop Software of users, but we also need to serve them as well.

And since staffs are the face and voice of our brand, it's definitely something that we can't afford to get wrong. So along the way, we try to empower our staffs with the right knowledge, skills and responsibilities to make important decisions on behalf of Pasti Nyala.

Below are some of the Customer Service Skills that they need to learn and practice:

1. Empathy -Empathy is powerful because it allows you to read between the lines and pick up hidden intentions that are not directly communicated. This helps support staffs pinpoint and fix the customer's concern before it actually becomes a full-fledged problem. This skill required experience for language, culture, behaviour and even understanding of the business.

2. Listening Skills - Everyone seems to agree that listening is important, but everyone has different opinions about what it means to be a great listener. As with anything in life, practice makes perfect. Listening skills can be honed over time to the point where you'll be able to pick up things customers want without thinking too much about it.

3. Integrity -We prefer to deal with people we know, appreciate and trust. Integrity does not apply to staff but also our product which must be usable, create values and reliable to the users.

4. Positive Attitude - Some people are comfortable in their own skin and are really passionate about making the customer feel great at every chance they get. While technical skills can be taught, an attitude change won't come easily - it's something that hinges heavily on personality. Read Positive Pants.

5. Decision Making Ability - Customer service roles depend on solving problems at their core - resolving a wide array of issues customers may be faced with. Just like Pasti Nyala products, we want it to be versitile with useful functions so that users are fully equipped to perform their interaction with the system. Let me sidetrack a little bit, did you know that if the users are happy with your products, they complain less.

6. Thinking on Your Feet - Here's the thing, no matter how long you work in support, no interaction is ever the same. Customers are a human being after all, they can act unpredictably and situations are not covered by our SOP or user guides. So staff - aside from being a people person and a problem solver - also needs to be "make the right decision quickly".

7. Being Patient - Customer service (we also call them Support) tends to be an emotionally draining and sometimes even thankless job. Therefore, support staff need to keep their resolve. Users reach out to Support when they are stressed and confused, so if the problem isn't solved quickly, they get irate. While speed is important in customer service, customers don't want the quality of support to be compromised. So again, a reminder to all staffs, do cut corners, do buried complaints under the carpet.

8. Persistence - An important character trait of being persistent is being able to stand your ground in uncomfortable situations. This may include having to decide whether a customer is being honest or deceptive in their language, actions or intentions. Ideally, we also want our staffs to have the ability to influence and don't stop until the customer is satisfied.

9. Product knowledge - We are aware the Support Staff will have difficulties if he or she does not have a thorough, hands-on-knowledge of the product and troubleshooting knowledge. They won't be able to help the customer. Thus, it's very important for the seniors or leads to impart their knowledge and spend time coaching their juniors. A good Support Staff will know when a user is having trouble, they will be able to pick up the user's pain points and use their knowledge of the product capabilities to address them. Since users usually contact Support because they don't fully or correctly understand the product (or functions within), staff will be able to make better recommendations if they're familiar with benefits (and shortcomings) of the complete product.

10. Progress Mindedness - One fatal mistake most businesses make is thinking of customer service as a dead-end or entry-level job. It's not. Pasti Nyala for one, is trying to empower staffs in making important decisions and reinvesting in employee development by grooming potential and nurture team spirit. We want this to be part of our working culture.

I can't help it but to say this to the customer who complains about nothing "Complaining is like vomiting - you feel better, but the people around you feel WORSE".

How successful business started

People mostly admired how certain business is so successful. What they are not aware of is that some of those businesses went through some tough times, really tough times.

However, business is usually started when the co-founders or owners came with some ideas to solve their own problem or someone else problem. Some ideas take times to be recognised and accepted. Only then the business can have some monetary return.

How AIRBNB Started: ideas to rent, got rejected by investors.

How ALIBABA Started: connecting with people

How ANGRY BIRDS Started: made a lot of games but all failed, never give up.

How LINKEDIN Started: professional social network, invite close contacts

How PINTEREST Started: side project, just do it -- without plan, switched ideas

How UBER Started: from file sharing, to car sharing

Related post:

Building A Company Brand and Product Brand

Building A Company Brand and Product Brand

We're pursuing on improving our Pasti Nyala brands so I thought of publishing this article, sourced from performancemagazine.org. It is basic but good enough for a starter.

Our two main brands that we are currently focusing are to improve our Company and our product brand which is called DATAPURI.

Company Brand

Product Brand

Branding is a very important aspect when you want to keep your business or company in play. When you have many competitors, establishing your brand is a powerful strategy that helps your business stay in the lead and leaves your competitors in the dust.

However, many people still feel confused and frustrated, and end up giving up on building their own business brand. On the one hand, even though some of them spend a lot of time and money on branding, they still can’t boost their business image significantly. On the other hand, you can find many businesses that don’t care at all about branding and because of this, they will slowly but surely fade away from the market.

There are 5 basic ways of building your business brand:

1. Know what your business is about

First and foremost, you should discover the idea on which to build the foundation of your brand. You have to know the vision, mission and value of your business, as well as the product you want to deliver. You should ensure that your product is useful and needed.

Sometimes, you should put yourself in your customer’s shoes. That way, you can understand what the customer wants, what his reasons for using your products are, and how to make him comfortable and satisfied.

The purpose of your business is not only restricted to what you sell or what you provide, it also refers to the impact that your products have on the customers.

For example, Airbnb’s vision is not only that of connecting people looking to rent homes with those who are looking for accommodations, but also of transforming the world into “A world where home can be everywhere”. Their mission proves their commitment to provide value beyond the requirements of the providing service.

2. Introduce your brand

You can consider launching your brand as an ideal opportunity to publish your new brand, with the condition of creating an interesting story around it. Great publicity is important to make a good first impression, and to attract customers to your business.

Showing your brand product to the public, is better than waiting for new customers to come to you. You can participate in the company’s exhibitions, or present your product in schools or malls. Moreover, you can hold your own show on the road. It’s all about direct publicity.

You should also take advantage of technology, of social medias like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or instant messaging apps like WeChat, Whatapps, Blackberry Messenger or Line. Nowadays, this method is becoming a powerful way (and at no additional cost) of spreading publicity, due to its quick way of sending information and of communicating.

We're on social medias for a couple of years now. Checkout our FB page at facebook.com/pastinyala or just search for #pastinyala

However, if you want to create a more intimate rapport with your customer, you can send broadcasting promotions or offer referral credits though your marketing and sales email. If your customer is happy with your product and work, he is going to promote your service.

3. Show your consistency

Every company has a brand, regardless of whether or not they see it as a priority. You must remember that your brand is a reflection of yourself and of your company, and that it is what people see first. For some companies, branding is a strategy to keep their customers loyal and to catch other potential customers.

Consistency of branding refers to how much people get to know your business through your identity and message. You should think of brand consistency as an evolution. Branding consistency is not only restricted to putting your logo mark on all your business products. Every company has to create some standard guidelines related to branding. Message Consistency clearly defines your positioning and aligns it with your core behaviors.

If your actions are aligned with your message, then customers will begin trusting your services. By using brand elements thoughtfully and strategically, you will build visibility and increase customer recognition and association. The guidelines map out how your logo, fonts, colors, tagline, etc. will be used. Your logo has to be simple and easy to follow, or it won’t have the intended impact.

4. Keep it alive

You cannot keep you brand alive just by improving it yourself. You can’t control it completely, but you can manipulate it by listening and responding to customers’ needs. That means engaging customers either in person, over the phone, in writing, or virtually, according to the way they prefer to receive information.

Do not forget that branding is an evolutionary process, and you can evolve mostly through the feedback you receive from other parties.

5. Measure your brand

You can measure your brand through brand positioning or benchmarking, which can be done through any software. Fundamentally, measuring is about metrics and metrics explain what people know about your business and how they engage it, taking into account the fact that it is backed by your brand.

One of the questions which can be answered if you can measure your branding strategy is: “What’s the return on investment for these branding efforts?”. You can measure by analyzing website visits, social media page likes, or even by finding out which e-mail content drives the most forwards and reconversions, and to what segment of your list that content goes.

That's  what I shared with my Business Development Unit. You need to measure some metrics to gauge your marketing effort or branding effort. The metrics will be the performance benchmark to help you improve your strategy.

This way you can better align future e-mail campaigns with other content that elevates your brand. What is more, you can analyze by comparing your brand with the brands of other competitors, competitors who are, or could become your toughest enemies.

Lastly, an example of a great brand.

COLA-COLA is a great brand, an expensive brand. In 2010, Coca-Cola spent $2.9 billion on advertising. By 2013, with a budget of $3.3 billion, their CEO began laying plans to increase that amount to $4.3 billion by 2016.