Customer Service and Point of Sale: Are They Synonymous?

Are you looking to improve the quality of service provided by your business? Let’s be real, who isn’t? There is always something that can be improved. Retailers, restaurant owners, and many other product or service providers can see significant changes if they are willing to give customer service the attention it deserves.

For those who use Point of Sale (POS) solutions to help run a business, have you ever thought about how a good POS system can affect your business? We have asked 20 customer experts from 20 different industries how they believe customer service can be improved. Take a look at their suggestions and after we will see just how interrelated customer service and point of sale really are.

Real estate

Ramya Menon – Editor for Bayut

“The person complaining will know it’s not your fault, as will the onlookers, but blaming or passing the buck is never a good look for a company, and somebody taking the heat on social media will help diffuse the situation quicker.”

Virtual private networks

Will Ellis – Founder of Privacy Australia

“Going the extra step to make clients feel as if they are part of a community is the best approach to customer service. Finding an angle to make your customers feel as though they are being supported when you’re not talking to them takes a lot of work out of your hands. You can do this by helping your clients to feel as if they are part of a group, not just one of your many clients.”

Project management solutions

Ben Ashton – Founder of The Digital Project Manager

“Customer service isn’t just about responding to complaints and helping customers troubleshoot their issues. To really take it to the next level, you should be capitalizing on all of the valuable feedback you’re getting (complaints, reports, support tickets) by routing it to your product or development teams.”

Baby gear rental

Trish McDermott – BabyQuip

McDermott provides a rental service to travelers who need to rent cribs, high chairs, and other equipment. She says, “We learned that small acts of kindness, like showing up with cold water on a warm day when greeting a family at an airport, or offering to pick up a few snacks and leave them at the customer's Airbnb, made a big difference in a customer's experience. And when we took calls from customers with concerns, we knew exactly what they were talking about and how to solve the problem.”

Customer service

Mike McCarron – VP of Customer Success at Gladly

“First and foremost, customers want to be treated like people, not ticket numbers or cases to be resolved. To create a loyal customer base in today’s highly competitive market, brands must offer customer service that’s not only seamless and convenient, but feels personal and tailored to them.”

Products for Mothers

Luna Feehan – Founder of Legendairy Milk

Feehan credits customer service to the success of her business in the form of a supportive community. By providing education, understanding, and support to new mothers, there is a trust and comfort level for Legendairy Milk. She has been able to do this through a variety of platforms including social media, email, telephone, and in-person at consumer events.

Data Solutions

David Selden-Treiman – Director of Operations for Potent Pages

“It's also essential that you always learn from every client interaction. Not all client interactions will apply to every scenario, and never assume that all clients will match your past experience. However, the more experience you have, the more you can understand how to communicate with clients. Focus on bringing out what you need and helping the client understand how you will make their needs happen. That's how to get happy clients for life.”

Transcription services

Benjamin K. Walker – CEO for Transcription Outsourcing LLC

“We improve our customer service internally first and then externally second. By internally, I mean we listen and provide feedback to each other on how that call could have gone better and talk about it amongst ourselves.”

Eyewear

Greg Bullock – Marketing Manager at TheraSpecs

Bullock suggests that you go through the following 4–step process to see how you can improve your customer service:

• Measuring your current service level
• Identifying pain points
• Developing a roadmap
• Experimenting, measuring, and iterating

Retail transformation

Carlos Castelán – Managing Director of The Navio Group

“In today’s competitive business world where consumers can shop online for many different options, in-store owners and managers must offer outstanding customer experience and service to attract and keep return shoppers. Small businesses can compete with online retail giants like Amazon by providing great customer service, or an imaginative experience.”

Strategic Marketing

Paige Arnof-Fenn – Founder and CEO at Mavens & Moguls

While encouraging representatives to provide timely responses, take responsibility, and be professional, Arnof-Fenn also feels that you should always work with, not against customers. She says, “The goal is not to wear them down or impress them with your smarts. The goal is to connect, communicate clearly, solve the problem and move on.”

Press Release Distribution Services

Snow Qu – Founder and CEO of Linking News

Qu suggests a short list of tips to help these interactions be positive and forward-moving:

• A customer not only buys the product, but the experience as well
• You need to focus on and understand each customer’s needs
• Empathy and patience are central to your success
• Hired representatives should not only act as trained professionals, but they should be trained professionals.

Funding for businesses

Jared Weitz – Founder and CEO at United Capital Source Inc.

“Your customer service employees are your first customers. When you treat your employees well, they will treat customers even better. From our first customer service hire and onward we have stressed the value that they hold within the company.”

Energy pricing solutions

Ollie Smith – CEO at Energy Seek

“By routinely educating your customers, you elevate the importance of your relationship in their eyes. Additionally, knowing your customers’ names offers a more personalized service and humanizes the relationship you have with them.”

Website-based communications Solutions

Patsy Nearkhou – Digital Marketer for Talkative

“Having a multichannel approach is a necessity, but to deliver truly exceptional customer service, an integrated approach is key. However, there is a catch. It is better to have slightly fewer customer contact channels which can be managed properly and efficiently than to offer a plethora of channels with half-decent support.”

Financial services

Valerie Moran – Head of Operations and Client Relations for Prepaid Financial Services

Moran notes that vulnerable customers may need a bit more attention than others. She offers the following suggestions to ensure quality service to these individuals:

• Be aware of the needs and comfort level of your customer
• Treat everyone with dignity and respect
• Ask the customers for their preferences
• Set clear expectations for the conversation
• Avoid assumptions and listen
• Clarify understanding after each main point

Life insurance

Brian Greenberg – True Blue Life Insurance

“Focus on “ABN,” always be nice, instead of “ABC,” always be closing.” This has helped generate excellent customer reviews and facilitated kind, peaceful, and respectful service to customers.

Revenue and potential solutions

Kean Graham – CEO of MonetizeMore

While working with clients over the years, Graham has pin-pointed three key points to help improve customer service:

• Measure your customer experience (through surveys or ratings)
• Set goals (aim big and reach for the stars)
• Give feedback via examples (make them actionable)

Immigration law

Joshua L. Goldstein – Founder of Law Offices of Joshua L. Goldstein

Working to help immigrants to get green cards, visas, citizenship, and more, Joshua has to practice excellent customer service every day. “To drive this home, I return my clients’ calls right away, I greet them with a smile and learn about them and their families, and I do other little things to make their experience of working with me more positive. One way or another, the client will feel the full weight of this firm behind them and in their corner.”

Wedding rentals

Kim Hawkins – President of www.EventsWholesale.com

“It is most important that you acknowledge and validate ANY concern that a customer brings to you, even if your business is not responsible. If you do not validate their concern, the customer will not feel that you are taking them seriously.”

How are customer service and point of sale connected?

According to all 20 representatives from different industries, customer service should be personal, kind, patient, and responsible. Recent integrations in point of sale solutions allow for businesses to connect directly with customers via email, text messages, and phone calls. This is all a part of the POS software provided. Customers are also able to leave reviews or complaints that are delivered directly to the business POS system.

One other incredibly useful feature in recent POS solutions is creating customer profiles. In these profiles you can leave notes regarding past purchases, personal preferences with service, frequency of visits, etc. Knowing this about your customers helps you to serve them far better than they expect you to. How would you like to walk into your favorite coffee shop that you drop by every morning at 9:00 a.m. to see your order hot and ready on the counter awaiting your pickup?

POS solutions are no longer just payment processors; they are hubs for excellent customer service and satisfaction. If your current POS solution does not provide these features, it may be time to look for a new one. This list of POS service providers will help you with your research.