No matter if you’re a CEO, tradie, nurse, waiter, accountant, barista, or one of Santa’s little helpers, here are 5 ways to perfect your Christmas customer service.
Body Language
First, it’s important to remember that even when you’re not talking, customers take note of your body language.
Even if you’ve perfected your sales pitch, make the best pumpkin-spice-Christmas-latte your guests have ever tasted, or wrap presents so beautifully that recipients cry when they see them, it’s all for nothing if your body language is off.
That means no matter how busy you are, you should always take a moment to make eye contact with a customer — and, send them a genuine smile while you’re at it! Create a bubble including you and the customer, paying close attention to them and how your physical cues may be interpreted.
Stop crossing your arms, scratching your hair, frowning or yawning, and instead, meet them with sincere interest and enthusiasm. That way, you’re a big step closer to excellent customer service, Christmas rush or not.
For more tips on how to master non-verbal communication, stop by this article.
Be the expert
As a customer, you expect staff to be experts in the products or services their company provides.
For example, you take for granted that a barista can make you a flat white, an accountant can assist you with your tax return, and that Santa’s happy elves know exactly what you wished for this Christmas. So naturally, your clients similarly expect you to know about your product or service.
That means it’s important to learn as much as you can well in advance, making you ready to act as a true expert once the busy Christmas time arrives.
Also, remember to be honest and not to over-promise. Be upfront about delivery times and costs — most customers understand that Christmas is a busy time and will appreciate you being straight with them instead of making promises you can’t keep.
For important pointers on setting and meeting customer expectations, stop by this page.
Listen
It makes perfect sense; it’s impossible to satisfy someone if you don’t listen to what they actually want.
It’s an all too common customer service mistake: you may assume from an initial sentence or from body language what a customer is after, and rush to provide a solution. But if you let them finish talking, you’ll often discover that there’s more to the interaction than you initially assumed.
Hence, an easy step towards excellent customer service is to simply take the time to really listen, letting your customer finish speaking before providing solutions.
Learn more about the importance of listening to your customers here.
Be positive
Would you rather be serviced by the Grinch or Elf?
Even if you feel like the world is chaotic around you, have gift wrapping paper stuck in you hair, Christmas decoration glitter glued to your hard-working hands, and a seemingly never-ending line of customers waiting to be serviced, it’s of utmost importance to stay positive.
Start off with a positive opener. Even a genuinely happy “hi” will do! Then make sure to show interest, demonstrate excitement, and use positive language throughout your interactions.
For example, instead of saying “sorry, we don’t have that in stock,” say “great, we can have that back in-store in two days, with plenty of time to go before Christmas! Would you like me to wrap it for you prior to pick up?”
By putting on a positive attitude, you can easily turn a busy and perhaps even stressful situation into a positive experience for the customer, who will then be happy to come back, even after the holidays.
And of course, don’t forget to be yourself and switch on your personality! Nothing signals great customer service like charismatic staff eager to help.
Here are some more tips to keep the jolly-good Christmas vibes flowing in your customer service interactions.
Take a breather
Do you have too much on your table? Feeling worn out or stressed? Struggling to keep up with deadlines, queues, and phone calls? Missing sleep from worrying? In other words, are you feeling like the Grinch?
Christmas is a busy time, but it shouldn’t be so busy that it affects your mental or physical health.
If you feel like it’s all too much or have other worries, make sure to take a step back and a deep breath. If that doesn’t do it, it’s important that you see your manager or an HR representative to air your concerns — this way, you can come up with a solution together.
Only by having a healthy foundation can you focus on perfecting your customer service, Christmas or not.
Christmas customer service – the takeaway
So there you have it; 5 simple ways to make your Christmas customer service shine brighter than your Christmas tree.
Simply start off with a big smile, a positive attitude, and eye contact, and you’ll be off to a strong start!
And for many more customer service tips and tricks, why not check out the many Canity training videos? Simply use the code CHRISTMAS20 to get started with a 20% discount — that’s a Christmas present from us, to you!
Merry Christmas, from the Canity team.
