5 top tips for evaluating your customer service

Relationships are everything in sales. If you’re seeing high failure rates in the early stages of your sales process and upsell opportunities seem to be few and far between, it might be time to take a look at your customer service offering.

Securing a sale is all about people skills. Nurturing contacts and creating strong connections with existing and potential customers could be the difference between success and failure. Good customer service practices can help secure that initial meeting, maintain a happy client relationship and even lead to that game-changing upsell.

If you want to know how to improve customer service  in your team, check out our top five tips for evaluating your team from Pareto's Jessica Perez:

“Get in the know. If your sales reps are calling potential customers and they don’t know exactly what they’re selling and how it can benefit the person or company they’re calling, then there are already some serious pitfalls in your customer service offering.”

When your sales team picks up the phone or speaks to a prospective client, they need to know exactly what it is they‘re selling. They should know the benefits of every product or service inside and out and the needs of the customer which they can meet. If the customer asks questions and they don’t have an expert response, you could lose your sale immediately.

“Stay on top of your communications at all times. Mirror your client. If they like to chat on the phone, call them back. If they email you first thing in the morning, be on hand to respond. As soon as you lose contact or they can’t get hold of you when they need you, you’re putting your relationship in jeopardy.”

The way you communicate with your client is essential to keeping them happy and ensuring a sale. Don’t pester them or get in touch too often, but always appear available to help out, and even become a trusted advisor. Always aim to communicate with your client within half a day and keep them in the loop with any problems or issues. Even failed projects can be a chance to learn – use them to see what’s working and what’s not.

“Your team are the ones on the ground, and a great way to get to the bottom of a potential customer service issue is to simply ask them what they think and what they need to improve.”

Bring your team together and strike up a dialogue about . Ask them if they feel supported, have the right skills or if they have any ideas on where improvements can be made. You might find that they lack confidence or simply need a little extra , but without asking you might never know.

“Take a look at your team. What do their attitudes and behaviours say to you and what could they be saying to your clients? If you don’t like what you see it might be time for a refresh.”

The way your team present themselves can say a lot. From the way they dress to the way they speak to clients, it paints a picture of your company and what you’re selling. If you think they could do with sprucing up, your customer probably thinks so too.

“Sometimes you’re too close to the project. Occasionally you need to take a step back and let professionals get your team up to scratch.”

If you’re concerned something isn’t right with your offering, yet you’re not sure where to start, bring in the professionals. Pareto offer customer service apprenticeship training, which can either be paid for with your apprenticeship levy fund or 90% funded by the government.

Opt for with Pareto and allow your team to reach its full potential. We offer Customer Service Level 2 apprenticeship training and a range of sales training courses, along with a bespoke training service to meet the specific needs of your team. Get in touch today to find out more.