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Last Chance to Fly & Stay Free

The DREAMY WEST by train

AUSTRALIA by train 2025 NOW ON SALE

Gold Premium - A new style of travel

Australia by train.

It’s north to south, east to west of ever-changing landscapes, culture and people. While there are many ways to see it, there’s only one way to do it with ease and in comfort. That’s the fabulous fun of rail travel, where everything comes together in a theatre-like performance.

Onboard, the stage is set as your backdrop whistles by. Familiar and friendly service leads the way, with every moment another glorious memory in this spectacular show – the food, the cabins, the Outback Explorer Lounge, the friends you make, the Off Train Experiences, the sunrises and sunsets, did we mention the food?

It’s a journey of truly epic proportions and it’s made easy with Journey Beyond.

Venture further with curated, powerfully enriching holiday packages that capture the nation in all its guises. Journey Beyond Rail journeys offer much more than just seamless transit, choose from a huge range of expertly-crafted, all-inclusive experiences to create your own rich and rewarding personal journey, and fully immerse yourself in the unique environments our trains travel through.

JOURNEY BEYOND GIFT VOUCHER

Whether your loved one is hard to buy for or you just want to spoil them with an incredible gift, a Journey Beyond Gift Voucher will give them something to cherish.

Redeemable across our rail journeys and valid for three years, our gift vouchers will help your loved one experience something they’ll never forget.

From embracing Australia’s sensational coastal lifestyle and experiences to the thrill of waking up somewhere new each day, the memories made mean the journey continues long after the holiday has ended.

journeybeyondrail

1,237 27,530

Journey Managers are responsible for making your experience exploring Australia by Train one to remember. They’ll guide you across Australia with their knowledge of the train, passion for the journey and amazing hospitality. During your journey, they’ll take the opportunity, to get to know you, so we’d love to share a little bit about them with you too! Aimee-Rose is one of our fabulous Journey Managers on board The Ghan. Six years ago, Aimee-Rose returned from a stint in England and donned an Akubra, starting her new career on train. Originally from South Australia’s Barossa Valley, Aimee-Rose is no stranger to beautiful landscapes – and fine wines 🍷 Despite travelling these routes regularly, Aimee-Rose says, “Seeing the countryside across Australia is incredible. It never gets old.” 🚂 #AustraliabyTrain #JourneyBeyondRail #TheGhan #TheGhanExpedition #JourneyManager #IndianPacific #GreatSouthern

On the fringes of Australia’s biggest sheep stations, you’ll find Rawlinna – a little outpost on the Nullarbor Plain. By car, Rawlinna is a five hour trip from the nearest big town, Kalgoorlie. The Rawlinna Station is home to up to 80,000 sheep spread across 2.5 million acres. To put that into perspective, one paddock alone takes 8 hours to muster by plane. During the cooler months guests on the Indian Pacific Sydney to Perth journey will be invited to disembark to partake in drinks, canapes served around a bonfire under the wide Nullarbor skies. In the warmer months, take it up a notch and enjoy dining under the stars – a unique outback dining experience like no other! ✨ Book your 2025 journey on the Indian Pacific today. #AustraliabyTrain #JourneyBeyondRail #IndianPacific #WATheDreamState #WesternAustralia #Rawlinna @westernaustralia

How incredible is this – Our recent guest Vicki had a copy of an Indian Pacific menu from 1989 with her when travelling on The Ghan. The food offering sounds just as delicious back then as it does now! 😍 📷 @__tweetean #JourneyBeyondRail #AustraliabyTrain #IndianPacific #FoodandBeverage #TheGhan

This #naturephotographyday we wanted to share some of our favourite shots of the parts of your journey that might go unnoticed when you’re onboard one of our trains. We’re so lucky to travel through some of the most beautiful parts of the country – and even luckier to have had these gorgeous moments captured 📷 #AustraliabyTrain #TheGhan #JourneyBeyondRail #TheGhanExpedition #GreatSouthern #IndianPacific #NaturePhotography #SeeAustralia

With a daylight service between two great cities – Adelaide and Melbourne, enjoy a relaxing and unique journey, while savouring the creature comforts and romance of rail when you travel on The Overland. 🚂 📷 Thanks @questadolcevitajc for this gorgeous shot! Book your journey on The Overland today. #JourneyBeyondRail #TheOverland #Melbourne #Adelaide #SeeSouthAustralia #VisitVictoria

What`s your favourite part of our train journeys? Time spent relaxing on board, enjoying the scenery changing outside your window, or time spent off the train exploring the heart of Australia? Book your 2025 journey on The Ghan today at the link in bio. #AustraliabyTrain #JourneyBeyondRail #TheGhan #TheGhanExpedition #Sunrise #NTAustralia #SeeSouthAustralia

As if making an epic transcontinental crossing of Australia isn’t enough, the chance to explore the dreamy West awaits at the end of your Indian Pacific rail journey. Explore Rottnest island with a full day tour, then end your amazing journey at @salsalisningaloo sitting on the edge of Ningaloo Reef, where you’ll have the chance to swim with the gentle giants of the sea – whale sharks or humpback whales. 🐋 Book your Great Western Wonders holiday package today at the link in bio. #AustraliabyTrain #JourneyBeyondRail #IndianPacific #Nullarbor #WATheDreamState #NingalooReef #SalSalisNingaloo @westernaustralia

Wine and dine your way along the beautiful and rugged East Coast and if you book your Great Southern summer adventure between Adelaide and Brisbane before June 30, receive free* return flights ☀️🍷✈️ 🎥 @tortiklease *Terms & conditions apply, find out more at the link in bio. #AustraliabyTrain #JourneyBeyondRail #GreatSouthern #EastCoast #NewSouthWales #CoffsHarbour

Waking up to this view? Yes please! We definitely recommend keeping your window shades up overnight so not to miss the changing landscape and incredible sunrises as you travel Australia by Train. Book your 2025 train journey today at the link in bio. 📷 @blasha86 #AustraliabyTrain #JourneyBeyondRail #TheGhan #IndianPacific #TheGhanExpedition #GreatSouthern

A glass of red and a good book in the comfort of the new Gold Premium Lounge, the perfect way to end your evening after a day of touring the red centre on board The Ghan 🍷 Book your journey in Gold Premium today at the link in bio. #AustraliabyTrain #TheGhan #JourneyBeyondRail #TheGhanExpedition #GreatSouthern #GoldPremium

Dreamt of experiencing The Ghan Expedition and Indian Pacific but can’t decide which to do first? Now you can do both! On our new 8 day package you will experience lush tropical landscapes, dry arid plains and vibrant cityscapes. Departing in Darwin, you`ll board The Ghan Expedition for three incredible nights travelling through Australia`s Red Centre, stopping for two nights in Adelaide before continuing your journey west enjoying two nights on the Indian Pacific. Find out more at the link in bio. #AustraliabyTrain #JourneyBeyondRail #TheGhan #TheGhanExpedition #IndianPacific #NTAustralia #SeeSouthAustralia #WATheDreamState

There are always plenty of friendly faces to greet you as you step on board The Ghan in Darwin 😊 throughout your journey our wonderful crew will help curate glorious memories that will live with you long after you depart. Book your journey today at the link in bio. #AustraliabyTrain #JourneyBeyondRail #TheGhan #TheGhanExpedition #NTAustralia

The Overland has long been a fan favourite, and we can see why! Sit back and relax, and we’ll take care of the rest for you as you travel between Adelaide and Melbourne. Travel in Red Premium and you will be provided with all-inclusive dining – whatever your choice, and you’ll have plenty of room to move with the chance to meet fellow travellers in a comfortable, friendly environment. Book your journey on The Overland today at www.journeybeyondrail.com.au #JourneyBeyondRail #TheOverland #SeeSouthAustralia #VisitVictoria #Adelaide #Melbourne #TrainTravel

Despite the silence of “ghost town” Cook in the middle of the Nullarbor, the stillness does not have eerie atmosphere but rather makes for a quiet retreat in the middle of the outback. Even though the Cook hospital has been closed for some time, the amusing catch cry remains “If you’re a crook come to Cook.” Guests travelling on the Indian Pacific have the opportunity to step off the train and wander the remote, time-worn town for a unique glimpse of pioneering Australia. 📷 @the_beggars_butler #AustraliabyTrain #JourneyBeyondRail #IndianPacific #Nullarbor #Cook #SeeSouthAustralia

A cup of coffee in the privacy of your Gold Twin Cabin, watching the beautiful scenery pass you by. The perfect way to start your morning as you see Australia by Train ☕️🚂 Get on board in 2025, book now at the link in bio. #AustraliabyTrain #JourneyBeyondRail #TheGhan #IndianPacific #GreatSouthern #MorningViews

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Journey Beyond transforms its contact center to deliver better customer journeys

The australian tourism company’s transition to a cloud-based communications platform brought huge dividends for its customer experience..

Journey Beyond, a part of Hornblower Group, is Australia’s leading experiential tourism group. Headquartered in Adelaide, it operates 13 brands and experiences spanning the country. The company’s overall strategy is to “have a customer experience that’s second-to-none — from the moment they first engage with the company to plan their experience, to when they return home at the end of their travels — regardless of what Journey Beyond adventure you are booking.”

However, the company’s disparate technology systems were proving to be a hinderance in its commitment to consistently deliver unmatched services and experiences to customers. As its business diversified, including its own acquisition by Hornblower Group in early 2022, Journey Beyond inherited a range of disparate technology systems, including six different phone systems and an outdated contact center that was only servicing Journey Beyond’s rail journeys. The remaining brands in the company’s portfolio were using basic phone functionality for customer enquiries and reservations.

Madhumita Mazumdar, GM of information and communications technology at Journey Beyond

“The different communication solutions were unable to provide an integrated 360-degree customer view, which made it difficult to ensure a consistent, unrivalled customer experience across all 13 tourism ventures, and any other brands Journey Beyond may add to its portfolio in the future. The absence of advanced contact center features and analytics further prevented us from driving exceptional customer experience. Besides, we couldn’t enable work-from-anywhere, on any device capability, for employees,” says Madhumita Mazumdar, GM of information and communications technology at Journey Beyond.  

These challenges forced the company to transition to a modern cloud-based communication platform.

Multiple communication solutions cause multiple challenges

Because Beyond Journey operates in the experiential tourism market, providing a personalized, seamless customer experience is essential — something its previous communications systems lacked, Mazumdar says.

“For instance, our train journeys get sold out a year prior to their launch. Therefore, when we launch a new season, there is a huge volume of calls from our customers and agents. The existing system lacked callback mechanism, leading to callers waiting in queue for as long as 40 minutes, which adversely impacted their experience,” she says, adding that there was also no way to prioritize certain calls over others.

The existing system also lacked analytical capability to provide any customer insights and it wasn’t integrated with Beyond Journey’s CRM. As a result, representatives interacting with a customer didn’t know whether the customer had traveled with the company before. “The communication between us and the customer was transactional instead of being personalized,” Mazumdar says.

Since the existing systems were very old, they couldn’t be managed remotely. In case of an outage, the company had to send a local person to rectify the on-site phone system, which could take a couple of hours. During this time, customers were unable to call Journey Beyond.

“The IVR was also not standardized across the company. As the IVRs were recorded in voices of employees from different business units, a caller had no idea they were part of the same business,” says Mazumdar.

Incoming calls to Beyond Journey’s toll-free numbers were also adding to the operational cost. “We paid per-minute on the calls received to our toll-free numbers. The high call volumes meant huge costs for us. Even if the call was hanging in the queue, it was costing us every minute,” she says.

Implementing a consolidated communications platform

To overcome the bottlenecks and drive customer engagement to the next level, Journey Beyond launched a contact center transformation, the first step of which was to establish a common unified communications (UC) platform across the business and integrate it with a new contact center (CC) solution. After evaluating several UC and CC solutions, Journey Beyond chose RingCentral’s integrated UCaaS and CCaaS platforms — RingCentral MVP and Contact Center.

“We started evaluating multiple vendors in the first quarter of 2021. The software evaluation process took three to five months after which the implementation started in August 2021. We went live in October 2021,” Mazumdar says. The entire SaaS solution was hosted on AWS.

The company took this opportunity to shift to soft phones and headsets by getting rid of all physical phones. “We purchased good quality noise-cancelling headsets, which was the only hardware we invested in significantly,” says Mazumdar. “Although we had premium support from RingCentral, we decided to learn everything about the solution and take full control over it. So, while the integration and prebuild was completely done by RingCentral, over time we trained multiple people in the team on the solution. In hindsight, this was the best thing we did,” says Mazumdar, who brought in two dedicated IT resources with phone system background for the new solution.

“Different business units within the company work differently. For instance, the peak hours for one business could be different from those of another business, which impacts how you set up the call flows. It’s not one basic standard rule that could be set up for all businesses across the company. With in-house understanding of the solution, we had full control over the solution and were able to make changes, refinements, and complex prioritization rules to it ourselves without depending on the solution provider,” she says.

Cloud-based solution delivers customer visibility and value

Connecting multiple businesses with a common communications platform to deliver consistent customer service across the group has yielded compelling business benefits to Journey Beyond.

A key advantage of the tight integration between UC and CC is the customer service operation’s accessibility for the entire Journey Beyond team.

“At a national integrated level, we now have subject matter experts in each of our experiences available to deliver unrivalled customer experience, with economies of scale. So, if one team is under duress in terms of call volumes, the call can be overflowed and picked up quickly by a consultant with secondary expertise in that brand,” says Mazumdar.

Journey Beyond is supporting its customer experience drive by integrating the CC solution with its CRM to develop omni-channel CX capabilities and build towards a 360-degree view of the customer.

“We are building up our ‘Know You Customer’ strategy, which starts with our customer service agents knowing who you are when you call any of our Journey Beyond brands,” says Mazumdar. “Callers who have travelled with us before, have their phone number in our CRM. When they call, their records pop up. The executive can look at the customer’s history with the company and the communication between them becomes a lot more personalized. The integrated view of the customer also helps to cross sell. For instance, if a person is booking a train journey from Adelaide but our executive knows that he is coming from Sydney, he can sell him another trip in Sydney.”

The other major advantage is the scalability and remote capabilities of the cloud-based platform. The solution allows Journey Beyond to run operations 24×7 with centralized administration and distributed users, working from anywhere, on any device. This has also given Journey Beyond the opportunity to recruit for talent in other locations outside the market around its Adelaide office.

Journey Beyond has also rolled out the solution’s workforce management functionality to better align agent availability with customer demand. The advanced feedback capabilities allow Journey Beyond to measure customer net promoter scores (NPS) right down to the consultant level. That NPS functionality will then be integrated into Salesforce, enhancing the 360-degree view of the customer experience.

The solution’s quality management functionality is providing Journey Beyond with a level of automation to ensure the contact basics are being completed, allowing leaders to focus on scoring the more complex or intangible components of customer engagements — delivering a recording of both the call and what is happening on screen at the same time. “Quality analytics completes the picture in terms of everything we need to see from a skills gap perspective,” says Mazumdar. Journey Beyond has deployed the UC solution to all businesses nationally. The CC solution has been rolled out at the company’ rail division and Rottnest Express while onboarding for the other businesses is in progress.

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Journeybeyond   Reviews

In the Construction & Manufacturing category

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Company activity See all

Write a review

Reviews 3.0.

Most relevant

We really enjoyed our trip on the Ghan and felt well looked after.

We really enjoyed our trip on the Ghan from Darwin to Adelaide in April 2024. Thanks to all the team, we had a fabulous time! The food was lovely, service was great, dinner under the stars with a camel ride thrown in was amazing. Even the staff waited with us at the end of our trip to make sure our transport arrived to get us. Great activities and suprisingly nice hot showers :) Thanks Ghan team!

Date of experience : 17 April 2024

Don't do it!

My trip on the Indian Pacific was cancelled due to flooding on the Nullarbor Plain. I received no notification until I arrived at Sydney Central. Although Journey Beyond spends heaps of money advertising, it does nothing for customer service. As I had to drive 4 1/2 hours to Sydney from my home, I was out of pocket for my Sydney hotel and parking. They refused to reimburse me my costs and then the audacity to ask if they could help me with a future booking. Don't book with the again!

Date of experience : 27 March 2024

Removed from cabin overbooked

Booked 2 platinum cabins as part of a group and as part of a larger tour that included stage show, opera house, harbour river cruise. Expensive but wanted to do it for my parents who are elderly and have disabled mobility issues. The online process and constant emails with the itinerary that they sent to me on multiple occasions was very hard to navigate and follow. We successfully booked the disabled / accessible tour of the Opera House as part of the tour. This was all booked in September 2023, plenty of time to prepare. The most terrible thing happened 3 days before we were due to leave, Journey Beyond phoned to say they had overbooked the Platinum Cabins and that they were going to move me to Gold Class, i rejected as I needed to be close to my parents to look after them, but they would not accept, so I had to take the gold cabin and be separated from my parents on the group booking. Next day they ring me again and now say both I and my parents are all being moved out of platinum to gold class cabins. How this is possible with my parents who cannot climb into a bunk, they have mobility issues and have disabled access parking permits etc. It's a breach of contract and a breach of human dignity Please be careful of Journey Beyond, you will not be able to consistently speak to the same person looking after your booking, it's like ringing a telco company. Please be very weary of booking, you will be treated as a commodity, no human or respectful touches to be found here. Zero for customer service and respect.

Date of experience : 03 April 2024

Expensive, over-hyped and disappointing

Took the Indian Pacific from Perth to Adelaide and was hugely disappointed. They fraudulently advertise this leg as 3 days whereas it is actually less than 48 hours.The en route excursions were a joke: we stopped at Kalgoorlie at midnight to see the huge mine but it was pitch black so we saw a black hole from the viewing area. Our coach driver was most excited about showing us where the 'brothel' used to be. Our sunrise trip (which I was really looking forward to) was cancelled 'due to flooding in the east' which was a highly unlikely excuse and other passengers confirmed that excursions have frequently been dropped on previous trips. The train itself is rather tired and our 'room' was much less glorious than the literature promised. Despite clearly stating that smart shirts and long trousers were required for men when taking dinner we saw many wearing shorts and T shirts, diminishing the ambience considerably. The train is hugely expensive and I am sad to say it is not a great experience or good value for money.

Date of experience : 21 December 2022

The Ghan Train Journey

They advertise a 5 star journey, but unfortunately it’s more like about 2 star. The quality of the train, food, service and shore excursions do not meet the $900 per person per day. There are better ways to see our beautiful outback. I was happy to pay, this over the top fee, if I received the 5 star experience.

Date of experience : 11 November 2019

Disappointing

Indian Pacific Sydney to Perth.Very disappointed. Travelled from England and this was to be the highlight of our 3 week trip. The Indian Pacific didn’t leave from Sydney Central because of technical difficulties so we were taken by commuter train from Sydney to Lithgow. After waiting at Lithgow station in the cold for approx an hour and a half, we eventually boarded the Indian Pacific, thereby missing out on 4 hours train experience. The Broken Hill off train excursion was cancelled (we were compensated for this) and the Rawlinna meal under the stars the following day, was rushed. The train decor needed attention (a bit shabby in places) and our bathroom didn’t look clean. The tannoy system in our cabin didn’t work for the first 2 days and the food was average to good but certainly not brilliant. For the amount of money paid, I would have expected better. On the positive side, the trip was a wonderful experience seeing the outback in all its beauty and something I will never forget.

Date of experience : 12 October 2022

The Ghan Train trip was the best

The Ghan Train trip was the best , thanks to all the great Team , Coach Drivers ( Hank and Graham ) and the Cabin Stewards and the Chef. What a great way to See The Outback and Feel immersed in it. Thank ALL. From The Mayhews.

Date of experience : 30 October 2022

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Journeybeyond   Reviews

In the Construction & Manufacturing category

Visit this website

Company activity See all

Write a review

Reviews 3.0.

Most relevant

We really enjoyed our trip on the Ghan and felt well looked after.

We really enjoyed our trip on the Ghan from Darwin to Adelaide in April 2024. Thanks to all the team, we had a fabulous time! The food was lovely, service was great, dinner under the stars with a camel ride thrown in was amazing. Even the staff waited with us at the end of our trip to make sure our transport arrived to get us. Great activities and suprisingly nice hot showers :) Thanks Ghan team!

Date of experience : April 17, 2024

Don't do it!

My trip on the Indian Pacific was cancelled due to flooding on the Nullarbor Plain. I received no notification until I arrived at Sydney Central. Although Journey Beyond spends heaps of money advertising, it does nothing for customer service. As I had to drive 4 1/2 hours to Sydney from my home, I was out of pocket for my Sydney hotel and parking. They refused to reimburse me my costs and then the audacity to ask if they could help me with a future booking. Don't book with the again!

Date of experience : March 27, 2024

Removed from cabin overbooked

Booked 2 platinum cabins as part of a group and as part of a larger tour that included stage show, opera house, harbour river cruise. Expensive but wanted to do it for my parents who are elderly and have disabled mobility issues. The online process and constant emails with the itinerary that they sent to me on multiple occasions was very hard to navigate and follow. We successfully booked the disabled / accessible tour of the Opera House as part of the tour. This was all booked in September 2023, plenty of time to prepare. The most terrible thing happened 3 days before we were due to leave, Journey Beyond phoned to say they had overbooked the Platinum Cabins and that they were going to move me to Gold Class, i rejected as I needed to be close to my parents to look after them, but they would not accept, so I had to take the gold cabin and be separated from my parents on the group booking. Next day they ring me again and now say both I and my parents are all being moved out of platinum to gold class cabins. How this is possible with my parents who cannot climb into a bunk, they have mobility issues and have disabled access parking permits etc. It's a breach of contract and a breach of human dignity Please be careful of Journey Beyond, you will not be able to consistently speak to the same person looking after your booking, it's like ringing a telco company. Please be very weary of booking, you will be treated as a commodity, no human or respectful touches to be found here. Zero for customer service and respect.

Date of experience : April 03, 2024

Expensive, over-hyped and disappointing

Took the Indian Pacific from Perth to Adelaide and was hugely disappointed. They fraudulently advertise this leg as 3 days whereas it is actually less than 48 hours.The en route excursions were a joke: we stopped at Kalgoorlie at midnight to see the huge mine but it was pitch black so we saw a black hole from the viewing area. Our coach driver was most excited about showing us where the 'brothel' used to be. Our sunrise trip (which I was really looking forward to) was cancelled 'due to flooding in the east' which was a highly unlikely excuse and other passengers confirmed that excursions have frequently been dropped on previous trips. The train itself is rather tired and our 'room' was much less glorious than the literature promised. Despite clearly stating that smart shirts and long trousers were required for men when taking dinner we saw many wearing shorts and T shirts, diminishing the ambience considerably. The train is hugely expensive and I am sad to say it is not a great experience or good value for money.

Date of experience : December 21, 2022

The Ghan Train Journey

They advertise a 5 star journey, but unfortunately it’s more like about 2 star. The quality of the train, food, service and shore excursions do not meet the $900 per person per day. There are better ways to see our beautiful outback. I was happy to pay, this over the top fee, if I received the 5 star experience.

Date of experience : November 11, 2019

Disappointing

Indian Pacific Sydney to Perth.Very disappointed. Travelled from England and this was to be the highlight of our 3 week trip. The Indian Pacific didn’t leave from Sydney Central because of technical difficulties so we were taken by commuter train from Sydney to Lithgow. After waiting at Lithgow station in the cold for approx an hour and a half, we eventually boarded the Indian Pacific, thereby missing out on 4 hours train experience. The Broken Hill off train excursion was cancelled (we were compensated for this) and the Rawlinna meal under the stars the following day, was rushed. The train decor needed attention (a bit shabby in places) and our bathroom didn’t look clean. The tannoy system in our cabin didn’t work for the first 2 days and the food was average to good but certainly not brilliant. For the amount of money paid, I would have expected better. On the positive side, the trip was a wonderful experience seeing the outback in all its beauty and something I will never forget.

Date of experience : October 12, 2022

The Ghan Train trip was the best

The Ghan Train trip was the best , thanks to all the great Team , Coach Drivers ( Hank and Graham ) and the Cabin Stewards and the Chef. What a great way to See The Outback and Feel immersed in it. Thank ALL. From The Mayhews.

Date of experience : October 30, 2022

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The Top Customer Service Expectations and How to Exceed Them [New Data]

Published: September 08, 2021

Technology has made your customers more empowered than ever. They have more ways to research options, take advantage of free trials, and share their experiences with your brand. Technology also means your customers' expectations are higher than ever. And because of this, a lot of customers' expectations aren't being met.

To make the idea of excellent customer service seem less nebulous and more attainable, it's helpful to go back to the basics and identify what customers actually want. Learning basic customer service expectations can help you identify where your service strategy might be lacking and how you can improve it.

Table of Contents

• Top Customer Service Expectations (New Data)

Basic Customer Service Expectations

• Why is Meeting these Expectations Important?

Customer Service Expectations Examples

How to exceed customer expectations.

Top Customer Service Expectations

To find out what the top customer service expectations were, we used Lucid to ask over 300 consumers what customer service expectations that all brands should meet.

Respondents could select more than one option, and the options included:

• To make customers feel heard, appreciated, and valued
• For the process to feel easy and without friction
• For brands to have multiple options for customer service, including online chat, email, social media, and phone support
• To see action being taken regarding the request or issue
• For an action to be relatively quick
• For brands to offer proactive customer service
• For the experience to be personalized
• For all communication to happen on a channel that is convenient
• For brands to have self-service options

Not surprisingly, the number one expectation that customers have is to feel heard, appreciated, and valued. Your customers are spending their hard-earned money and your product, and they have more choices than ever, so they don't need your company like they once did. Over 58% of those surveyed said this is a basic expectation that all brands should meet.

Furthermore, it's interesting that 30% of respondents expected all brands to meet almost all the customer expectations we listed. Again, this goes to show that expectations are higher than ever.

Now, let's dive into the more basic customer service expectations in more detail, and then what you can do to exceed them.

• To feel heard, appreciated, and valued.
• For the process to feel easy and without friction.
• To see action being taken regarding the request or issue.
• For an action to be relatively quick.
• For all communication to happen on a channel that is convenient for them.

1. To feel heard, appreciated, and valued.

Sometimes, a transaction is just a transaction. However, for many customers and in many industries, it goes beyond that. When someone hands over their money, there are a few things that may be happening:

• They have a problem that needs solving.
• They are trusting you to solve it or at least help.
• They are giving you payment not just for service but as a vote of confidence that you're the right choice.

That's why when a situation arises where they need to reach out to you, it can feel personal. In these cases, what they really want is to feel heard and valued. This is even more important than getting the issue resolved so long as you set the right expectations.

2. For the process to feel easy and without friction.

Imagine you're a runner. You're sprinting toward the finish line when you encounter an unexpected hurdle. You leap over it, disrupting your momentum, and when you hit the ground again, you have to recover your lost speed. Once you hit your stride again, another hurdle has been put in front of you, once again disrupting your run.

Runners are working toward athletic goals, personal records, and perhaps a medal or trophy. Customers who have the option to use an alternative product do not have that same motivation, so each roadblock that they encounter is one more thing that causes distress in the customer service journey. In fact, according to new data gathered after the COVID-19 pandemic, more than half of those surveyed (58%) said their customer service expectations are higher today than they were a year ago.

If they encounter too many roadblocks and too much friction, they may abandon the effort altogether if they don't perceive it's worth it, and you don't get the opportunity to resolve their issue, explain the best aspects of your service or product, and delight them.

3. To see action being taken regarding the request or issue.

It's not enough to be friendly and empathetic with customers on the phone. The fact of the matter is that they reached out for a reason. In most cases, you should be able to address their question or solve their issue. In the cases in which you can't, customers expect you to take action. While you may not be able to provide a solution, you can:

• Give them alternative solutions to their issue.
• Provide information about any plans that are in motion regarding the issue.
• Forward their concern to the proper department to improve in the future.

4. For an action to be relatively quick.

67% of individuals with those higher expectations expect customer service to be faster. In the digital age of one-click purchases and instant messaging, instant gratification is influencing customer behavior. Businesses are then finding ways to adapt with it. For example, 36% of companies now deliver real-time customer insights to staff to empower them to resolve issues better and quicker.

5. For all communication to happen on a channel that is convenient for them.

The days of only reaching a company by phone are over as more businesses increase the number of channels they're present on. Now, customer service strategy might encompass multiple channels, such as chat, email, social messaging, knowledge bases, and SMS. As customers get used to this level of flexibility from other experiences, it will become even more necessary to implement it in your own business.

Why Is Meeting These Expectations Important?

As expectations change and get more demanding, it's far easier to fall short in customers' eyes. Only 3% of customers think customer service is unimportant when making a purchasing decision, and 92% will stop purchasing from a company after three poor experiences. As innovators continue to improve their customer experience and advance service expectations, failing to meet them can have a big impact on your bottom line.

The following examples are great everyday scenarios that illustrate exactly how customer experience can impact customer satisfaction (for the better and for the worse). For each one, consider what made a difference and why.

1. Above and Beyond at a Mongolian Grill

There was this great Mongolian place near the office of my last job, and I went there frequently because it was so close. The staff was friendly, and the food was good, but let's be clear — I ate there out of convenience.

One day, when I arrived at the parking lot, I realized that I had left my wallet at home. I went inside and asked the server if they alternately accepted PayPal. I waited, embarrassed, as she went to check with the manager. When she came back, she said, "We do not accept PayPal, but you come here every Monday. Today, it's on the house."

I was flabbergasted. It was my mistake to forget my wallet, but they chose to take this opportunity to unexpectedly delight me as their regular customer.

I ended up calling my husband and getting his payment info for the bill since I couldn't accept such a kind offer. To this day, I go to this establishment for business meetings, and I refer everyone I can.

2. A Payment Gaffe at the Electric Company

Recently, my sister did not have such a pleasant experience with a payment issue. At her residence, she had utilities set up so that she received both electricity and internet from the same company. For close to six months, she would call their automated support number and make both payments in one lump sum. The company would then distribute the sum between the two bills.

One day, the utility company changed its automated system without notifying their customers. She called and made her monthly lump payment, but a few weeks later, her internet access was shut off without notice. When she called, she found out that the lump sum went straight to the electric bill and was not distributed to the internet bill.

When she spoke with a representative, they did not apologize and they refused to transfer the money from the electric bill to the internet. She had to make an extra payment in order to have the internet restored. On top of that, she was charged late fees.

Needless to say, she chose another internet service provider after that experience.

3. Seamless Return Process at Amazon

Compare the above experience with this one:

I ordered film for my classic Polaroid camera on Amazon because this film is hard to come by anywhere else. When I took a few pictures for the first time with my new film, I was surprised to see that the prints were coming out as duds.

I went to the Amazon website and chatted with one of their service representatives. They assured me that they would replace the film at no cost to me and with no questions asked. I didn't even have to return my original purchase, which eliminated the hassle of going to the post office for return shipping.

I received the replacement film, dud-free, a few days later with no additional inconvenience.

4. Facebook Response Time from a SAAS Company

One time I decided to try an app that would connect me with other ladies in my local area who wanted to hang out and make new connections. Very excited about the prospect of strengthening my social circle and finding like-minded women, I began to try out their features.

After a few days, I fell in love with the functionality and UX of their system, and I decided to upgrade to their premium version. Unfortunately, I couldn't find where to do so within the app, so I took to the internet. After reading their website's FAQ page, I still had no answers.

Since they didn't provide a phone number, I decided to message them via Facebook. Their account seemed active, and I was looking forward to getting a hold of a representative. Several days passed without any response. My interest in their app wilted, and they lost my business. I chose another more popular app a few days later even though the competitor's UX wasn't as appealing.

5. Long Wait Times at the Dollar Store

My family had a less than ideal experience at the local Dollar Store recently. Despite having more than six check stands, there was only one cashier working. While the store had many merchandise stockers working, no one would answer the lone cashier's requests for help over the intercom.

This happened during a peak shopping time, and soon the small checkout area was filled with irate customers, many of whom had been waiting for more than ten minutes with no sign of movement in the line.

Instead of noticing the volume of customers in the store and adjusting accordingly, they took action at the last moment… when it was already too late for a good customer experience.

6. Channel Inflexibility With a Phone Bill Payment

When my grandma started getting older, I took over many of her financial responsibilities, including paying her cell phone bills. While I didn't have access to her online accounts, I was able to make most payments over the phone.

One day, I was paying her phone bill when the automated system started glitching. It would input double numbers when I only typed one. This became extremely tedious as I was having to input my entire credit card number multiple times.

Finally, I broke down and dialed zero for a representative. When they got on the line, they informed me that they could process the payment for me, but it would be an extra $8.

I was shocked. "You can't waive it? You're going to charge me extra money because your phone system is down?" The representative maintained that it was policy. I had two options: Pay online or drive down to the nearest physical location (20 minutes away) to pay.

Unfortunately, I had no way of accessing my grandma's online account, so I begrudgingly coughed up the extra $8 to avoid a trip.

This is a great example of putting policy over customer experience. They could have led with empathy, recognized that the situation was an extenuating circumstance, and helped me find a convenient solution.

While not every company has the resources to waive all returns or hire a full support staff who can answer queries instantly, you can still go above and beyond by keeping their basic expectations in mind. Here are a few tips:

1. Create opportunities for customers to self-serve.

More and more customers want quick answers, and that can be achieved through knowledge bases , FAQ pages, and other resources designed to enable them to serve themselves and answer their own questions. Not only does this meet some customers' expectations by providing information on a preferred channel with a quick response time, but you can also assume that fewer people will be calling with questions, which may reduce strain on your support staff.

2. Approach each interaction with empathy.

A couple of the negative outcomes in the examples above could have been avoided if a touch of empathy was used.

For example, imagine if the electric company had told my sister, "Yes, you're right. The system has recently changed, and we understand that it may have been confusing for you. While we do not have the technical capability to switch the payment to the correct account, we do acknowledge that you did not pay late. You will not be charged late fees."

My sister would not have gotten what she wanted (avoiding an extra payment), but the interaction would have been de-escalated, and she would have left somewhat more satisfied with the situation.

3. Understand common reasons customers reach out.

By keeping track of the most frequent customer inquiries, you can create better processes for handling them. If your staff is equipped with a process in place for the highest volume issues, they will be more empathetic, confident, and knowledgeable during those quick-win interactions.

4. Set expectations and meet them.

The definition of integrity through action is, "Do what you say you're going to do." The easiest way to guarantee poor customer satisfaction is by telling a customer one thing and failing to uphold it. For example, if your website says that you have two-day shipping, ensure that you have the mechanisms in place to fulfill that expectation (barring extreme circumstances, of course). Otherwise, the customer will be irritated once that third day passes with no delivery.

At the same time, if you set concrete expectations and proactively handle customer objections before they happen, you can avoid a lot of heartache.

Another consideration is to be cognizant of the expectations being set by other companies — both within and outside of your industry — and continue to iterate how your process can improve in comparison.

5. Don't be afraid to apologize if you fall short.

We can't win them all. To support this idea, Net Promoter Scores (NPS) between 0 and 30 are considered good … on a 0 to 100 scale!

That being said, it's far better to apologize to a customer for failing to meet their expectations than it is to ignore or the impact it had on them. By apologizing, you're taking the first step toward potentially turning it around by interacting with empathy and de-escalating the situation.

6. Delight where possible.

I've used the word "expectation" a lot in this article, and it has a fairly neutral sentiment. When it comes to your business and positioning in the marketplace, you don't want neutral or lukewarm interactions. It's the special moments that can fuel your flywheel and lead to high levels of satisfaction, increased retention, repeat business, more referrals, and happy testimonials.

The key to delighting customers and having them walk away not just satisfied but overjoyed is by going the extra mile. Understand their expectations and surprise them with just a little more.

Most of the positive interactions listed above were extraordinary enough to warrant discussion, and it's because they did not have to — or weren't expected to — do so much.

7. Ask for feedback.

One of the basic customer expectations is to see action being taken. This doesn't just apply to when they have an issue. By asking for customer feedback, you are showing that your company is actively taking their concerns into account and iterating better solutions for their benefit. This speaks louder than words. Who knows — you might also come across some stunning customer insights .

Keep in mind also that great customer service doesn't happen on its own. It takes a customer-first culture and ongoing innovation to put intentional support processes in place.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in April 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Don't forget to share this post!

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Journey Beyond commences seven-day agent and guest servicing

Journey Beyond has announced an extension of its Travel Centre operations to seven days a week, to enhance the agent and customer experience. Commencing from this weekend, October 29, 2024, the Journey Beyond Travel Centre, previously open from Monday to Saturday, will also open on Sundays.

During the initial phase, the Travel Centre will service bookings and enquiries for Journey Beyond Rail, Darwin Harbour Cruises, and Journey Beyond Cruise Sydney. Phase two, beginning on January 21, 2024, will see seven-day servicing extended to Outback Spirit, Sal Salis Ningaloo Reef and Melbourne Skydeck.

“As a trade-oriented and customer-centric business, this expansion reflects our commitment to providing exceptional service. By opening seven days a week, the Travel Centre schedule aligns with the trains, tours, lodges and experiences that Journey Beyond operates seven days a week, allowing for enhanced agent and customer support,” says Nigel Brohier, General Manager, Travel Centre.

“Whether it’s a last-minute booking, itinerary changes, travel emergency, or guest enquiry, our agents and customers can rely on us for immediate support.” The Travel Centre operating hours will be 9:00 am to 5:00 pm on Saturday and Sunday and 8.00am to 6.00pm Monday to Friday (ACST). The Travel Centre can be contacted on 1800 703 357.

In addition to extended service hours, Journey Beyond is preparing to launch a new Trade Online Booking Engine for agents for Outback Spirit and Journey Beyond Cruise Sydney. This will allow agents to book directly online, saving time, and provide increased control over bookings. Access to these Online Booking Engines is 24/7. This is a demonstration of Journey Beyond’s commitment to agents, in working towards a ‘one-stop shop’ for trade partners for all of the experiences within the Journey Beyond portfolio.

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8 Companies with Exceptional Customer Service + Helpful Tips

Taking to the loudspeaker about your exceptional customer service is common these days. But if you look at the data, you can't hide the fact that most companies just aren't successful at delivering outstanding service.

Great acts of customer service aren’t isolated events. Team members depend on leadership that gives them the freedom to do the right thing over and over again.

For support teams to elevate the customer experience, they need to exist within a company that values their role on the front lines, gives them significant ownership, and empowers them with a voice at the executive level.

What is exceptional customer service?

Exceptional customer service is the unconditional commitment to giving the highest level of product or service to every person, regardless of the circumstances.

It doesn’t matter if the customer is at fault for the issue. It doesn’t matter if it’s a once-in-a-lifetime situation. When you’re thinking about how to deliver exceptional customer service, remember this simple motto: Do anything and everything within your power.

Why is exceptional customer service important?

Many leaders mistakenly view customer service as a cost center. They spend their energy and resources tightening their team’s spending and moving customer support offshore. The results: High employee turnover, unhappy customers, and PR debacles galore.

By contrast, exceptional customer service is a revenue generator. It gives customers a complete, cohesive customer experience that aligns with an organization’s purpose.

When leaders understand that customer support is a lynchpin in the entire customer journey, they leverage customer service as an opportunity to delight customers and engage them in new, exciting ways.

Exceptional customer service is all about shifting from  reactive  action to  proactive  action to solve issues before they arise and mend customer relationships that would otherwise fracture.

How to Talk to Customers: 47 Expert Tips

Great communication is an art. Honing it to a keen edge is a science. These tips will help you improve how you and your team talk to customers — starting today!

The 8 best customer service companies

Here are eight of the best customer service companies out there — companies that are truly wowing their customers with superior service — along with some specific instances that prove these companies are willing to go above-and-beyond.

1. Trader Joe’s

Trader Joe’s has a cult following for a reason. The privately-owned grocery chain with locations across the country always prioritizes employees and customers.

The company gives excellent benefits and promotional opportunities to team members and passes on the savings from their private-label approach (all their products are “Trader Joe’s” brand) to customers.

Everyone has a favorite Trader Joe’s customer service story, and so do we. One day, an 89-year-old man was snowed in at his Pennsylvania home around the holidays. His daughter was concerned about getting him food and called a bunch of stores to see if anyone delivered.

Trader Joe’s broke their own policy to deliver the gentleman items that fit his low-sodium diet — all free of charge. In fewer than 30 minutes, a Trader Joe’s team member was knocking on the door with a full delivery.

Takeaway: If your team members don’t have the flexibility to bend the rules, they won’t always be able to do the right thing for people. Make sure there’s an easy way for customer service staff to get approval for acts of kindness that make people’s lives exponentially better.

2. Rackspace

Rackspace , a cloud infrastructure company, anchors its premium prices with top-notch solutions and even better service. The organization regularly wins industry awards — and for good reason. They call their approach “fanatical support.”

Here’s an example of that ethos in action: A Rackspace employee was in the middle of helping a customer through a marathon troubleshooting session when she heard the customer tell a colleague that she was hungry. The support professional put them on hold and ordered her customers a pizza.

They were still all on the phone when it arrived 30 minutes later. The customers were delighted, and the support professional knew that everyone would have fuel to power through until all was resolved.

Takeaway: Not all exceptional customer service examples require the big bucks. You can turn a difficult situation around when you meet the customer where they’re at with a spontaneous act of generosity. It didn’t take a four-course meal to get this relationship back on track — just a pizza.

3. Ritz-Carlton

The folks at Ritz-Carlton know how to deliver an outstanding customer experience. In order to justify their premium prices, Ritz makes sure that it's customers receive painstakingly good and personalized service.

They take things to the next level in this story covered on Bloomberg : A family who had been staying in the Ritz-Carlton in Bali had brought specialized eggs and and milk for their son who had numerous food allergies.

Upon arrival, they saw that the eggs had broken and the milk had soured!

The hotel's manager and dining staff searched the town but couldn't find the appropriate items. Luckily, the executive chef at this particular resort remembered a store in Singapore that sold them.

He contacted his mother-in-law and asked that she buy the products and fly to Bali to deliver them, which she agreed to do.

The words of Ritz-Carlton's COO Simon Cooper show the control Ritz is willing to give their employees to empower them to deliver an amazing experience:

The goal is to develop such a strong emotional engagement between the hotels' staff and their guests that a guest will not consider staying anywhere else, even if they have an option.

Takeaway: Give employees incentive and control to deliver an amazing customer experience, and place their priority with customers rather than regulations.

Our friends over at Wistia are known for their amazing support, especially with newbies who are often quite confused when first getting started with video.

One thing I really commend them for though is their ability to adapt.

It can be a tough decision to remove your phone number from your website because in many cases it might feel like you're trying to avoid customers rather than solve their problems.

What the Wistia crew shows us, however, was that this isn't always the case: Great customer support doesn't just have to "be amazing," it also has to be consistently deliverable and it has to scale .

Because of their relatively small team, the Wistia staff started to realize that their phone support was dragging down their overall support quality — they just couldn't keep up anymore:

Without a change, the legendary support we had become known for would cease to be a reality.

Their answer was to shift their support focus to personalized emails, which may not have the benefit of "speaking" with customers but scales far better in order to deliver more consistent service.

Phone volume has gone down over 25%, and while support email has gone up, that system is far more scalable. We've also been able to have more in-depth conversations with customers and new trial customers, so we can learn what features within Wistia remain unclear.

Takeaway: It sometimes takes tough decisions to continually produce superior customer service, and in many instances, the overall quality of your support should outweigh the use of specific mediums.

Since the first CVS opened its doors, the company has empowered people to stay healthy and get the products they need. For over 30 years, CVS has also run a service that has everything to do with helping people and nothing to do with its role as a pharmacy.

With the CVS Good Samaritan Van , they serve stranded customers with car troubles. The cost for the customer? Just filling out a comment card.

This free service helps people get back on the road and to their destination without extra hassle. There is no catch, just a memorable experience that fortifies customer relationships and aligns with the company’s values. Customers feel cared for, which is exactly what executives want them to feel when they walk through the pharmacy’s doors.

CVS has a long history of making value-based decisions. In 2014, the company stopped selling tobacco products even though it hurt sales. And in 2018, it began offering discount coupons to customers without insurance to buy Narcan, a life-saving medication to reverse opioid overdoses.

When a company takes actions that align with their values — across every context — customers respond to that consistency with trust.

Takeaway: Think about a way to help your community one-on-one every day. It doesn’t have to relate to your product or service — just make sure it aligns with your values and gives customers the same feeling that you want to create when they use your product or service.

We first discovered just how much Buffer loves their customers when Help Scout alum Gregory Ciotti interviewed Leo Widrich on how the Buffer team handles support.

Leo describes the priority that customer happiness receives during his very busy work day:

Giving the best customer support possible is at the very top of our list. It is the number one thing we want to get done every day. That's also the reason why we call our support team a Happiness Team.

Why does the Buffer team place so much emphasis on support? According to Leo:

Instead of going out and telling everyone how amazing Buffer is, which is much less effective, we want to do it in a different way. We let people come to us with any problems or questions they have. We then help them in the fastest and best way we can, and they go away feeling happy and wowed, telling their friends about us.

Leo shows how great service turns from "something we should be doing" into a precise and targeted method of generating amazingly positive word-of-mouth referrals.

Takeaway: Word-of-mouth is still the ultimate marketing channel, and the only way to "pursue" it is through amazing support at every level. Your brand's best evangelists won't always be your highest paying customers.

The beloved airline JetBlue set a lofty goal of delighting customers when they took to the skies in 1998. Their Customer Bill of Rights set new standards for the industry, and their remote customer service team set a new precedent for remote work from the comfort of their homes.

Last year, JetBlue's VP of Customer Support Experience, Operations, and Recovery, Frankie Littleford, told Forbes about how her team got their start.

“When we decided that our mission would be ‘to bring humanity back to air travel,’ we knew we would have to build a great culture internally or great customer service would never take root externally, with the traveling public. We needed to build a culture of respect, trust and communication, a culture where we take care of each other.”

That culture took root and gave way to fun, customer-focused traditions. For example, JetBlue has a mysterious "People Officer" who surprises customers on flights and in airports with rewards and gifts.

One time, the People Officer stood up mid-flight and began hosting a game of trivia. He announced that the winners would receive flight vouchers for the mid-flight games and gave away a dozen tickets.

JetBlue bet that a quality flight experience could overturn the status quo, and they continue to raise the bar. During the coronavirus crisis, for example, they offered free flights for medical personnel and supplies , even while their own business was in jeopardy.

Takeaway: A positive culture is the only environment that can yield exceptional service. If leaders prioritize culture from the beginning, their team members will love their jobs and share the fun with customers, too.

8. StudioPress

The StudioPress team is very active in their support forums: Customer questions often get answered in as quickly as a few minutes.

But what I really like about what the team does is their emphasis on content. They know when to get out of their customer's way!

You don't always have to get someone's attention in support to answer a technical question. With a huge array of blog content and detailed tutorials available from the outset, you have the option of learning and tackling problems yourself.

Not only does this allow you to get to know the product better, it is certainly appropriate (and even feels good) to handle situations on your own time: Not every question you have requires an emergency phone call to the support line!

Content in this form gives control to the customer and also allows for those frequently asked questions to be answered in a scalable way, letting the support team get back to more difficult queries and keeping customers happy.

Takeaway: Sometimes great service means getting out of your customer's way and giving them the tools they need to solve their own dilemmas.

How to deliver exceptional customer service

There’s no exact formula that ensures your team will know how to deliver exceptional customer service every day. The details depend on the size of your business, your industry, and your product or service.

But there are always some key ingredients in the mix, even and especially as your processes evolve and improve over time. Here are four elements that are present in any exceptional customer service example. If you can weave these into your support team’s priorities, you’re setting a strong foundation.

1. Create policies that put customers first every day

Imagine that you’re a support professional, and a customer calls you to say that there’s a difference between the online price for a product on your website and the in-store price that they paid. They want a refund for the difference. If your company won’t allow you to match the online rate, there’s nothing you can do other than apologize.

Bad company policies sabotage exceptional support. If your company hasn’t set customer-centric guidelines in place, start by advocating that support leaders have a voice in decision-making.

When these team members have the opportunity to help shape policy, it creates alignment with the feedback they get from their team (and customers) every day. It’s a lot less likely for there to be a disconnect between what customers need and what they get.

While you’re at it, make sure to use balanced metrics when assessing the performance of support staff and the company as a whole. If you solely look at speed, you won’t encourage team members to take the time to go above and beyond for people every day.

Include a Net Promoter Score or a Help Scout “Happiness” score in your assessment of support performance. Customers can choose from Great, Okay, and Not Good buttons in each customer email, which is a simple way to ensure that your customers think you’re meeting their needs every day.

2. Hire empathetic problem-solvers

There’s a persistent myth that anyone can be an exceptional customer service professional. It’s just not true. The best team members walk into their first day with some key similarities , which include empathy, high levels of emotional intelligence, and a knack for problem-solving.

When customer service professionals understand and reflect other people’s feelings, they can help a customer feel heard and supported. Empathy goes a long way in any difficult situation, especially when it’s paired with great problem-solving skills.

Team members who enjoy diagnosing and fixing challenges are more likely to get straight to the issue and work toward a resolution when trickier problems arise. Plus, if you hire support professionals who are natural “helpers,” they’re also likely to enjoy learning how to deliver exceptional customer service.

3. Empower team members with training and tools

The last thing you want to do is stick someone in the queue who doesn’t have everything they need to give exceptional care. Even the most qualified customer service professional needs training and tools to succeed in the job.

With a thorough onboarding plan, product-specific knowledge, and intuitive customer service software to manage inquiries, people have a strong foundation to deliver great support every day.

Start by introducing people to your customer culture before you even begin to train folks on the product or service they’re working on. Make onboarding interactive and build out real-life simulations so that support professionals can practice in true-to-life settings. Use job shadowing to build relationships between new hires and current team members, which can also serve as one-on-one training.

Most of all, prioritize a support stack that’s easy to learn and chock full of built-in resources, from documentation to video tutorials. Any tool your team uses should make their jobs — and the customer experience — better from day one.

Help Scout’s tools give team members context for every support request and organize complex information in an intuitive way. Customers benefit from the highest level of care without ever feeling like they’re talking to a robot. People aren’t assigned a number in the queue or told “Do not reply to this email.” Instead, they benefit from real interactions centered around their needs.

Try the customer support platform your team and customers will love

Teams using Help Scout are set up in minutes, twice as productive, and save up to 80% in annual support costs. Start a free trial to see what it can do for you.

4. Give team members permission to be generous

Have you ever had a boss who micromanaged you every day? You never got anything done because the approval processes were so long and cumbersome. When that’s the case in a support scenario, team members don’t have the freedom they need to deliver exceptional solutions.

Prepare your team to perform with thoughtful guidelines on offering customers refunds, upgrades, discounts, gifts, and extra technical support. Get specific with dos and don'ts, as well as helpful examples of what has thrilled customers in the past.

When team members have clear guidance on best practices, they don’t have to hold back when they’re helping customers.

Make sure that everyone has access to a budget for helping customers and understands the rules around dipping into the account. Having the flexibility to make decisions will serve everyone, especially people who want to grow on the job.

Remember: Without resources, it’s nearly impossible for a support team to “wow” their customers when they need it most.

Customer service tips by business type and industry

B2B customer service

B2C customer service

SaaS support

Customer service in healthcare

Startup customer service

Customer service in education

Financial services customer service

Small business customer service

Customer service in nonprofit organizations

Ecommerce customer service

Make exceptional customer service your new standard

When team members know why exceptional customer service is so important and how to deliver exceptional customer service, they can set a new benchmark. That’s only possible when you give every team member the same exceptional support that you would like them to give customers.

Leaders can’t ask their team members to go above and beyond when they’re not willing to do so for their own employees.

In an industry that often prioritizes profit margins over people, you can carve out a new normal, too. Hire talented team members and empathetic managers, prioritize training and mentorship, and invest in a support stack that makes it easier to help people every day.

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Elizabeth wellington.

Liz writes about business, creativity and making meaningful work. Say hello on Twitter or through her website.

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