“Patience, communication, empathy,  tenacity, and a willingness to learn are a few. Other skills that are part of the role include training and motivating the team, organizing workflow, and tracking performance. I think crucial skills include strategic planning, improving operations, and managing de-escalation between customers and team members. The main thing is to maintain consistently high standards.”

“I think good customer service is fixing problems, answering questions, and building relationships with customers. Answering phones, actively listening to customers, and providing appropriate responses are all vital in maintaining positive customer relationships.”

“I use a situational management style to anticipate problems, delegate, build teams, and give my staff authority over certain things. I also like to use a hands-on approach that lets me spend time doing what the employees do, which builds trust. I like being involved, giving feedback as soon as possible, and letting the team know that they're an asset. I often run reward and incentive programmes and always provide the right resources and equipment to keep the team motivated.”

“I meet with the employee to find out the cause of poor performance.  They may need some coaching, additional training, or an empowerment plan. Sometimes the problem isn't work-related and possibly a change in hours or scheduling will help. If it seems to be a recurring problem, I take disciplinary action. If other employees are underperforming, I have meetings to hear their concerns and address them.”

“Non-technical changes I've made are cross-training employees to handle more than one function, and I've reworked schedules based on call volume and demand. Making information available through an interactive website has been helpful. After getting feedback from customer surveys, I identify areas to be improved by analyzing each touch point. For instance, customers weren't happy with answers and responses through our email support. So I implemented a standard of a four- to eight-hour response time, and increased customer satisfaction.”

“I use metrics such as first response time and contact resolution to measure customer satisfaction. I also include escalation rates, call volume, customer retention, and referrals. These figures are in the data we gather from our system, but I have also used Qualtrics XM, which analyses these metrics, and Qualtrics PredictiQ, which identifies the most important elements. I track customer feedback at the end of chat sessions and after successful transactions. Other metrics I've used are emails, websites, in-app surveys, and Brand 24 to monitor social media.”

“I've used email surveys to gather repeated questions and other comments. As a result, I set up an online knowledge base linked in the emails. In another instance, I monitored third-party reviews through Google Reviews, Yelp, and others to meet with staff and resolve customer issues. I used Google Alerts to discover when we appeared on certain pages and checked our social media. I have meetings to discuss problems, resolutions, and where we're doing well.”

“Once when a customer asked me where something was located, I didn't just give the aisle number but walked them to the location, pointed out the product, and discussed it with them. Another time was when in a coffee shop, a lady wanted a package of special coffee beans that we didn't have. I made other suggestions and brewed a cup of each for her to try. I later followed up with a phone call when her product was back on the shelf.”

“I'm self-taught in Python, CSS, and HTML, and I'm willing to learn new things and happy to teach employees and mentor them.”

“I see big changes in chatbots, video voice mail, and face-to-face video. Also, there's AI and bots and machine learning, where customer support will only deal with customers' history, questions, or edge cases, where information must be interpreted. Customers will want omnichannel exchanges that allow us to respond to them through the same interface wherever they are online. Email will be outpaced by real-time messaging, for instance, Slack and Facebook Messenger. Just to name one last one, augmented reality is the future which will allow virtual assistants to help customers learn how to use products even install them.”

“I communicate what process and operations will be changed before they're implemented. When the change happens, I lead my team into implementation. They'll be fully trained and coached with a clear understanding of using the new systems or procedures. I communicate to the stakeholders again when implementation is completed and hold staff meetings to discuss concerns and questions.”

“I look for customer service experience or school information to determine their learning skills and willingness to grow. I also look for the ability to use feedback constructively and a positive attitude. They should demonstrate problem-solving skills, stellar communication, and tenacity. I think these attributes build a strong team.”

“My communication style is based on the situation and type of information. For instance, to relay information that doesn't need immediate attention or may take the reader time to understand or research, I use emails or office memos. When I need immediate action or to explain a situation, I make a phone call. For crucial communications, I call my team supervisors, send messages to team members, and hold staff meetings.”

“I start by prioritizing tasks by deadline. Using a spreadsheet, I list tasks, milestones, and due dates for projects. I use a calendar to keep track of single and recurring tasks. For shifting priorities, I handle changes immediately, and for ongoing tasks, I block out specific amounts of time to complete each one."

“I've found that carefully listening to the customer, using empathy, and remaining calm all go a long way to build trust with the customer. For clarification, I repeat what I heard. In some cases, I must follow company policy but can determine when exceptions can be made. I smile at every upset customer, apologise, and assure them I'll take care of them. I don't argue, debate, take it personally, or engage upset customers by email. I go into the situation confident that I can resolve the problem and always expect the best outcome.”