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[MUSIC PLAYING] Hello, and welcome back. In module 1 we covered, why customer service really matters for e-commerce sellers, the basics of great service, and how to get started. In module 2, we're going to get more specific. What type of service do you want to provide? How do you go about hiring someone to help you with your customers? And how do you know which tools and systems you should use? You want to build a solid platform of customer focused systems, so that even if you're having a bad day, good customer service is almost an automatic outcome just because of the framework that you've set up to support you and your team.
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Setting up support starts with understanding what that framework looks like. Sometimes my son will ask me something like, what is rainbows? And I'll start answering confidently. But then halfway through, I realized I actually don't know the answer, as well as I thought. The same thing can happen in customer service. Everybody thinks they know how to do it. But when you look at the company's actions, it can be hard to understand what great really means. And that's why it's important to start by defining for yourself what you mean by good service.
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One way to define exceptional service would be service that consistently exceeds your customers' expectations. And to do that, you need to know what those expectations are. What are the typical response times in your industry of your competitors? Can you beat those times? Would your customers care if you could? What level of service are your customers used to? And can you repeatedly beat those expectations to delight them over time?
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To help you think through your service goals, take some time, answer these questions. How quickly do you want to respond to your customers? How will your team behave when dealing with customers? Their tone, their language, their attitude. How will you handle disagreements? And what if anything are you not able or willing to support? Who in the company is going to be responsible for the quality of service?
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And what ethical principles will you hold to even when it costs you? Now, you might also have legal requirements, maybe around warranties, and refunds to consider. But after you thought through all those questions, and you understand more clearly what sort of service levels you want to offer, it's time to figure out where you're going to offer that help. You can't be everywhere all at once, unless your Matthew McConaughey in that weird space library thing in interstellar.
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So rather than trying to be accessible to all your customers all the time on every channel, you'll need to be a bit more selective, like Matthew McConaughey in his later career. Should you offer email, phone, chat, Twitter? He's had to narrow it down. First, figure out what channels your customers are using. Look at your existing support. Map out where it's coming from. Look at your competitors.
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See what options they are providing. Try just asking your customers outright which channels they prefer. Second, understand the resources you have. You know how much time you have, which staff you have, for how long, what skills they have. Now it's a process of figuring out which channels you could feasibly offer to a level of quality that will help you achieve those service goals.
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So for example, if you want to be highly responsive, you've only got one person to help you with customers, then find support going to be pretty tough. It's better to have really high quality support on fewer channels than to be everywhere, but in a mediocre way. Check out the resources below. We've got more on channels and the various pros and cons. And remember, you're not deciding forever, it's just what can we offer right now really well. All right.
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So at this point, you should have an idea of what sort of service you want to give, and on which channels you'll deliver that service. And as you gain more customers, inevitably, you're going to need someone else to help you. And in the next lesson, we'll talk about hiring the right people.
