A customer’s first interaction with a brand’s customer support team can shape their entire experience. Every touchpoint matters: a friendly email, a helpful chat session, or a timely phone call. 88% of customers say good customer service makes them more likely to buy again.
However, many businesses struggle to meet customer expectations. Slow response times, inconsistent service, and frustrated customers can hurt a brand’s reputation.
These challenges often stem from poor communication, untrained staff, and inefficient systems, making it even more challenging to provide excellent service.
This article will explore the essential techniques to help teams deliver a better customer service experience.
Essential Customer Service Techniques for 2025
Your customer service team must adopt these key support techniques to build customer loyalty, satisfaction, and business success.
1. ELI5 (Explain It Like I’m 5) Technique
The “ELI5” technique, which stands for “Explain Like I’m 5,” is about simplifying complex information so customers can easily understand the solution to their issue. When dealing with technical or complex subjects, customers may feel overwhelmed by jargon or too much information.
Your customer reps can simplify complicated explanations into clear, easy-to-understand terms. This helps customers understand the solution more quickly, builds trust in the brand, and makes the agent appear approachable and empathetic.
2. The HEARD Technique
The HEARD stands for “Hear, Empathize, Apologize, Resolve, and Diagnose.” It ensures that customers feel understood and supported throughout their interaction.
Here’s how it works:
- Hear: Let the customer explain their issue without interruption, showing that you listen attentively.
- Empathize: Acknowledge their feelings and show empathy. Phrases like “I can see why that would be frustrating” help customers feel heard.
- Apologize: Offer an apology for the inconvenience they’ve experienced.
- Resolve: Work with the customer to find a solution that addresses their issue.
- Diagnose: After resolving the issue, analyze the situation to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
Here is an example of a customer complaining about a delayed order. You can respond:
“I hear that you’re frustrated about the delay (Hear). I understand how inconvenient this must be (Empathize). I sincerely apologize for the issue (Apologize). Let me check the tracking details and provide an update immediately(Resolve). I’ll also report this to our logistics team to prevent future delays (Diagnose).”
3. The “Feel, Felt, Found” Technique
The “Feel, Felt, Found” technique empathizes with customers and provides reassurance. It works by acknowledging the customer’s feelings, referencing how others have had similar experiences, and finally sharing the positive outcome others found. This technique is beneficial when a customer has doubts or concerns.
For example, if a customer is unsure about the effectiveness of a product, your customer service agent might say:
“I understand how you feel about this—many other customers have felt the same way. However, they found that after using it( product name) for a few days, they were pleased with the results.”
This approach helps build rapport, shows the agent empathy, and lets customers feel more comfortable and confident in their purchase or decision.
4. Using Engaged, Positive Body Language
Although body language is typically associated with in-person interactions, it also plays a crucial role in virtual settings like video calls and phone support. Engaged, positive body language can communicate warmth, confidence, and openness. Even when customers can’t see an agent over the phone, they can still pick up on enthusiasm, tone, and pacing.
In virtual support, agents should maintain eye contact on video, smile (even during phone calls), and speak calmly and in a friendly manner. These non-verbal cues foster trust and reassure customers that their concerns are heard.
5. Echoing, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing Technique
Echoing means repeating the customer’s words slightly differently to demonstrate understanding. Paraphrasing takes this further by rephrasing the issue in more straightforward terms that capture the customer’s concern. Summarizing involves concisely restating the key points of the problem to ensure both parties are on the same page.
For example, a customer might say, “I’ve been waiting for my order for over a week, and I still haven’t received any update.”
The agent could reply, “So, you’ve been waiting over a week for an update on your order, and you’re frustrated that there’s been no communication. Let me check on that for you.”
By echoing, paraphrasing, and summarizing, your rep helps the customer feel that their issue is being taken seriously, which increases satisfaction and trust.
6. The “Positive Language” Technique
Positive language focuses on framing responses to highlight solutions rather than problems. Instead of saying, “I can’t help you with that,” your agent could say, “Let me find a way to assist you.”
Focusing on what is possible rather than what is not can help agents keep the conversation constructive and optimistic, defusing frustration.
Another example: instead of saying, “We don’t have the product in stock right now,” an agent could say, “That item is currently out of stock, but I’d be happy to help you find a similar product.” This helps customers feel more hopeful and engaged in the conversation.
7. FAB (Feature, Advantage, Benefit) Technique
The FAB technique explains a product or service’s features, advantages, and benefits (FAB). This method is beneficial when customers need to understand why they should choose a particular product or service over others.
For instance, if a customer inquires about a new software tool. In that case, the agent might say, “This software has a built-in automation feature (Feature) that will save you hours of manual work (Advantage), allowing you to focus on more strategic tasks (Benefit).”
The FAB technique helps customers see the value in a product or service and guides them toward making an informed decision.
8. The Active Listening Technique
Active listening involves entirely focusing on the customer’s words, understanding the message, responding thoughtfully, and remembering important details. It is crucial for building rapport and efficiently addressing customer needs.
A few key elements of active listening include:
- Make eye contact (whether on a video call or in person) and use verbal cues like “I understand” or “I see.”
- Avoid interruptions while the customer is speaking.
- Ask clarifying questions to ensure you completely understand the customer.
9. CARP (Complain, Apologize, Resolve, Prevent) Technique
The CARP approach helps agents manage negative feedback while keeping the customer engaged in a solution-oriented conversation.
Here is how it works:
- Complain: Let the customer express their frustration fully.
- Apologize: Apologies for the inconvenience or issue they experienced.
- Resolve: Find an effective solution to the problem.
- Prevent: Discuss steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
Examples of Customer Service Techniques (Case Studies)
Here are two case studies of how HelpShift has helped businesses improve their customer service operations.
First Example
SYBO, the studio behind Subway Surfers, a game with over 4 billion downloads, faced challenges handling support requests for its 150 million monthly players. Their email-based support system disrupted the player experience, and Zendesk’s basic bots failed to improve efficiency, achieving only a 10% deflection rate.
Seeking a seamless in-game solution, SYBO integrated Helpshift within three months, with SDK implementation taking just two days. Helpshift’s AI-driven automation, smart intents, and time-based workflows streamlined support, optimizing FAQs and reducing reliance on human agents. In the first month alone, the team increased agent productivity by 80% without hiring additional staff.
SYBO achieved a 95% ticket deflection rate and a 4.3 CSAT score, improving from 3.8 with Zendesk. Email-based support dropped from 100% to just 10%, and Time to First Response in Subway Surfers decreased by 86% to 1 hour 40 minutes. Helpshift’s automation even outperformed agent-only interactions in CSAT.
Second Example
KRAFTON, a leader in the gaming industry, launched BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA (BGMI) to create a seamless player experience and significantly reduce support operations costs.
The company faced challenges like player onboarding, timely support responses, and managing increased player inquiries.
KRAFTON partnered with Helpshift to address these issues and used its Modern Support Journey (MSJ) framework. Helpshift’s AI and automation solutions helped streamline support, reducing the need for additional agents by 75% and ensuring efficient resource allocation.
The partnership resulted in a remarkable $10.6M in total savings, including $8.9M from automation. Moreover, KRAFTON saw a 13% increase in customer satisfaction (CSAT), which reflects the success of BGMI’s launch, driven by Helpshift’s innovative support solution and enhanced player engagement.
Key Challenges Faced by Customer Service Teams
Customer service teams work in a fast-paced, always active environment. They face many challenges in providing high-quality support across multiple platforms while managing customer expectations.
Below are some of the key challenges they face:
1. Personalization
Customers today expect a personalized experience, and a generic response is no longer enough. They want to engage with someone who truly understands their needs. Personalization goes beyond using a customer’s name. It involves recognizing their preferences, history, and behavior to offer relevant solutions and services.
Implementing personalization at scale can be challenging for customer service teams. It requires access to comprehensive customer data, CRM systems, and AI-driven tools.
2. Managing Multiple Communication Channels
Business support teams must manage communication channels like live chat, email, social media, and WhatsApp. This can be too much for small teams to handle. Each platform expects different response times and tones, making it challenging to keep messaging consistent.
As a result, a customer who contacts us on social media might receive a very different response than one who calls the support hotline.
3. Product Knowledge Gaps
Customer service agents are often the first line of defense when customers encounter issues with products or services. If agents lack in-depth knowledge of the products or services they support, it can lead to delays, errors, and frustrated customers.
Inadequate product training or insufficient access to product information can make it difficult for agents to resolve problems efficiently.
4. Handling Complaints Effectively
No matter how great a product or service is, customers will always have negative experiences. The challenge for customer service teams is turning these negative interactions into positive ones.
Agents must acknowledge the customer’s frustration, apologize for the inconvenience, and offer a solution that resolves the issue. If you do not handle complaints properly, customers leave, share negative reviews, or take their business to a competitor.
5. Resource Limitations
Customer service teams often face resource constraints due to a small staff, limited budget, or outdated technology. These challenges can make it difficult for agents to provide top-quality support, especially as customer expectations for speed and personalization continue to rise.
6. Risk of Burnout
Agents get pressure to meet performance metrics like response times and customer satisfaction scores. Constantly handling frustrated customers takes an emotional toll. This increases the risk of burnout and reduces productivity and job satisfaction.
When support agents are overwhelmed, mistakes become more likely, ultimately impacting the quality of the customer experience.
Best Practices to Improve Customer-Agent Communication
Businesses can implement several best practices, focusing on continuous improvement and consistent service delivery. This can enhance communication and improve customer experience.
- Regular Training and Development: Train your customer agents in communication skills, product knowledge, and problem-solving. Offer workshops, role-playing scenarios, and up-to-date training on new products or services to help them stay sharp and confident.
- Seek Feedback: Encourage your customer agents to ask for customer feedback after each interaction. This can be in the form of post-interaction surveys or direct feedback. Listening to both customer and agent feedback helps identify areas for improvement.
- Practice Patience and Positivity: Agents should always approach interactions calmly and positively, even in challenging situations. Patience is key to de-escalating tense moments and providing excellent customer service.
- Set Clear Goals: Clearly define performance expectations and communication standards. This could include response times, tone of voice, or accuracy of information provided. Setting measurable goals helps agents stay focused and improves overall communication quality.
- Monitor and Analyze Performance: Regularly evaluate your agents’ performance through call or chat reviews and identify patterns or areas for improvement. To gauge success, you can use metrics like customer satisfaction (CSAT), first call resolution (FCR), and average handling time (AHT).
Conclusion
As customer expectations grow, businesses must adopt new customer service techniques like ELI5, HEARD, and CARP. They also need to use active listening, positive language, and personalized communication to help create a smooth customer experience that builds trust and strengthens the brand’s reputation.
Helpshift can support your customer service efforts with AI-powered automation, seamless in-app support, and efficient workflows.
These tools help businesses streamline customer interactions, reduce costs, and improve satisfaction scores.
Book a Demo with Helpshift today to revolutionize your customer service experience!
