Customer Service

Where and how have you received the best service?

Should the quality and style of customer service be different from

business to business?

What Do Customers Want?

• Understanding• Caring attitude• Ability to solve a problem• Honesty

Key Communication Skills

• Friendly• Enthusiastic• Interested• Knowledgeable

Active Listening Skills

• Personalize the contact• Avoid jumping to conclusions – Seek first to

understand, and then to be understood• Ask clarifying questions• Repeat back to ensure clarity• Don’t interrupt, but if need to….ask questions to

clarify and focus

How do you know a customer is, or is becoming difficult?

What causes them to be difficult?

Key Tips

• Voice - Tone, pace, volume• Body language - Stance, arms/hands, personal space• Content must match voice and non-verbals• Monitoring your own emotions (self-talk)• Monitoring your ego - “As ego goes up, power and

safety go down” (and vice-versa)

Key Tips

• Greet them (“Good morning Joe”) no matter how they greet you

• Identify yourself if they are not sure who you are• Always respect them; be courteous; don’t be

judgmental• Be ok saying, “I don’t know, but I will get someone

who does.”

Key Tips

• Listen intently with all senses• Empathy - Develop sense of how that person is

seeing the world at that moment, and how to intervene based on that (repeat “difficult” customers or scenarios)

• Find positives to give feedback on• Paraphrase – “I want to make sure I understand you,

what I hear...” (best way to interrupt)

Key Tips

• Keep focused on the goal when you give feedback – “I understand you want…, so we can get this done I need to and I need you…” (be specific; don’t assume they know what to do)• Use silence to let person vent (if it seems to de-escalate them)• “Audiences” - need to balance safety with dignity

Key Tips

• Match their language, but don’t “fake it”• If you or someone at the company has made a

mistake, own it (even if it was not you), and then work toward making amends

• “Go” with resistance, don’t fight it• REspond, don’t REact

Phrases to Avoid

• “Wait a second”• “Listen”• “Hey you! Come here!”• “Calm down”• “I’m not going to tell you again”• “Be more reasonable”

Phrases to Avoid

• “Because those are the rules!”• “What’s your problem?”• “What do you want me to do about it?”

Helpful Phrases

• “I appreciate that, and (not “but”) I would like to help you, and in order for me to do that I need you to…”

• “I understand/hear/believe that, and (not “but”)…”• “Can I ask you a question (allows interruption but

keeps focus on them)?”• From above, “I want to make sure I understand you,

are you saying…?”