In the first week of October every year it is customer service week! To celebrate this national holiday here at Ladderstore we decided to interview our customer service manager Richard, each day of this week with different questions based on the word of the day set by ‘The Institute of Customer Service’, so let's find out exactly what working in customer service is like.
Monday’s word 'Insight'
What does a typical day involve?
A typical day involves going through the orders in the morning to look for any issues and any special delivery instructions or stock issues. Once we go through these, we then process the orders for delivery. After the orders have been processed we go through any emails, sales enquiries and contact forms that have been sent in and make sure they are answered. At the same time, we are manning the phones and the live chat to make sure any enquiries or queries are sorted.
Tuesday’s word 'Agility'
What are the most common obstacles you face to achieve customer service success?
The most common obstacles tend to be things that go wrong and are out of our control, things such as items being damaged in transit or missed deliveries. We have to act fast to get these sorted out for our customers. We often get these kinds of curveballs to come our way, but we always try to get things sorted for our customers in the most efficient way possible.
Wednesday’s word 'Skills'
What skills do you find you need when dealing with customers?
Organisation - It is important to make sure you know who you have spoken with and who you have and haven’t gone back to.
Patience - It can be frustrating when things go wrong that are out of our control but it important not to get flustered and get things sorted.
Thursday’s word ‘Leadership’
What character traits do you believe make effective leadership?
I think leading by example and a genuine passion for making the customer journey as smooth as possible encourages the team to do their best job.
Friday’s word ‘Recognition’
In the past year who do you believe has improved the most under your management?
I think our apprentice Meg has improved the most over the past year. She has worked hard to expand her product knowledge and understanding of how the company works. Megan is now a vital member of our team.
A big thanks to Richard for answering our questions this week and a massive thanks to all our customer service staff who do an amazing job at looking after our customers!