What Makes for Exceptional Customer Service?

Darren Bagnall, from Flat Living Insurance, discusses why good customer service is such an important part of any business. 

Customer service is an essential component to the success of any company. 

Retail and hospitality obviously involve a great deal of interaction with the public, but the progress and growth of nearly every company is directly linked to their customer service standards.  

There are numerous factors which must be considered when thinking about the ways we interact with our clients. So, what does successful customer service entail?

First Impressions

This is arguably one of the most important things to think about in regard to customer service. 

When a customer first approaches a business, they are doing so in the knowledge that they have other options available to them if they not be happy with the services you provide. 

No matter how competitive your prices or how cost-effective your deals are, a customer will not be willing to work with a company who are disrespectful, know little about their own products, or come across as unprofessional. 

It is so crucial that in the very first conversation (whether that may be over the phone, face-to-face, or through a virtual chat) the client interacts with a business who are clearly serious about providing quality products and quality customer service from the very beginning. After all, why should a company invest so much in advertising costs only for the client to back away once making contact? Even more important, every client you miss out on is another client who turns to one of your competitors.

Going Above and Beyond

A large part of customer service is obvious – it’s about making the customer happy. Very often, this is a requirement which goes beyond the basic outline of your product. It may entail talking for an extended period of time to your client to ease their worries, answer their questions and explain any terms they don’t understand. 

Here at Residentsline, we will often go out of our way to make our customers happy. For example; approaching insurance companies to ask for special discounts and tailoring our cover to suit specific properties. 

In addition to this, it is not uncommon for businesses to point customers in the direction of a more suitable company if they cannot provide the services the client is looking for. This comes from a genuine desire to help the client, even without having any benefit to the company itself.

Communication

The way that employees communicate with their customers speaks volumes about the ethos of the company itself. It is vital that the customer feels valued in their interactions. This can sometimes be a difficult line to tread, as it can be easy for specialists to forget that they are communicating with a client who may not have any experience in the area and therefore need everything to be thoroughly explained. In this instance, the business should always put emphasis on teaching employees to handle clients with patience, understanding and respect.

It is also important to avoid heavy jargon or industry-specific terms unless absolutely necessary; the customer needs to feel confident in the product they are choosing to invest in, not patronised or belittled.

Companies should be courteous, friendly and professional when communicating with clients. This is the best way of ensuring a productive and mutually-respectful exchange that will show the client that they are in good hands and set the foundation for a positive, long-lasting relationship.

What Do We Offer?

We’ve worked hard to ensure that Flat Living Insurance adheres to exceptional customer service standards and offer bespoke insurance policies which put our customers first. Our team are all specialists, so you can be sure that we know what we’re doing and will always have you covered, no matter what.

Why should you work with us?

• Access to a 24-hour claims line in case of emergencies.
• Cloud-based portals (Manage Your Block and Property Management Portal) which have been specifically designed to give you somewhere secure to store your insurance documentation and communicate with residents and emergency contractors.
• All our insurance policies and products are underwritten by the most reliable A-rated insurance companies in the UK.
• Whilst our products are of the highest quality, we have also worked hard to ensure our prices are still the most competitive on the market.
• Our team is comprised of insurance specialists who are professional, friendly and will go above and beyond to ensure you are satisfied with our services.

We invest a lot of time in ensuring our brand is something we can be proud of, and we think that starts with you. The happiness of our customers is paramount to how we measure our own success, which is why we work so hard to make sure you’re happy. 

For more information, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

---

You can contact a member of the team by calling us on 0333 577 2044.