How About That Customer Service?

image from Impact Factory

Freelance Writers have customers.  Therefore, they need to have customer service skills.  Sometimes it’s the most difficult part of our job.  A lot of people get into writing because it tends to be a solitary sport and the need to interact with other people is fairly minimal.  As a self confessed social idiot, I understand and embrace the concept of less is more when it comes to social interaction.  You can get by to some extent but there will always come a time when you need to deal with folks either face to face or over the phone.  Are you prepared?

A tale of two customer service experiences:

I recently had the pleasant experience of shopping for car insurance.  Sarcasm aside, Company A did a fairly outstanding job in terms of the customer service.  The voice on the other end of the phone was friendly, helpful, enthusiastic and informative.  Whenever she had to check on something, she let me know she would be away for just a moment and she let me know why she would be away.  I was treated so well that I would have bought insurance with her company even if the rate was a little more than the other companies out there.

Now, to Company B.  Within a week of signing up with Company A, my niece fell victim to an icy driveway and slammed into my car.  Her insurance was with Company B.  So, I was put in the position of contacting Company B to make the necessary repair arrangements.  The skills of this customer service agent, well to put it mildly, sucked.  His affect was flat.  He wasn’t particularly helpful.  There would be pauses long enough from his end that I would have to say, “Hello?” just to make sure we hadn’t been cut off.  He wasn’t a jerk or anything, he just had poor skills.  Later in the day, I came to learn that he had screwed up the car reservation by sending the information to the wrong agency office costing me an additional half hour in the car rental office.

Customer service is king.  Customer service makes the difference in terms of repeat business and reputation.  Both of these are extremely important components of a successful freelance writing business.

When you have contact with a client, how are your skills in this area.  Are you focused and helpful or are you  cleaning out your in box whilst you chat on the phone?  You may think that customers may not notice when you are less than focused on them but believe me, they can tell.

While on the phone, get away from your computer and any open files.  The current call should be the only thing happening in your world.  Ask pertinent questions, empathize and express concern.  At the end of the conversation, repeat back to the customer what your take away is and how you are going to help.

Providing good customer service is not easy but the effort you put forth into making a good impression will pay handsomely down the road.

What kinds of customer service experiences have you had with clients?  Any success stories?  Any miserable failures?