What are the important customer service skills that every employee should possess?
- Communication
- Active listening
- Patience and empathy
- Time management
Customer service training in the Philippines isn’t only beneficial to those in the customer service or BPO industry but actually offers benefits to employees from virtually any field. These programs aren’t focused solely on interacting with customers and finding ways to appease them. They go beyond those and teach participants actual skills that can and should be applied by employees across all industries.
These skills are necessary to advance your career and climb up the corporate ladder. Without them, you won’t be able to keep up with this fast-paced world and find yourself stuck in the same spot for years. Not only are these skills good for work, you can also apply them to your day-to-day life as you interact with other people or solve personal problems.
Knowing what these are and mastering them will definitely boost your value as an employee and as a person. We’ve listed them here for your benefit, so simply keep scrolling to find out more!
Communication
Regardless of what kind of industry you are part of, human interactions are unavoidable. It may not specifically be customers and can just be normal people, but the reality remains that you don’t go a day without coming into contact with someone else, which is why communication skills are very important.
As an employee, you need to be able to articulate goals and objectives to people above or under you. One thing you have to remember, though, is that communication is not limited to the verbal kind. There are some moments when non-verbal communication is just as, if not more, important, so make sure to master both.
The ability to properly relay your ideas and thoughts through different and apt modes of communication adds to your strength as a worker and is an indispensable skill that all organizations put great value in.
Active Listening
Properly and concisely expressing your thoughts, ideas, and opinions is truly important, but you have to keep in mind that you are not the only person whose input matters. You are surrounded by individuals who have their own opinions and it is important that you are able to listen to each and every one of them.
Listening isn’t much of a skill, though, but more of a natural response that we do when someone is talking. Active listening, on the other hand, is very much a skill that one should develop. It involves not only listening to what is being said but also paying attention to words and thoughts that are not being bluntly expressed.
Analyzing both can help you react in an appropriate manner and create informed responses. Through this, conversations with peers, friends, and executives will be more meaningful and valuable.
Patience and Empathy
Patience and empathy are skills that not many have but everyone needs for the sake of their career, personal life, and every living being on the planet.
In your daily life – and not just the corporate world – you may come across people who appear to be frustrated, irritated, confused and are obviously having a bad day. There will be times when these people will unload their baggage on you, and while it’s tempting to respond with the same level of aggression and intensity, it’s not the best route to take. Doing so only leads to burned bridges and broken relationships which is unpleasant in both a personal or professional setting.
Instead, you should employ patience and empathy. Before you act or speak, it’s best to take a step back, regulate your emotions, and understand what other people are experiencing or going through. Embodying these virtues and applying them daily leads to better interactions and stronger relationships.
Time Management
When it comes to customer service, time management means setting an appropriate amount of time you can spend with a customer. If you exceed the said time, then it may mean that you cannot help the customer. The solution then is to transfer him/her to someone who can. It doesn’t mean you’re incapable but only indicates that you don’t yet have the specific knowledge required to guide the customer through his/her situation.
The concept of time management isn’t much different outside customer service. On a daily basis, you have tasks that you need to accomplish, and the key to doing them all is proper time management.
Limiting your time with each task will undoubtedly increase your efficiency because you will be prompted to think of better ways to approach the task. Soon, you will be able to work within the limit you gave yourself and have more time for other tasks or for rest.
Key Takeaway
You can learn a lot from participating in customer service training in the Philippines even if you are not part of the customer service industry. There are skills taught through these programs that are important in all industries as well as in our daily lives such as communication, active listening, patience and empathy, and time management. Of course, there are more but these ones, in particular, are guaranteed to make you an overall better individual!