Customer Care and Sustainability: a chance for building a conversation
The management of customer services has always been difficult and full of unexpected accidents. Let’s admit it: handle with customers requests is one of the most challenging tasks for any professional or employee.
Businesses receive every day lots of requests, and they need to handle each one of them with an extreme care and quickly enough to satisfy customers expectations.
Having to deal with questions regarding sustainability processes and policies makes it even more difficult and mistakes are waiting around the corner.
If you have already engaged in a transition toward a respectful and sustainable business activity, you may have realised that customers expectations will change accordingly.
Question are no more restricted to the price or availability of an item, neither to the procedure for the return of merchandise. You may have already started receiving questions about the sourcing of your prime materials, updated reports regarding your carbon footprint or more detailed information regarding the eco-labels certifying your products.
In case of such requests, a template answer may not be enough.
I have to admit that I am not a fan of template answers, except for those cases in which there is not so much to say. If the question is just “Can you provide me with a return label?” or “May I know the opening hours of your store / offices?” a template is usually fine and enough for the customer to receive.
But when it comes to explaining your approach on sustainability issues, you may need to carefully train your customer care team and to involve them in understanding not only of the ongoing processes in terms of sustainability, but also of your company’s DNA, identity and purposes, in terms of vision and mission.
The level of engagement you show with your customers is also part of your sustainable identity,
and this means sharing with them all possible information and details, carefully listening to their request or doubts and taking into consideration to contact them back with more information in case these are currently not available or when a feedback from a colleague or a manager is needed before sending out a reply.
Suggesting the customer to refer to the information published on the company website may also not be enough, as it may be interpreted as a refuse from the side of the clerk to engage in a conversation with the customer;
otherwise, exchanging and taking the time to listen and to respond is at the basis of a sustainable philosophy and process.
In case you would like to receive more information on this subject, you can contact me anytime at the email address: info@theslowcorner.com