Why is it important to be Helpful?
Showing helpfulness is crucial because it directly impacts customer satisfaction, loyalty, and a company’s reputation. It builds trust, encouraging customers to return, while also enhancing their overall experience by turning frustrations into positive interactions. A helpful approach boosts brand reputation through positive word-of-mouth and reviews, which in turn attracts more customers. Being helpful reduces customer complaints by preventing misunderstandings and dissatisfaction, ultimately leading to better retention. Since retaining customers is more cost-effective than acquiring new ones, helpful service is a key factor in long-term success.
How to define ‘Helpful’
The dictionary definition for Helpful is ‘willing to help, or useful’. But what, specifically, does this mean? HOW do you pay attention and listen carefully in someone or something in a customer facing role? WHAT do you have to do?
Tips for delivering a Helpful customer service
At Performance in People (PiP), we’ve defined ‘Helpful’ as ‘Genuinely Interested in providing a solution, not just trying to sell me something’. By analysing thousands of customer experiences (collected through mystery shopping), we’ve identified a set of key characteristics that contribute to delivering a 'Helpful' level of service, including:
- Answered questions effectively
- Physically demonstrated product/location
- Summarised outcome/next steps
- Signposted to further information
Delivering a ‘Helpful’ customer service should be easy – and that’s why we’ve broken it down and simplified it into a specific characteristic library. Incorporate helpfulness into your service delivery to increase your chances of creating repeat business and their likelihood to recommend to others.
Helpful – A Core Behaviour in the Award-Winning BMS® Methodology
PiP has created an objective approach to measuring how specific behaviours influence customer experience. The Behavioural Measurement Score (BMS®) is proven to link directly to improvements in independent CSS, voice of the customer and NPS measures. It analyses the 6 key behaviours that impact most on the customers’ experience: Friendly, Enthusiastic, Professional, Interested, Attentive and Helpful.
This methodology is used by over 100 UK organisations, offering valuable benchmarking data to identify areas of behavioural performance and understand how they compare both within and beyond their industry.
Recognised at the UK Customer Experience Awards, BMS® won the title of ‘UK’s Best Customer Experience Measurement’ and the award for ‘Best Customer Experience Innovation.’ It is now celebrated as “the science behind delivering a great customer experience.”
Contact us to find out more about how our BMS® methodology can help improved your customer service!
