5 Steps to Successful Customer Service

Customer service is the foundation of any business. Without customer satisfaction, no company can thrive—especially, a new one. If you have an established Notary business, are thinking about starting one, or just like completing jobs on the side, customer service is crucial to the success of those endeavors. A Notary Public is a public servant. Your customer service should reflect that—you’re always there to help! 

1. Listen: It always sounds so simple. But being a good listener will make the most improvement in your customer service skills. You can never solve the customer’s dilemma if you aren’t listening to what it actually is. (Sometimes, there are things the customer isn't saying that will hold the key to the solution.) Listening involves hearing what the customer is saying, but also filling in the blanks. Are they leaving information out? What is the root of the problem? It allows you to ask the proper follow-up questions to have your customer satisfied again as quickly as possible.

2. Be Patient: Some problems are easy, others are not. Sometimes, there’s miscommunication, or it’s simply a complicated issue the customer is having. Your job is to stay patient and happy with the customer. If someone has a negative experience with your company, they are likely to spread the word to their friends, and you will have potentially lost more than one customer. Positivity from your customer service will always be met with open arms, and make the entire process easier for everyone involved.

3. Treat Each Customer Individually: It’s easy to create go-to responses, and these scripted responses are fine, as long as you are not interacting with the customer like a robot. One of the most frustrating things for people is for them to feel like they are not being treated well— this has a huge tie to properly listening to the customer. If you have listened, and can identify the true problem, it may be the same problem you encounter a million times a day, but your response should be worded so the customer fully understands. Frustration on both sides will ensue if you continue to repeat the same response. Repeating what is not working only leaves the customer even more distraught after the encounter with customer service—so tailor your responses to the individual and be willing to have a more in-depth explanation as needed.

4. Be Proactive: Once you have an established customer service plan, you should be able to predict what problems your customers will run into, or the dilemmas they will face. Be proactive about getting certain things out there and available for them, so they will have an abundance of resources at their fingertips.

5. Go Above and Beyond: Along with predicting your customers’ needs you should always leave them completely satisfied after an encounter with your customer service. Answering a question is simple—give them the unexpected: a faster way to navigate the site, a tool they didn’t know about, where they could find the answer to this question or others in the future. Educating your customers about the free resources you have provided them only cements their loyalty to your company.

Customer service is central to being a successful Notary Public—no matter in what capacity.