Monitor and solve customer service problems
Overview
This standard is part of the customer service competence area related to Handling Problems, Queries and Complaints. It includes monitoring and solving customer service problems. It covers the behaviours, processes and approaches that are most effective when handling customer service problems. Remember that customers include everyone to whom you provide products and services. They may be external to your organisation or they may be internal customers.
You deliver and organise customer service, however some of your customers will experience problems and you can spot and solve these before your customers even know about them. You also get involved in changing systems to avoid repeated customer service problems. Some customers judge the quality of your customer service by the way that you solve customer service problems. You impress customers and build their loyalty by sorting out problems and impress customers in a way that would not have been possible if everything had gone smoothly. Sometimes you may seek specialist support where a problem cannot be resolved. You also manage your customers when they expect more than your organisation can offer or because your service procedures have not been followed.
This standard is for customer service professional who monitor and solve customer service problems.
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
- respond to customer service problems following organisational guidelines
- listen carefully to your customers when they raise problems
- ask your customers about the problem to check your understanding
- identify problems with systems and procedures before they begin to affect your customers
- solve problems with service systems and procedures that might affect customers before they become aware of them
- inform managers and colleagues of the steps taken to solve systems and procedures problems
- identify repeat customer service problems
- compare the solutions for dealing with repeat customer service problems and the advantages and disadvantages of each
- select the best solution for solving a repeat customer service problem, balancing customer expectations with your organisation's needs
- obtain approval for the solution from decision makers to reduce the chance of problems being repeated
- action and monitor your agreed solution to reduce repeat problems
- work with colleagues to identify and confirm the options to resolve a customer service problem
- evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each option for your customer and your organisation
- select the best option to meet your customers and your organisation's needs
- discuss and agree the options for solving the problem with your customers
- seek specialist support to resolve customer problems, when required
- take action to implement the option agreed with your customers
- work with colleagues and customers to check that any promises related to solving the problem are kept
- keep your customers informed about what is happening to solve their problem
- confirm with your customers that the problem has been solved to their satisfaction
- give clear reasons to your customer when you are unable to solve the problem to their satisfaction
- follow the legal, organisational, codes of practice and policies relevant to your role and the activities being carried out
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
- your organisation's procedures and systems for dealing with customer service problems
- how to actively listen to customers when they raise concerns to demonstrate empathy and understanding
- the types of questions that help to gather information about problems and customer feelings about them
- your organisational procedures and systems for identifying repeated customer service problems
- how the successful resolution of customer service problems contributes to customer loyalty with external customers and improved working relationships with service partners or internal customers
- the methods used to identify repeat service problems
- how to develop potential solutions to problems with colleagues
- the importance of balancing customer expectations with your organisation's needs
- how to negotiate with and reassure customers while their problems are being solved within the agreed timescales
- the opportunities and potential for monitoring and solving customer service problems using remote information collection and sharing such as through social media
- how to defuse potentially stressful situations related to customer service problems
- the limitations of what you can offer your customers in relation to your organisation's services and products
- the types of action and behaviours that may make a customer problem worse and how to avoid these
- how to choose the most effective method of communication when dealing with customer service problems
- how to use of remote communications with customers through social media when resolving customer problems
- the types of specialist support to resolve customer problems, when required
- the legal, organisational, codes of practice and policies relevant to your role and the activities being carried out