Blog Post

3 Underrated Customer Service Skills Your Local Business Needs Now

Amber Blevins • Dec 23, 2023

As a local business owner, you know the importance of customer service. Ensuring your customers have the best possible experience is the backbone of any company—particularly a local business. And these days, with the ease of sharing information online, someone can announce a poor customer experience to hundreds or thousands of people with the simple click of a button.

Every consumer has their own definition of good service. Things like returning calls promptly, being upfront about pricing, and delivering products or services on time are all essential parts of a successful customer journey.

But those are obvious, right? Every successful business (including your competitors) already has those skills mastered. The key to setting your business apart from the competition, to gaining a reputation for stellar service, is using every member of your team to build a strong foundation for the customer’s journey.

You can do this by training your staff on these underrated (and often neglected) soft skills and making them part of your company culture.

Credibility

Developing a human connection with your customer is perhaps the single most important aspect of the customer’s journey. And it’s crucial you develop this connection right from the start. An authentic customer experience includes honesty, straightforward information, and demonstrating your company is reliable.

An easy way to help your staff gain creditability with customers and create an authentic experience is to discourage them from using “shop talk” with customers. Understandably, your line of business may be very technical or require a lot of industry-specific language. But keep in mind, your customers probably don’t speak that language and may become disillusioned with the experience. Worse yet, they may feel intimidated.

When possible, save the technical language for conversations with colleagues. When speaking with customers, use layman’s terms whenever appropriate. If you must introduce a term or concept, your customer isn’t familiar with, take the time to explain.

Connections are made with customers when you’re both communicating on the same wavelength. This shows you’re invested in helping the customer understand your business.

Autonomy

As a local business, you have much more flexibility in the way you do business compared to the mega-corporations out there. But this flexibility has its own set of unique challenges. Namely, each customer journey is a little bit different and there are no one-size-fits-all answers to questions.

This is where instilling a sense of autonomy among your team is essential. When there are no cookie-cutter answers and no “by the book” solutions, your team must be able to think quickly and take action.

If your team members have to stop and ask you for answers to every question, they’re causing a roadblock in the customer journey. After too many roadblocks and delays, your customer might decide to take a different path.

Empower your team members to make decisions, think spontaneously, and anticipate issues. Encourage them to be proactive and develop creative solutions to problems. Not only does this create a smooth customer experience, it helps your team members become more knowledgeable and better at their jobs.

Project Management

Project management means different things to different people. But whether you’re a general contractor, a mechanic, a shopkeeper, or an IT manager, the concept is the same.

In short, project management is using knowledge, skills, and tools to deliver something of value. A project could be something as simple as tracking down a lost order or something as complicated as building a house. In either case, you need a plan of action, the right tools for the job, and the knowledge to get it done.

Train your staff to handle customer interactions with an organized, project management mindset. This means looking at the big picture, beyond the single email or phone call they may be handling. Looking ahead and considering all eventualities will help your staff set expectations for the customer and tackle potential issues before they happen.

As an bonus, using project management methodology will help your staff successfully handle multiple projects and customers at once.

Your Team is Your Best Resource

A customer-centric attitude should be part of your company’s DNA. Inspire your staff to genuinely care about your customers—not because it’s their job, but because they truly want to help people and create an exceptional customer experience.

Teach your team members these soft skills and then watch as you climb above your competition and local customers rave about your service.

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