Customer service sales and complaints are often treated as two entirely different skill sets. However, the truth is, closing a sale and finding a resolution for a dissatisfied customer both require that your create a significant level of trust.
These 5 soft skills will benefit all customer service professionals, but for those who work in sales or complaint resolution these skills are essential.
When you are confident in your knowledge and ability to resolve a customer's concern, you instill trust in the customer. If you appear unsure in your answers, you raise doubt in the customer's mind. Be confident about what you know and how to find the accurate information when you may not know the answer. Customers don't expect you to know everything, but they do expect you to know how to find a resolution.
Your body language can set the tone of a customer service interaction before you or your customer says a word. Maintaining open and friendly postures while respecting a customer's personal space encourage the customer to see you as an advocate on their behalf. It's also extraordinarily helpful to pay attention to your customer's body language. It can provide instant feedback regarding your customer's satisfaction level throughout your interaction.
People want to know they are understood. Being able to empathize with your customer involves not only understanding how they feel, but being able to relay that understanding. When you treat customer's with empathy, you create a bond with the customer that can inspire them to return to your company for their future needs.
A basic understanding of human psychology can help you determine your customer's motivations as well as reasons they might hesitate to make a purchase or take the steps toward a resolution. Additionally, being able to read body language and facial cues can give you insight into your customer so that you can adequately meet their needs.
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When a customer takes the time to seek you out, whether to make a new purchase or resolve an concern, they expect you to take time with them as well. You may be able to assess your customer's needs in moments, but it takes patience to share your knowledge with customers. Customers who feel rushed often leave dissatisfied, even if their concern is completely resolved. Hold back long enough to meet the customer where they are, not where you think they should be during your interaction.
These five soft skills all focus on being aware and attentive to your customer's implicit needs as well as the non-verbal impressions you project. Making a sale and resolving a customer's complaint both deal with meeting a customer's need directly. As a result, it shouldn't be surprising that the same skill set can assist in either scenario.