After several conversations with the support department at Superion this week, I was reminded of what a difference a person’s tone of voice makes when speaking with people and customers by phone. (The tone of voice in our emails matters too but that’s a topic for another day.)
A newer client of mine that I’d built a website for and hosted with SiteGround had contacted me to say that the company handling their IT security – Superion – wanted to move their hosting to a different hosting company. The issue was security and addressed the amount of access to certain areas of the client’s business that I had and that was beyond what I needed. My client’s type of business warranted their concern.
However, I knew that SiteGround provided a way to delegate certain levels of access, offered Managed WordPress and that the cost for the hosting had already been incurred by the client.
From first-hand experience, I also knew that the quality of support provided by SiteGround was second-to-none and I was reluctant to move their hosting to another platform. In the end, we were able to ensure the proper security levels were in place and that my access was what was needed and not greater.
Superion was reasonable to deal with and accommodating as well as professional and thorough. Their customer’s security interests were top of mind and ensuring these were met, without being rigid, was their top priority.
Technically Knowledgeable Staff, Excellent Customer Skills
But the point of this post is not about web hosting and who the better provider is. The point of this post is to note what a difference it makes when the technically knowledgeable service staff on your team are not only highly competent technically but also have excellent customer service skills.
This was my experience this week with the Abbotsford, BC-based IT company Superion.
They were not only reasonable to deal with. But every person I spoke with, most of whom had no idea who I was or why I was calling, demonstrated superior customer service skills. These customer service skills were demonstrated through a tone of voice that was friendly, professional and accommodating. At the same time, they were also clear in terms of what they required for their client. This was coupled with technical knowledge and expertise.
One’s Tone Of Voice Makes A Difference
It reminded me of what a difference one’s tone of our voice makes when speaking to people on the phone.
After dealing with Superion, and deciding I wanted to write an article about the importance of one’s tone of voice, I had a look at their website.
Their tag line, “Our Relationships Matter” followed by “We put the IT in humanity” was clearly demonstrated by the way they dealt with me. Although I wasn’t a customer I was treated as if I was one. And, I came away with the clear impression that this was their standard way of dealing with anyone. Customer or non-customer.
Sometimes companies can be good at dealing with customers but not so much with those who they think of as not customers … aka people.
If our great customer service is limited to those we believe are our customers only, and not to those who aren’t, we may be missing golden opportunities.
For more on this topic, check out “Word-of-Mouth: It’s About More Than Your Customers“.