Customer Service in Times of Crisis

Customer Service in times of crisis

“It was the worst of times; it was the best of times’ – Dickens

Supporting customer service in the best of times, is a fairly straight road with clear signs. The destination of customer satisfaction is in sight. Most days it is easy to take questions and boost confidence with helpful answers.

Then came COVID. Suddenly the old answers aren’t enough. Customers, like all of us, are needing helpful/positive advice.

This is not the time to increase customer effort.

“I suggest you try contacting…” is normally helpful, and enough to get someone to next steps. But in stressful times, the workload has been increased.

Simply saying “Let’s see if we can figure this out’ can make all the difference to Customer Service relationship, reducing frustration to find solutions together.

Submitted by: Joanna Wilson, Director, Creston Valley Chamber of Commerce

Source: "Customer Service in the time of COVID, Strategies" by Micah Solomon from Zappos and More.