Qualities of a Great Customer Service Manager 👨💼
Customer service is not just a firefighting activity, it requires a proactive strategy and execution. Great managers make sure that their customer-facing teams have the qualities and skills necessary to provide excellent customer service. They need to be great at motivating, coaching, and managing their teams, and they have to be ready to jump into the fray to handle the issues that their teams can't solve. In this article, we will discuss the top five qualities that a great customer service manager should possess.
Table of Contents 📑
- Customer-Centric Attitude
- Powerful Communicator
- Empathy to Burn
- The Master of Priorities
- Motivator
- Hiring the Right Customer Service Manager
- Conclusion
Customer-Centric Attitude 🤝
A customer-centric attitude is the most important quality that a great customer service manager should possess. If the manager doesn't put the customers at the center of everything they do, their team won't either. A customer-centric attitude means that the manager understands the importance of providing excellent customer service and is willing to go above and beyond to ensure that their customers are satisfied.
Powerful Communicator 💬
Communication is the bedrock upon which a customer service manager's relationships with their team, their persuasiveness with their superiors, and their interactions with customers are based. Managers need to be able to communicate effectively with their teams, tailor their communication to different personalities and communication styles, and influence the stakeholders above them in the organization.
Empathy to Burn ❤️
Empathy is the most important quality for solving difficult customer service situations. Great managers have it by the bucketful. Besides the empathy needed to solve the difficult customer service situations that managers are often called on to resolve, it is crucial to managing teams. Great managers are able to empathize with the challenges their teams face on the frontlines and understand how hard it is to recover when a customer yells, how frustrating it is to be shackled by outdated or illogical policies, and how impossible jobs can be when teams are under-resourced.
The Master of Priorities 🎯
A good manager knows how to help their team focus its energy and balance their time spent delivering customer experiences with the time spent reacting to customer service issues. Great customer service managers have the prioritization skills and organizational skills to make sure that the important is not completely subsumed by the urgent. They make sure that the fires of the day don't engulf the team's entire focus.
Motivator 🚀
Good managers know how to motivate themselves and motivate their teams. They know how to create a culture that doesn't wait for things to happen but that proactively makes them happen. Great managers try harder themselves and inspire their teams to always be looking for how they can make a difference for their customers, their colleagues, and the organization.
Hiring the Right Customer Service Manager 🤔
Hiring the right customer service manager can never be reduced to a simple checklist. The ideal candidate will be a good cultural fit, well understand the job in the industry, and will have the hard skills necessary to manage to organizational goals. However, if you look for the five qualities we just discussed both in your applicants and when evaluating internal promotions, you'll find that you can stack the deck for success and give your team the leader it needs to support your organization's customer experience mission.
Conclusion 🎉
In conclusion, a great customer service manager is the difference between a team that creates hero-class customer experiences and one that gets by with minimal effort and unremarkable results. A customer-centric attitude, powerful communication skills, empathy, prioritization skills, and the ability to motivate are the top five qualities that a great customer service manager should possess. By hiring the right customer service manager, you can give your team the leader it needs to support your organization's customer experience mission.
FAQs 🤔
Q: What is the most important quality for a customer service manager to possess?
A: A customer-centric attitude is the most important quality for a customer service manager to possess.
Q: What is the role of empathy in customer service management?
A: Empathy is crucial for solving difficult customer service situations and managing teams.
Q: How can a customer service manager motivate their team?
A: A customer service manager can motivate their team by creating a culture that proactively makes things happen and by inspiring their team to always be looking for ways to make a difference for their customers, colleagues, and the organization.
Resources:
- https://www.customerservicemanager.com/
- https://www.voc.ai/product/ai-chatbot
