11 strategies to help ensure your front-line team isn’t frustrating customers

Endless time on hold. Transfers to multiple people. Explaining a problem over and over. There is no shortage of horror stories from customers who have experienced poor front-line service. If one of your customers experiences “nightmare” service even once, it’s likely they won’t choose to come back to your business again. And they may not ever tell you the reason they’re moving on.

Your front-line and/or customer service team members are responsible for keeping your clients happy — if they fail to do so, it can have a devastating impact on your bottom line. That’s why every business leader needs to ensure their front-line team has the tools, resources and knowledge they need to give customers a stellar experience that exceeds expectations. Below, 11 members of Business Journals Leadership Trust share practical steps to help business leaders ensure their front-line team isn’t frustrating customers and clients.

By Business Journals Leadership Trust Expert Panel®

Business Journals Leadership Trust is an invite-only network of influential business leaders, executives and entrepreneurs in your community.

https://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/news/2021/10/21/11-strategies-to-help-ensure-your-front-line-team-isnt-frustrating-customers.html

1. Become a ‘customer’ of your own company.

Leaders need to dig into their organization’s customer experience from time to time — to experience what their customers experience. Become a “customer” of your own company. Instead of using your position in your company to bypass loopholes, call your customer service line or walk into a store as a customer. Experience what your customers experience, and many solutions will be revealed to you. – Jeff Sinnott, Vantage Bank Texas

2. Practice different service scenarios.

Put your team in the customer’s shoes to help them better understand the customer experience from start to finish. Practicing various scenarios and assessing the customer’s view of what information or assistance is most critical to them and how quickly they need it (based on the situation) helps us better prepare our team to alleviate issues and provide proper solutions in a timely manner. – Messina Truttman, Beck Flavors

3. Respond quickly to requests for help.

I believe having a prompt response time is a critical element of good customer service and making people feel heard. Even if you can’t get someone a response, letting them know you’ll support them through their needs is an easy and impactful step. Modeling that and instituting a quick-response policy, along with having a culture that supports care for the customer, is a major step. – Jonathan Ehrenfeld, Blue Ocean

4. Don’t be defensive about bad reviews.

Don’t be defensive about bad customer reviews or complaints on social media. Use them to get better. Many business owners take online criticism personally — it’s as though someone has called their baby ugly. The more productive response is to wade through the vitriol to find the root problems — and then to solve them. – Scott Baradell, Idea Grove

5. Maintain consistency in service platforms.

Since effective customer service is critical for retention, businesses should try to maintain uniformly formatted service platforms so that anyone in a customer-facing role can read a service ticket’s history, know where to find the answer and resolve the issue quickly. Of course, this only works if employees have bought into the mission of the organization and care about their customers’ success. – Donovan Pyle, Health Compass Consulting
6. Be willing to pay more for better talent.

I recommend paying slightly more for significantly better talent. Make sure that talent has a service mindset, high levels of empathy, and all the training and autonomy to get the job done right — like the Zappos customer service team. Lastly, customer service should be a top-down directive. If management/ownership doesn’t value customer service, it will always be a weakness. – Kent Lewis, Anvil Media, Inc.

7. Make sure the support team knows you have their backs.

Support your team and train them on how to handle complaints. Show them that you will back them up if they need it. Clear and open communication with your team is crucial — together, you can solve any problem. – Dorian Rader, OneTen° Capital

8. Have a script for front-line workers.

Having a script for front-line service workers can be helpful because it provides them with information that can help them in a jam. As time goes on, questions will repeat themselves; making common answers available to the front-line team can make not only your customers more comfortable but also your staff. – Mackenzie Toland, A New Leaf Therapeutic Services PLLC

9. Empower those on the front lines.

Empowerment is key. Those on the front lines must be able to make simple, quick decisions to satisfy and keep clients and customers happy and maintain the company in a good light. Make it easy and efficient for them to provide resolutions to the most common and frequent issues — it can be a win-win for all parties. It also builds a ground-up team front, with members who know the goals are common at all levels. – Clayton Garrett, American Wholesale Lighting

10. Keep your front-line team happy.

Customer service — retaining clients and cultivating loyalty — is one of the most important elements of your business, so it is critical to keep your front-line employees happy. A happy workplace means a happy team and, if your team is empowered and connected to take better care of the customer, the result is a better customer experience and improved customer loyalty. – Joanna Swash, Moneypenny

11. Stay close to the front lines.

Engage in management by walking around. I have moved my office up to the front so that I can hear my staff interact with clients on the phone and in person. If there’s an issue — either with a staff member or a client — I can intervene. – Christine Durrett, Durrett & Kersting PLLC