Just a quick note on basic customer service for all the banks, suppliers, jobseekers, etc out there.
Learn to answer the phone properly! If you are working for a company called Sahara (for e.g.), do NOT shout down the phone "Sahara, GOOD DAY!!??". It immediately puts me off, and I was planning to buy something from you. Instead, try: "Sahara, this is Aaron speaking." That's it. You can make it better and even more professional by adding: "How may I help you?", but even without it you've now established a repertoire. You've introduced yourself so I know immediately who I'm talking to. I now feel comfortable enough to reply: "Hey Aaron, this is Henk. Do you guys stock alligators? Or is it desert crocodiles only?"
It is so ridiculously basic, yet on a daily basis I have to endure idiotic salespeople shouting their company names followed by an obnoxious and impatient: "G'DAY!!??".
Please train your staff properly!
The other really annoying thing is people signing off their emails with something such as "Nedbank iVeri Team". I know you are ON the team, but trust me, you are not THE team. I need to know who I'm speaking to. I need to develop a trust relationship with your company. I need to know your name. I do NOT trust someone called "Nedbank iVeri Team", especially when your company is involved in a "high trust level required" business such as credit card processing! Heck, even PayPal gets this right and has its people clearly communicate who they are and what role they play on the team.
In this day and age of computerized systems you should take extra care when communicating with customers. There's simply no excuse for poor phone and email etiquette.
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1 comment:
Another thing that needs to be addressed really seriously by employers is etiquette for phoning IN. "Hello, my name is X, I am phoning from Y in connection with Z. Do you have about N minutes for me?" is an ideal opening line IMO, instead of variations on a theme of "Hello, how are you?" which usually solicit from me a reply with great restraint of sarcasm, something like: "If I knew who you were, I would be able to reply to that question contextually."
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