At Minster Law we strive to provide the best customer service possible and are always looking to improve.
We participated in National Customer Service Week, a week-long opportunity to raise awareness of customer service and recognise and celebrate the best examples in the business.
We hosted a number of activities to share customer insight and skills and how to nurture these in the business. The week began with a customer focused masterclass hosted by our client relations manager James Heseltine. Our contact centre employees shared hints and tips throughout the week as well as hosting a complaints handling session towards the end of the week.
Finally we held internal nominations for colleagues to vote for their customer service heroes. Are winners were team leader Nicola Parker and customer advisor Timothy Hesselgrave. So we sat down with them to talk about how they deliver great customer service.
What does good customer service look like to you?
Nicola: “To manage & deliver on customer expectations in a timely and effective manner. Know your USP and use this to support you with problem solving. Holding open and honest conversations as well as tailoring your situation to the individual needs of the customer. Make that customer feel they are all that matters and go that extra mile for them, leaving a positive lasting impression. Bring your personality to the table, no one likes a robot. Listen, understand and more importantly make people smile.”
Timothy: “Making sure every customer is welcome and providing a good customer experience at every step.”
Why is it so important that we deliver for our customers?
Nicola: “This is vital in building loyalty with our customers. Given the current climate customer satisfaction is more important than ever before and is key to exceeding expectations. We need to be dependable and be consistent at all touchpoints to exceed the standards throughout the entire customer journey.”
Timothy: “I think it’s important to deliver to our customer because when they come to us they are already stressed. we need make sure we are doing our part to help the customer along in their journey.”
How do you support and encourage staff to help our customers?
Nicola: “Teamwork and team spirit is huge for me and I try and replicate my enthusiasm and love for this within my own team and department. My team name me the “Firecracker” …………………..a person who is comfortable in trying something new , challenges the norm, energetic , honest and opinionated . I feel everyone needs a little bit of firecracker in them, a happy workforce is a productive workforce and a productive workforce will deliver great service. I encourage all employees to be engaged and driven to make a difference. I look at individual skills and experiences and work with them to incorporate these within their roles. Within the customer support centre we proactively work on our “Be YOUnique” initiative of which one of the straplines is “There is no such thing as call quality but there is such thing as quality people “ this is so true, we value our people and their delivery on customer service falls into place.
How do you show good customer service?
Timothy: “For me, like everyone says manners cost nothing and they provide the backbone of delivering a great customer experience. I remember one story where a customer was in accident and their dog was in the car. They was so worried about their dog, luckily the dog was fine, but we got talking about a dog charity that takes care of Golden Labradors and Retrievers. I think it helps a bit to just take the customer’s mind off the accident onto something that they enjoying talking about.”