2. Market yourself
"Market yourself" means to
show yourself in the best light
to employers.
It is very important that you
can show that you are a good
fit for a job.
The person who gets a job
may not be the most skilled.
They may have been good at
promoting themselves
3. Identify your Niche
What are your interests? Your
talents? Your passions?
Think about the ways you
already bring these elements
together and explore the
possibilities for how you can
engage them in innovation and
problem solving.
Focus on the uncommon things
you have to offer.
4. Seek recognition for your Expertise
Showcase what you know by building a knowledge base.
Grow your reputation and
promote your informed
opinions.
The hallmark of expertise is
figuring out what's
information and relevant.
Develop relationships with
thought leaders and media
representatives in your field
and your community.
5. Share your wisdom
Write prolifically about what you know to get your name in front of people as an expert.
Contribute articles and
blog posts any time you
have an opportunity.
Make sure it's informative,
well written, timely, and
valuable to readers.
6. Build a Community
Create a network of like-minded people in your field.
work on connecting deeply
and really getting to know
one another.
Genuine expertise is always
drawn to other experts, and
in their company you can
open up a whole world of
new possibilities.
7. Be of service to others.
Become a trusted advisor.
do what you can to help
as many people as you
can.
offer your talents to a
local nonprofit or set up
an internship or
mentoring opportunity to
help someone starting
out.
8. Be Social Savvy
Spend focused time on social media tools.
Twitter, LinkedIn,
Facebook, Instagram and
electronic groups in your
industry.
Share some of your
expertise for free, and you
can begin building a base
of fans who trust you and
look to you for expert
advice.
9. Remember who you are- is the message to the world
Every word you say, everything that you communicate and do, is a message to
the world.
Protect your reputation by being intentional about the words
you speak and the actions you perform.
11. Empathy
Understanding the customer and the
problem is key for anyone in a
customer facing role.
One-to-one customer interactions
with your customer success team are
the biggest place you can show
empathy.
Anyone on the phone, live chat,
or social media customer support
must understand that they are talking
to a real live person.
12. Clear communication
skills
Understanding the customer
and the problem is key for
anyone in a customer facing
role.
One-to-one customer
interactions with your
customer success team are
the biggest place you can
show empathy.
Anyone on the phone, live
chat, or social media
customer support must
understand that they are
talking to a real live person.
13. Product knowledge
is a crucial element that can’t
ignored.
reps must be able to give accurate
and up-to-date information about
your product or service.
If not, you’ll upset your customers
even more!
According to a survey of more than
1,000 adults by the Consumer Reports
National Research Center, 70 percent
of people are highly annoyed when
they are transferred to a
representative who can’t help or is
wrong.
14. Problem-solving skills
is what customer service is all about.
While there are many
problem-solving models,
those interacting with
customers need to be
quick on their feet.
There’s no time for group
brainstorming.
Your clients want their
problems fixed and they
want them fixed now.
15. Listening skills
Even though a rep
might face the
same problem 15-
to-20 times a day,
it is imperative they
still listen to each
person and each
call
16. Tenacity and Resilience
most people only call customer service when they
have a problem.
This means that your customer
service reps are often faced with
unhappy people non-stop
throughout the day.
Sometimes, it’s a simple problem
to fix. Other times, not so much.
Customer Service reps need the
ability to deal with other
people’s frustrations day in and
day out, while still maintaining
that positive attitude.
Think of tenacity as resilience:
the dogged determination not
to stop until the problem is
solved.
17. Authenticity
will go a long way when it comes to customer service.
This goes back to empathy and
listening – you’re not just reading
a script, you’re not pretending to
listen, you are giving your best
solution to each and every
customer.
It means that you’re not trying to
help a customer to fulfill your
own goals (whether it’s making a
renewal, hitting your target, or
avoiding looking bad to your
boss).
You want to help every individual
you cross paths with.
18. Adaptability
While you may have a standard customer
script, customers are not made from cookie
cutters.
Each individual’s situation is unique,
and you need to be ready to adapt to
each one.
Finding employees with strong
adaptability skills will not only help
your customer success rate, it will also
help you find strong leaders.
the ability to adapt or develop was
cited as the No. 1 most cited success
factor for North American managers.
19. Attentiveness
Be attentive to your customers and make them feel like they matter.
Sometimes, small businesses
are the ones that understand
their clients the most; they
have lifelong customers
because of the time they
spend building relationships.
Putting quality over quantity
rather than speed and moving
on to the next customer, gives
each customer all the time
they need.
20. Professionalism
When a customer has a problem, they don’t
care about the customer service agent.
As soon as that phone is
picked up, all personal
problems are left behind.
It’s time to put on a smile
(even over the phone!) and
focus on the needs of the
customer first.
21. Acting Ability
Fake it till you make it.
it doesn’t just apply to actors. All
service agents need to know
how to put on a happy face.
Whether or not you have a
script, showing some personality
will go a long way to help
customers make a connection
with your customer service rep.
That connection is what gives
them a positive experience.
22. Time Management Skills
Time management skills are especially applicable to
serving customers while working for a B2B
company.
Customer support teams have a variety of
responsibilities to juggle each day when it comes to
strategizing time management, including:
Which customers will need a little extra love,
costing the service rep more of their time
How long onboarding calls will take
How much time to budget for responding to
emails
When preparation is needed before meeting with
a customer
How to prioritize time spent researching answers
to unusual customer questions
23. The Ability to let it go
Knowing how to let it go is a skill.
Those in customer support roles,
such as call centers, are often the
brunt of verbal abuse.
People call up wanting to vent and
have a source to dispel their anger.
If this is you, understand when it’s
not your fault.
Just like the path to productivity,
you may need to take a break or
step back.
And, if all else fails, create a music
playlist that helps you move on,
with “Shake it Off” by Taylor Swift as
the first song.
24. Consider this marketing quote by Amazon CEO
Jeff Bezos: “We see our customers as invited
guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our
job every day to make every important aspect
of the customer experience a little bit better.”
Notas del editor
The person who knows how best to market yourself is you. Start now to set yourself apart as a leader and generous citizen of your professional communities, and you can take yourself much further than you may have dreamed.