Customer Service
Things to Say and not Say when dealing with customers!
This is from an Article written by a guy called John A Goodman who’s regarded as the pioneer of the customer experience industry. And he literally “wrote the book” on Strategic Customer Experience. This is from the “What Not to Say Guide”.
“Last year, I was on the last flight of the day to Washington DC on one of my least favourite airline. It was summer, and thunderstorms roared across the East Coast. While in flight, the plane was diverted to another city that was NOT my destination. As we walked off the plane at midnight, the cheery announcement over the PA system was “Welcome to X! We’re not responsible for anything due to the weather, and we’re sorry for the inconvenience.” As a seasoned flyer, I knew that the airline was not responsible for paying for a hotel, BUT they could have offered some assistance and a little sympathy.
What really got me, though, was the characterization of being dumped in a strange city at midnight as an “inconvenience”. This was NOT an inconvenience – it was a disaster, especially since I had meetings in Washington the next afternoon that would go better if I had some sleep, was lucid and in a fresh, clean suit. But that was note to be…”
Words and Phrases to Erase from Your Staff’s Vocabulary
Inconvenience – A 10 minute delay on an airline flight or a two-minute wait in a coffee shop line is an inconvenience. A cancelled flight or missed appointment when you took of a half-day of work to meet a technician at your house is a lot more than an inconvenience.
Not a problem- this is jargon that is often meant as “my pleasure”. However, it comes across as a casual, “I’m happy to tolerate you.” It is customary to acknowledge that you were happy to extend the pleasure with ‘you’re welcome.’
It’s our policy- This phase basically conveys “it is convenient for us to do X, whether it is convenient for you or not.” It also makes the customer feel like a cog in a wheel instead of an important part of the company. Using this phrase is failing to view the situation from the customer’s perspective and conveys that service is dispensed to further the company’s self-interest.
That could not have happened- Calling the customer a liar is not a useful way to gain agreement on next steps from the customer-or to create totally satisfied customers.
May I put you on hold for just a moment?- This phrase is better than saying “please hold”-click. But usually “for just a moment” is not “just a moment.” Be honest and set expectations appropriately: if it’s going to be 3 minutes or even 5, say so.
You can get faster service online by going to our website- Several problems here. First, the customer chose to call you, so is it realistic to tell her to hang up and spend more time getting online? Assuming that most of your callers are veteran customers, they probably already have been to your website and have determined that this is something that could not be self-serviced. Reminding them to go online implies that they are lazy or stupid-either surely will make them angry! Finally, customers know about self-service; you are not educating them by telling them about the many service are available online.
A much better approach would be to answer the question online, and then direct them how to self-service online. Some will say yes, and you can educate them on how many items they can self-service online.
Is there anything else I can help you with?- although we agree with the premise of asking if other questions or issues exist to help achieve first-call resolution, this phrase can is particularly frustrating is the Customer Service Representative was unable to satisfy the customer’s need during the call.
One pushback you may get from your staff is that some customers do lie and many more do cause their own problems. In strategic customer service, 30% of their own problems and the customer are not always right. Only 2% to 4% of customers are actually lying. Why run the 96% of honest customer through the gauntlet to catch the 4%?
For the 30& who have made a mistake, they believe they are correct, are uninformed or simply never read the directions. Before you indict the customer for not reading, think about whether you read your homeowner’s insurance policy, the directions for the last electronic item you bought or the last set of terms and conditions you agreed to on the web. The real answer is that we’re all busy and it is not the customer’s responsibility to be right. However, it is your staff’s responsibility to provide caring assistance, regardless of who originally caused the problem.
Phrases You Should Encourage Your Staff to Use
Thank you for taking the time to bring this to our attention- This diffuses any defensiveness on the part of either the customer or the staff member. In fact, it makes the customer feel important and heard.
I’m going to do everything I can to get this resolved for you today. I will do my best to take care of you today- This is a commitment to act as an advocate for the customer, not just do the standard procedures.
I’m sorry this happened/that you weren’t told; I’ll feed this into our quality process- this tells the customer that their effort will have impact beyond just this one even and may improve the overall system.
I’m sorry that you were told that, but that information is not correct- this acknowledges that the customer was told something that was wrong, but also says that it is not correct. Customers will never be very satisfied with that reply, but it is a factual statement and allows you to take ownership for the mistake. Further, you should prepare your staff for the next logical question, which is: “why was I told that if it is wrong?” Again, an acknowledgement that an unacceptable process or problem exists that will be reported to the quality improvement team helps the customer feel empowered.
While I can’t do exactly what you’ve requested, I can give you some options. They are- If the customer is very emotional, you can often bring them back to the rational side of their brain by telling them what you can do. Even if the customer made the mistake, in addition to trying to recover, the response should be, “I’m sorry that difficult to understand. I’ll let management know that this is confusing”.
I’m so sorry this has happened to you. I’d be really upset if it happened to me- This is for when you can’t really fix what’s happened. If you can’t do anything else, you can give empathy and listen to the customer vent without interrupting and asking if there is anything else you can help them with.