Regardless of the size and industry of a company, customer happiness is key to company survival. Most companies have specific departments or positions, often called Customer Success Managers, to deal with this issue. While there are countless attributes this position could use, we’ve narrowed it down to four listed below:
Patience
After working with a product or idea for a long period of time, it’s easy to forget that others don’t understand it as well as you. Patience is crucial to be able to walk the customer through any problems or confusion he or she may have. A customer should never feel hurried or left behind when being helped through a situation.
Responsive
When a customer reaches out for help, the worst scenario is a lack of response. A Customer Success Manager must be able to give timely and well thought out responses. Not only that, but he or she should be available to be reached out to any time of day.
Straightforward
Customers can often tell when an employee is lying to them, and they don’t like it one bit. It’s better to be honest about what the problem or solution is, rather than beating around the bush. Most customers would rather hear that a problem they’re having can’t be solved at the moment, rather than the process be elongated until later on down the road it slips that the problem can’t be solved. All this elongated process created was wasted time that could have been used to help in other areas.
Caring
Aside from all the automated, impersonal messages customers may receive, sometimes all they want is a human connection. Knowing that there is someone they can reach out to in time of need can be comforting enough to keep them coming back to your company. Gentle, polite wording in responses can also add this caring touch.
While these are just four of the countless attributes needed for a customer success manager, they demonstrate the main solutions to problems that arise. At times, one of these attributes can keep the customer happy, while in other scenarios a combination is needed to tackle the problem.