When a customer has an issue, how you communicate can make the difference between them leaving a 5-star review or turning to your competitor.
Customers come in all shapes and sizes: friendly and patient, interested and indifferent, angry and erratic, etc. So how can you make sure that no matter what the situation is, you get the problem solved in a way that will leave a positive impression?
In this post, we’ll introduce and discuss nine effective customer communication skills. Mastering each of these will help your support team serve buyers efficiently and successfully!
1. Active Listening
Active listening isn’t just about hearing the words being said. It’s about fully engaging with the customer to understand their needs and emotions.
This is one of the most effective customer communication skills, because it means you’re fully present in the conversation. By showing customers that you’re paying attention and really understanding them, you create positive interactions that can defuse issues and enhance customer loyalty.
Here’s how to listen like a pro when providing customer support:
- Include affirmations. Sprinkle in phrases like “I see”, “I understand”, and “I’m sorry to hear that”, to assure the customer that they have the spotlight.
- Reflect the customer’s words. Repeat back important things they’ve said with statements like “What I’m hearing is…”, to confirm that you’ve understood them (or clear up misunderstandings).
- Ask for clarification. If you’re not sure what the customer is saying or wants, don’t assume. Add in a simple “Could you elaborate on that?” to clear things up.
- Keep the conversation structured. Let’s say a customer fires off a four-part saga of feedback. Don’t let it overwhelm you. Break it down, ask questions, and address each aspect one at a time until you and the customer are on the same page.
- Don’t neglect non-verbal cues. On calls, when there’s no eye contact, your tone is your best friend. Keep it professional, but also friendly and empathetic. Even in text chat or email, you can create a ‘tone’ using careful language choices.
It can be tempting to rush through the initial information-gathering stage, especially when you have a lot of support requests coming in. However, the more time you spend empathizing with and understanding the client, the better you’ll be able to help them and move on to the next case.
2. The 3 Cs: Clarity, Concision, & Consistency
Clear and concise communication is vital. This approach ensures that the customer understands your message without getting overwhelmed by unnecessary details.
When drafting an email or explaining a potential solution, always aim to simplify your language. This means choosing words that are easy to understand, and avoiding terms that might confuse the customer.
Using the 3 C’s to cultivate effective customer communication skills means:
- Keep it simple. Use straightforward language to convey your ideas.
- Avoid jargon. Don’t assume customers know industry-specific terms.
- Be direct. State the main point early in the conversation or email.
Consistency in your tone and word choices also contributes to effective communication. Customers appreciate a steady, familiar voice throughout their interactions with your business. This consistency builds trust and helps in managing expectations.
3. Patience
When you’re on the frontline of customer service, patience isn’t just a virtue. It’s one of the most effective customer communication skills you can have.
Keeping your cool can turn tricky situations around and pave the way to customer satisfaction. Of course, this can be hard if a customer is angry and rude, or even just long-winded or confusing.
Here are some quick tips for maintaining that patience:
- Stay calm. No matter the pressure, keep a level head. Taking some deep breaths seems simple, but it really does help. Your calmness can even be contagious, soothing irate customers.
- Wait it out. Giving the customer time to vent or explain can often lead to the root of their frustration. Plus, it makes sure they feel heard.
- Clarification is key. Asking follow-up questions for better understanding shows that you’re invested in finding a solution.
If the customer gets particularly heated, count to three before you respond. This is another seemingly small trick, but you might be surprised at how helpful it is.
Effective conflict resolution often starts with how patiently you can navigate a conversation. Your ability to harness patience could mean the difference between a customer for a day and a customer for life.
4. Empathy
You can think of empathy as the ability to tune into a customer’s feelings and see things from their perspective. It’s about listening for the emotion behind their words, and responding with genuine understanding.
When it comes to support, empathy isn’t just nice to have. As one of your effective customer communication skills, it builds trust and can turn a one-time buyer into a loyal fan.
Here’s how you can learn to demonstrate empathy:
- Reflect on their feelings. “It sounds like you’re feeling frustrated with the delay. Let’s see how we can fix this together.”
- Acknowledge inconvenience. “I understand how inconvenient this must be for you. I’m on it!”
- Offer reassurance. “I’m here to help you every step of the way.”
In practice, this might look like:
- A customer complains about a defective product. Your move: Listen, affirm their feelings (“That must be disappointing”), and offer a concrete solution.
- Someone is confused by your service. Your move: Break down the information into bite-size pieces, showing patience and a willingness to assist as long as it takes.
Remember, showing empathy isn’t only about being caring. It’s a practical approach to customer service that makes customers feel valued and understood.
By doing this, you’re not just solving problems. You’re building trust and fostering a positive relationship that encourages customers to return.
5. Positive Language
When you’re in the trenches of customer support, the words you choose can make or break an interaction. Positive language not only reflects effective customer communication skills, but also garners respect from the person on the other end.
You want every chat, email, or call to boost your brand image, right? So sprinkle in a dash of humor where appropriate, keep the tone upbeat, and aim to keep the conversation optimistic.
Here’s a recipe for using positive language in customer support:
- Start with a smile. Even in writing, a ‘smile’ can be felt. A simple “Happy to help!” sets a welcoming tone.
- Use words that signal action and willingness. Terms like “certainly”, “absolutely”, and “definitely” show that you’re confident and focused on solving the problem.
Finally, don’t forget to avoid negative phrases – anything that hints at “can’t do”, “won’t”, or “don’t have”. Flip the script to focus on what you can do, because you and the customer are a team aiming for a solution, not a dead end.
6. Confidence
Next on our list of effective customer communication skills is confidence. When you chat with customers, confidence is key. It’s not just about knowing all the right information – it’s how you convey it that makes the difference.
A confident tone shows that you’re on top of your game. Plus, when customers sense confidence, they relax. Your assuredness tells them, “You’re in good hands.” That trust is golden; it lays the groundwork for lasting customer relationships.
To get that confidence shining through, you’ll want to start with a solid base of technical knowledge. Each support agent should understand the company’s products/services inside and out.
Then the customer support team can:
- Prepare. Familiarize yourself with FAQs and product details, such as by maintaining a comprehensive knowledge base.
- Practice. Role-play scenarios to sharpen your responses.
- Project positivity. Keep interactions upbeat – a can-do attitude is contagious.
Customers don’t just buy products. They buy experiences and peace of mind. A confident service conveys competence, and competence leads to satisfied customers.
7. Willingness To Improve
Customer feedback is like finding gold. It’s what tells you where you’re nailing it and where there’s room to improve.
So it’s essential to get feedback from customers you’ve helped. Your customer support team can use that to provide better service moving forwards, both on an individual and a group level.
To get customers talking, you can:
- Just ask. Sometimes, the old-fashioned way works best. A simple “How are we doing?” can open the floodgates to invaluable insights.
- Be proactive with live chat. A pop-up chat box can be the low-key nudge customers need to share their two cents.
- Create short surveys. Surveys can be useful, but stick to the essentials. One or two questions and an open response field is usually ideal.
Once you have the feedback, you’ll need to use it. A willingness to grow and change is one of the most effective customer communication skills you can have.
That means acknowledging the feedback and acting on it. It’s also smart to provide regular updates, letting your customer base know what’s new and improved thanks to their input.
8. Personalization
When you chat with a customer, it’s vital to remember the human element. You want to convey “Hey, we see you!”
Personalization makes customers feel treated like a human being, not a commodity. It also makes the conversation flow more naturally. This is one of the more overlooked effective customer communication skills you can employ.
Using the customer’s name is a good start, but you’ll also want to:
- Create custom responses. No robot talk, please! It’s okay to use templates as a starting point, but even those will need to be customized for each conversation.
- Speak their language. Use your brand’s voice but tweak it to match the customer’s communication style. They’ll feel right at home.
- Remember details. Keep track of the important information, such as customer preferences, past issues, and even their favorite products. This can guide your responses, and even your troubleshooting if you know what fixes have worked (or not worked) for them in the past.
That last item can be tricky. If you’re managing customer emails, chats, or calls individually, it’s hard to keep track of their history.
That’s where Groove can help! Groove is a customer support dashboard that keeps all your conversations in one place.
This makes it a lot easier to reference previous chats and emails with a customer, even if they happened a long time ago. Plus, you can create custom profiles for each customer, so all their key information is available at a glance.
Taking Your Customer Support To the Next Level
With AI taking the world by storm, customer support and real human communication are a critical differentiating factor. That’s especially true for small businesses, since with a smaller customer base you need to make sure each individual gets your best efforts.
So don’t forget to train your support team in these effective customer communication skills:
- Active listening
- Clarity, concision, & consistency
- Patience
- Empathy
- Positive language
- Confidence
- Willingness to improve
- Personalization
And to put those skills to good use, make sure your support agents have all the tools they need to succeed! Groove is powerful yet simple to use, and frees you up from administrative tasks so you can focus on serving your customers.
