5 More Customer Service Tips For Facilities Managers
The article provides five practical customer service tips for facilities managers, emphasizing building personal connections with coworkers, empathizing with upset employees by using positive language, ensuring availability through alternative contact methods, clearly communicating absence and delegation during time off, and acknowledging customers' assistance to foster appreciation.
More Easy Techniques for Mastering Customer Service
1. Get to Know Your Customers
Treat every customer that contacts you like a great friend. While this advice is often given to those who may not see their customers in person, it's still valuable for facilities managers. Coworkers will be more understanding when problems arise if they know something about you beyond your name and role. Coming across as cold and uncaring may lead them to view the facilities department negatively.
2. Empathize With Them
It's not always possible to form a personal connection with every employee. Sometimes, you may receive a call from someone you've never met who is upset or even rude. Instead of responding negatively, remain calm and positive. Avoid negative language. For example, instead of saying, "We can't fix the fax machine until the part arrives. It won't be available for two days," try, "We are working to fix the fax machine as fast as we can. In the meantime, there's a machine in this area and this floor that you can use."
3. Make Yourself Available
Avoid situations where customers can't reach you, similar to being put on hold for long periods. Facilities managers are often away from their desks, so you may not always have access to email or voicemail. Let staff know alternative ways to contact you, such as your work cell. This helps resolve issues more quickly and prevents you from missing important problems that require immediate attention.
4. Don’t Leave Them Hanging When You’re Gone
When you're out of the office for vacation or business, ensure your maintenance team knows who to report to. A clear chain of command allows problems to be resolved quickly and efficiently. Communicate your absence clearly: set a vacation responder and voicemail with the dates you'll be gone and the contact information of the person to reach in your absence.
5. Acknowledge Their Help
Recognizing customers shows appreciation. For example, a customer service rep at Jawbone sent a handwritten thank-you note to a customer. In facilities management, you can show gratitude in an email. If you've made changes based on customer suggestions, send a "You asked…We listened" email listing the suggestions and how they improved the workplace. If certain customers go above and beyond in helping implement a change, consider mentioning them by name.
Customer service is a key part of a facility manager’s job and should not be neglected. By keeping these five tips in mind, you can ensure your department’s customer service remains top-notch in any situation.