This one should be a no-brainer, but if you have ever called your Internet provider to complain about the Wi-Fi that’s super slow during the night, and then you’ll know that bad customer service is pretty rampant nowadays. “The customer is always right!” you may yell at the person who’s at the other end of the line and it won’t change anything. Because while there is some truth to that statement, the reality it is not as black and white.
As far as we’re concerned, great customer service is built upon four pillars: Communication, attention to detail, honesty and creativity. Simply put, customer service is about pleasing the customer, but not at the expense of the end product’s quality.
Communication
The basis for any agency, or any company that offers a service, for that matter. Communication requires not only talking, but also listening and being able to put yourself on someone else’s shoes. Empathy is a key element of good communication. A great account manager will:
- Have a good attitude
- Match your workflow
- Understand, but not be a “yes” person
- Listen to your ideas, but have their own
- Reply to your enquiries quickly
- Attention to detail
One simply cannot learn how to be detail oriented, it is a skill you either have or don’t have. An account manager that’s detail oriented will remember the particulars of your case therefore making you feel like their number one customer.
Honesty
Be careful with the “Yes” sayers. We all want to work with positive people, but it is one thing to be an optimist and another to be deluded — often times the line that divides the two of them is very thin. A good account manager will let you know when things cannot be done or when a certain plan is not the best course of action.
Creativity
Creativity not only applies to putting a design together or matching colors, creativity is also necessary when solving an issue or finding the best possible action for a particular dilemma. A creative account manager will sort things in unorthodox ways if necessary.
