Small businesses: Want to provide first-class customer service? Follow these 6 rules

I’ve learned a lot about customer service over the past 20-plus years of running a business. And so has Talkdesk customer Amber Scott. Amber is the vice president of customer experience at Serta Simmons Bedding, a position she achieved after spending more than ten years in the organization. Before that Amber served in restaurants and taught a collection of the toughest customers anywhere: first graders.

So, what have we learned that small businesses can apply to their own customer service? Here are six rules from my recent conversation with Amber:

Rule 1: Be kind and solve problems.

Amber says that the best customer service agents are those who think critically to solve problems while at the same time understanding not only the problems that a customer is having but how that problem is impacting their lives.

“For me, great customer service people like to solve problems and—I know this sounds obvious—they’re also kind,” she said. “Agents that can really take every interaction as a serious problem to be solved in a caring way tend to be the absolute best.”

Problems are personal, and every problem is important to the person experiencing the problem. You may not think it’s such a big deal. But that’s not your call. Great customer service organizations understand this.

Rule 2: Remember that you’re truly affecting people’s lives.

One thing I’ve learned running a business is that every company is contributing to the world in their own little way. My company sells customer relationship management software, which sounds boring, but in reality it’s a tool that helps our clients grow, hire people and provide a livelihood for their employees. Serta Simmons provides products that help people sleep better and what’s more important than that?

“Our mission statement is to help people sleep better so they can live better lives,” Amber told me. “A mattress is a very personal thing to people.”

Your company’s products and services are helping your customers which in turn helps their customers, their employees, and others in their communities and all their families. Keep that in mind when you’re interacting with your customers. Amber calls it the “ripple effect” and she’s right. Every little thing we do that helps matters.

Rule 3: The best customer service begins with listening.

According to Amber, you can provide the best experience only by opening your ears. If you don’t listen, you’re not hearing problems. And if you’re not hearing problems you’re in no position to argue.

She’s right. I’ve had many difficult meetings with unhappy clients. Amber too. So what’s the best approach to dealing with someone who’s not satisfied? Let them talk.

Listening is a critical part of customer service. People want to vent. They want to complain. They want to get things off their chest. And they want someone to hear them, empathize, agree, and console. For me, it’s part therapy and part counselling. For Amber, customer service isn’t about arguing or proving who’s right or wrong. And it’s not about you doing the talking. It’s about you doing the listening. This is not only important for solving problems and making customers happy. It’s also about identifying problems so the same problems can be addressed for other customers.

Rule 4: Technology is critical to a first-class customer service organization.

Technology can never replace a good customer service representative. But it can help them do a much better job. And be more productive. My best clients see technology—and particularly advancements in artificial intelligence (AI)—as a way to not only improve their employees’ productivity but enable them to provide a much higher level of service. How?

Tracking tickets. Prioritizing issues. Measuring performance. Enabling self-help. Automating mundane tasks. Leveraging knowledge. Sharing information. Communicating status.

Amber relies on an industry-leading AI customer experience platform from Talkdesk to perform these tasks that lead to better customer service. Think this type of technology sounds out of your league? Talkdesk now enables small businesses to service their customers as seamlessly as their larger counterparts with a new, plug-and-play AI solution, Talkdesk Express, that small businesses can start using for free. I’m excited that small businesses get the opportunity to match the customer experience standards of much bigger companies with new technology.

It’s important to never rely 100% on technology, though. “AI is very exciting,” Amber said. “But companies also shouldn’t over-leverage. Customers still want to talk to humans. AI should enhance, not replace, the human experience.”

AI can improve access and efficiency but must be deployed with transparency and care—such as letting your customers know if they’re talking with a bot vs. a human.

Rule 5: Customer service agents need to be treated as adults.

The best agents—and the best employees for that matter—I’ve learned are those that are given the leeway to do what they think is right, within certain boundaries. They’re not micromanaged. They’re not second-guessed. They’re taught to treat the customer as they would like to be treated. They’re empowered to accept returns, offer discounts, and give stuff away if it makes sense for the situation.

“Agents should be trusted to make decisions using sound judgment and not just follow scripts,” Amber says. “We do provide extensive training, and our agents are supervised. But we also try to give our agents as much autonomy and empowerment as possible. That judgment will serve you in any industry and any career.”

Training should be built around a wide set of guidelines and a few hard rules or lines not to cross. Support should be given in the form of technology that makes agents’ lives easier but doesn’t require their management. AI tools can automate repetitive tasks e.g. after call notes so your team spends more time talking with customers, or surface important customer history details that will help them answer queries. Other than that, give your people the authority and respect to do what they think is right.

Rule 6: The perfect customer service person doesn’t exist.

Providing great customer service requires intelligence, quick thinking, a great personality, strong communication skills, patience, a strong work ethic…the list goes on. You’ll never find someone that meets all of those characteristics. But, according to Amber, experience can come from all walks of life.

Amber believes that excellent customer service representatives can come from varied backgrounds, but she has found a few common threads among the best of the best.

“We’ve had people that were teachers, worked the door at clubs, or in fundraising,” she said. “We’re looking for curiosity, kindness, growth mindset.”

All rules aside, there’s one thing that stands out to both Amber and me: at its core, customer service is about treating others as you’d like to be treated.

“Just remember your customers are people,” she says. “Would you be okay being treated that way? Would you want your mom being treated that way? If the answer’s no, don’t do that.”

If you’re a small business, it’s easier than you think to get customer service right by learning from the best, like Amber. You can also leverage the same technology these experts use with Talkdesk Express, an enterprise-grade, plug-and-play AI solution.