Would You Rather Hear “My Pleasure” or ‘No Problem’?
Every so often at the Faceless office, we discuss the need and importance of customer service in business. We stress customer service to our clients and implement this into our own culture. Occasionally we share our frustrations from the customer perspective. During a trip to D.C. a team member told me their customer service frustration while they were in a high level global brand retail establishment, listening to a sales associate who was starting a fitting room for a customer. The associate asked if she should place the final items in the dressing room that was started. The customer said “yes, Thank You” where then the associate replied “No problem”
No problem.
Let’s pause for a minute and analyze at that phrase. In any sales or customer service position, it is your goal to make sure that every customer is taken care of and given the best experience. Your customer’s wants and needs are never a problem. They are not inconveniencing you or wasting your time. In fact, they are spending their time, energy and money on your business, rather than your competitor. Your customer should be hearing the words “My pleasure, is there anything else I can get you?” or any variation of that. In retrospect, the sales associate wasn’t intentionally trying to be rude and off-putting. Most likely, she has repeated this phrase without a second thought. This lack of thought or effort on customer service is WHY customer service is dying.
The Lost Art of Customer Service
We have all had at least one customer service nightmare that we have personally experienced. As a business owner, your goal is to create a strong customer service experience. It matters whether it’s face to face, on the phone, or via email. Customer service is becoming a lost art, and there are a number of factors that are causing customer service in business to be lacking. One of the biggest and root problems that customer service faces is the way your employees are communicating to your clients and customers.
Language And Communication In Customer Service
The language and level of communication that your company uses will make or break how well your customer service is. It’s incredibly important that your employees have the best communication skills when assisting your clients and customers. Make sure that your employees are well-versed in the art of communication and language. One way to improve communication is to provide employees with “language engineering”. Language engineering is suggesting phrases that are likely to be successful in customer interactions, and avoiding phrases that will confuse customers, raise tension and not represent the brand properly. Make your employees get into the habit of being conscientious of how and why they are communicating with customers. Don’t let them just repeat phrases on “autopilot”. Show some examples and case studies of how choosing the proper wording and positive language can have bottom line numbers and higher levels of results.
What Else Is Lacking
Communication is one of the key factors in customer service. However, there might also be other factors that could be lacking. There are many cases of employees and staff in businesses who are mishandling situations. Staff is lacking core problem-solving and reasoning skills. Everyone remembers last year when United Airlines staff kicked a passenger off a plane due to an overbooking issue. A video had gone viral of the incident, and resulting in a public relations nightmare for United. What if that had been your company?
Are your employees well-trained and ready to deal with any customer service situation that gets tossed their way? The United customer service case might be an extreme example. However, customer service complaints, frustrations and tensions WILL happen. When it does, is your staff ready and capable to handle these situations? At the end of the day, your goal is to make sure that your customers are satisfied. Ensure they will continue giving you their business.
At Faceless, we’ve had clients who haven’t put enough thought and time into customer service. Just by showing them how they can improve their customer service strategy, they saw results almost immediately. Customer experience matters. Talk to our Faceless team about how you can make the experience that your clients encounter with your brand a memorable and positive one.
Faceless Marketing is the “go-to” marketing firm that you can depend on to give you the best results and greatest return on investment (ROI). Reach out to Faceless Marketing for some consultation. Get a FREE quote on your next consulting service. Call 1-800-357-1299 or Shoot us a Message Here.
