The Importance of a Shared Language in Your Business

Customer service is an essential part of any successful business, and having a clear and consistent approach is crucial. A common language helps everyone in your business understand what constitutes excellent customer service and how to deliver it effectively.

• A shared vocabulary helps avoid misunderstandings and ensures everyone is on the same page.
• This common language can be formalized as a business glossary, which is a valuable resource for onboarding new team members and building a strong customer support culture.

What Exactly is Customer Service?

Customer service is a broad term that encompasses all interactions a customer has with your business. It's not just about resolving immediate issues but about creating a positive and lasting customer experience.

• Customer service begins even before a customer makes a purchase and continues after the sale is complete.
• This includes interactions like browsing your website, engaging with social media content, attending webinars, and more.

Building a Customer Service Glossary for Your Business

A customer service glossary is a valuable tool for any business that wants to improve its support operations. It provides a centralized repository of key terms and definitions that everyone in your business can refer to.

• This glossary can be used for onboarding new customer support agents, as a reference for existing team members, and as a resource for customers.
• The glossary should include common customer service terms, as well as business-specific terminology related to your industry and products.

Essential Customer Service Terms for Your Business Glossary

Here are some key customer service terms that should be included in your business glossary:

• Agent: A member of the support team who handles customer communications and resolves issues.
• Average First Response Time: The average time it takes for your support team to respond to a customer request.
• Average Handle Time: The average time it takes to resolve a customer support case completely.
• Backlog: The number of unresolved customer support requests at a given time.
• Benchmarking: Comparing your support performance to industry standards or competitor data.
• Brand: The overall perception of your business by customers and the general public.
• Bug: An issue with your product or service that requires engineering intervention to fix.
• Canned Response (or Macros): Reusable replies to common questions that save time for agents.
• Channels: The various ways customers can contact your support team, such as email, phone, chat, social media, etc.
• Churn: The rate at which customers stop using your product or service over a period of time.
• Customer Effort: The amount of work a customer has to do to resolve an issue. Ideally, this should be minimal.
• Customer Experience: The overall perception and feeling a customer has about their interactions with your business.
• Customer Satisfaction (CSAT): A metric that measures customer happiness and loyalty.
• Cross-Selling: Selling additional products or services to existing customers.
• Downtime: Periods when your product or service is unavailable due to issues or maintenance.
• Empathy: The ability to understand and share the feelings of your customers.
• Feature: A specific functionality of your product or service that meets a customer's need.
• Feedback: Customer input on their experience with your business and suggestions for improvement.
• Feedback Loop: A process of gathering customer feedback, taking action, and communicating the results back to customers.
• First Contact Resolution Rate (FCRR): The percentage of issues resolved on the first contact with support.
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): A collection of common questions and answers about your business, products, or services.
• Gamification: Using game-like elements like points, leaderboards, and achievements to motivate customers.
• Help Desk: Software used to manage customer support tickets and communication.
• In-app Support: Offering customer support directly within your web or mobile application.
• Key Performance Indicator (KPI): Data-driven goals used to track the performance of agents and teams.
• Knowledge Base: A self-service online resource that provides information about your products and services.
• Lifetime Value (LTV): The estimated total profit a customer will generate over their relationship with your business.
• Live Chat: A real-time communication channel for customer support.
• Loyalty: Customers choosing your products or services over competitors.
• Metric: A quantifiable measure used to track progress and results.
• Multi-Channel Support: Offering support through multiple channels to meet customer preferences.
• Net Promoter Score (NPS): A measure of customer loyalty and likelihood to recommend your business.
• Onboarding: The process of guiding new customers through the initial stages of using your product or service.
• Open Ticket: A customer support request that has been submitted but not yet assigned to an agent.
• Outsourcing: Hiring a third-party company to handle customer support tasks.
• Overdue Ticket: A support request that has not been resolved within the agreed-upon timeframe.
• Pending Ticket: A support request that is under investigation or requires further action before resolution.
• Personalization: Tailoring customer support to individual preferences and needs.
• Proactiveness: Taking steps to prevent potential issues or problems before they arise.
• Reassign: Transferring a support ticket from one agent to another.
• Resolution Rate: The percentage of customer support issues resolved successfully.
• Retention: Keeping customers engaged and using your products or services over time.
• Review: Customer feedback about your business, products, or services that is shared publicly.
• Service Culture: The shared values, beliefs, and behaviors of your business regarding customer service.
• Service Level Agreement (SLA): A contract outlining the expected levels of service for your products or services.
• Survey: A questionnaire sent to customers to gather feedback on their support experience.
• Ticket: An individual customer support request or issue.
• Ticket Status: The current state of a support request, such as open, pending, closed, etc.
• Tone: The way you communicate with customers, reflecting your company's brand and personality.
• Troubleshooting: Identifying and resolving the root cause of a customer support issue.
• Unassigned Ticket: A support request that has not yet been assigned to an agent.
• Upselling: Encouraging customers to upgrade to a higher-value product or service.
• User Error: A customer support issue caused by the user's actions, not a product or service defect.
• Voice: The consistent personality and tone of voice used by your business in communication.
• Widget: A small application or interface element that performs a specific function.

Building a Strong Customer Support Culture in Your Business

A strong customer support culture is vital for delivering exceptional service and building lasting customer relationships.

• Emphasize empathy, understanding, and problem-solving skills among your support team.
• Encourage proactive communication, efficient issue resolution, and a commitment to continuous improvement.
• Invest in training and development to empower your team with the knowledge and skills they need to excel.