According to Shep Hyken, a customer service expert and author of the bestselling “The Amazement Revolution” said:

“There is a big difference between a satisfied customer and a loyal customer.”

Indeed there is because, according to the White House Office of Consumer Affairs, a loyal customer is worth 10 times as much as their first purchase.

On the other hand, an average customer who feels that he has been wronged will talk about his “bad experience” to more than 16 people. And more than 20 percent of those “wronged customers” will tell another 20.

Those figures show the power of customers whether they talk about their good or bad experience when they engage with your brand. The numbers also show how important it is for companies to invest in creating an effective customer retention strategy. And when it comes to investments and training, companies should first begin with their customer service team because they are the front liners.

With that said, here are five essential skills your team should develop:

1. Being Attentive to Customer Needs

Sometimes patience is not synonymous to attentiveness — although you can appear unflustered, your mind might be wandering off somewhere.

Conversely, if you are attentive and you listen to your customer, you can gain insight into what they need. You can even read between the lines to what they’re saying. As a result, you’ll be able to deliver the right solution to their pain points.

2. Can Communicate Clearly to Customers

One of the roots of misunderstandings is how we express our opinions to other people. We might be right but the words that we used and how we delivered it came off wrong to the other person. Therefore, we have to train our customer service team what right communication is. Most of the time, all you need to do is use simple and clear language that will leave no room for doubt to the customer.

3. Shows Thorough Knowledge of the Product

Have you ever been on the receiving end of a customer service staff who doesn’t know what to do? Pretty sure, you looked like this customer.

If there are employees in your company who should have excellent knowledge of all your products and services, it should be your customer service representatives.

Encourage every member of the team to make an extra effort in developing this skill. An employee who has excellent product knowledge can deliver the most effective solutions to customers in need.

4. Knows How and When to Close the Conversation

This skill does not necessarily mean closing a sale but being able to end your conversation with a customer without them still feeling lost and disappointed. It’s about making sure all the customer’s problems have been solved before saying goodbye to them.

How do you know when? When the customer himself tells you that everything is all set and all questions are answered.

5. Focused on the Goal

Customer service experts say that wowing a customer does not necessarily generate the ROI that they expect. Sometimes, the team focuses too much on wowing the customers but there are no goals about what the next step should be.

For example, one company gave their customer service team the authority to give out $50 rebate if they feel the need to. Because the team has the freedom to do this and no authorization from a manager is needed, they just give the free rebates without thinking whether the customer really deserves it or not. The result made the customers happy but the company finds themselves paying more than getting a profit.

Your Turn to Sharpen Those Skills

Developing these skills do not happen overnight. Therefore, managers should be intentional in reminding their customer service team about them. Don’t forget to commend those who are doing them and gently encourage those who are still struggling to integrate them into their systems. It would be even much easier to convey these skills if they are part of your corporate culture. When that happens, wowing a customer will be as natural as breathing.