Until a few years ago, the term customer service was mainly associated with bricks-and-mortar retail and the service sector. Being able to look at a product on site and receive personal advice seemed to be the advantages of retail – even when e-commerce was already becoming increasingly important.

Due to the global coronavirus situation, online retail has temporarily become the most important sales channel for many sectors. Due to the lockdown, many people had no other option but to switch to online shopping, even if they had previously had little or no contact with this type of shopping. The lack of routine in dealing with online stores and the resulting lack of trust often lead to frustration and even annoyance among those involved.

This must be avoided with the right customer service. It is therefore important to offer comprehensive support in dealing with store systems and at the same time solutions for active problem management.
The following approach and communication components turn conversations with customers into successes:

Listen and be patient
The customer’s issue or even problem will be listened to carefully and summarized again. If the explanation is incomplete or incomprehensible, you can ask for clarification so that the caller knows that their query is being dealt with carefully. In general, it is important to be patient, even if the customer seems upset or angry.

Show empathy
Once you have understood the difficulties and contexts, it is important to put yourself in the customer’s shoes and show understanding so that they feel taken seriously. Even seemingly trivial issues can be a problem that needs to be solved.

Expert knowledge
That’s why it’s helpful to let the caller know that we can help. Thanks to our expert knowledge, we can find a solution to any problem. This is made clear by explaining the procedure to the customer and accompanying him/her step by step to the solution.

Positive choice of words
A friendly and understanding tone is the basic prerequisite for customer communication. If you also make sure to choose positive words, this will also have a positive influence on the course of the conversation.

In our daily business, we find time and again that every single customer issue is individual and therefore no precise procedure can be defined. Changes do not necessarily lead to problems, provided that the right solutions can be adapted. In order to be able to offer the customer specific help, we focus on patience and empathy as well as expert knowledge.