Customer care workshop

TOM MBOYA UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

A constituent College of

Maseno University

P.O Box 199 - 40300, Homa Bay.

Email: [email protected]

IN-HOUSE INDUCTION SEMINAR for STAFF

of


26th -to- 27th Nov.2015

Workshop Theme:

CUSTOMER CARE

Ref: Workshop.sem/Staff/vol.3Motto: Never tell customers; it’s wrong! before exacerbating the situation.

PART ONE

Authored by:S O William

Academic StaffTMUC

Approved by:Prof. J Kobiero

Principal TMUC

Specific Workshop Objective:

Staff Interaction with Public, before, during & after

Professional service delivery within

TOM MBOYA UNIVERSITY.

What is Customer

Care?

What is Customer Care?

Customer care is the provision of service to

customers before, during and after the professional service delivery to the satisfaction of

the customers.

The perception of success of such interactions is

dependent on staffs "who can adjust themselves to the

personality of the guest".

@S O William defines;

Customer care as

"part of Top-down Management Care focused on

ascertaining confidence to Customers whose Needs &

Wants will be satisfied".

Customer service

Do Customer service have a non verbal acclamation?

Yes! Safaricom customer care services is

always available 24/7, providing relentless service to public; without

a camouflage spirit . But no one ever go-back to say thank you for

such service.Why?

Participants to give their view!!!

The Customer Experience

(CX) Value Equation:

The Customer Experience CX Value Equation:

Customer Experience (CX) is a complex practice area that

requires clear vision, the right tools, and great execution to

succeed.

According to Jeff Griebeler of Oracle White Paper (2012),

Customer Experience-CX focuses on three major areas:

1) Acquisition (A), 2) Retention (R), and 3) Efficiency (E).

These areas play a critical role in any learning institute, government, business

(public or private) and non-profit organizations.

CX VALUE EQUATION: CX = A + R + E

Acquisition refers to the ability of an Institution/organization to increase its

customer base; TOM MBOYA UNIVERSITY

Through her staff ’s customer care shall;• Generate more economic opportunities e.g.

Business Incubation Program• Increase TM University brand equity• Increase TM University Academic Market Share


Retention is the ability of an Institution/organization to keep & grow

the customers it already has;TOM MBOYA UNIVERSITY

Through her staff ’s customer care shall;

• Increase share of wallet-improved economies of scale • Shall drive Loyalty of the public through high

admissions & Community development projects• Shall also drive strong academic Advocacy to the

public and Job creation activities.


Efficiency allows an Institution to do more with less.

TOM MBOYA UNIVERSITY Through her staff ’s customer care shall;

• Improve on return-on-investment/capital for TM University, staff & public.

• Increase socio-economic productivity of every sector of economy within TM University reach.

• Reduce cost of economic operations, and increase revenue/income of stakeholders.


The CX Value Equation effectively defines a mapping or translation layer between a Students/Public strategy and

Tom Mboya University Mission line.

PLEASE REMEMBER!!!The Customer Experience Value Equation consists of three main

practice areas: Acquisition, Retention, and Efficiency.



Summarized Cluster


#1 Acquisition (short-notes)

Acquisition focuses on how an organization can increase its

customer base by gaining new or additional customers; Acquisition

can be decomposed into above three business challenges:


#2 Retention (short-notes)

Retention focuses on how organizations keep their customers,

to reduce churn and to increase their life-time value. Above are three important business challenges

associated with Retention:


#3 Efficiency (short-notes)

Efficiency focuses on doing the right operational activity to deliver the

desired results at a lower cost to the organization. Listed above are also

three important business challenges in this area:

When focusing on culture of the organization Customer service comes as a top priority, an organization that

values good customer service may spend more money in training

employees, since Customer serviceplays an important role in an

organization's ability to generate income and revenue.

Customer SupportCustomer support by TMUC

Staff to TMUC Customers (Students) is a range of

academic services to assist students in making cost

effective and correct use of our career options.

This include assistance in;• TMUC Academic Planning, • Knowledge & Skills Installation,• Academic & Professional Training, • Business Trouble shooting for SME’s, • Maintenance, • Upgrading, and disposal

of our courses.

Customer Support at TMUC is all about;Conviction, Trust, Satisfaction, Loyalty,

Goodwill, Commitment, Delight, & Experience as pictured below;

Instant feedbackRecently, many organizations have implemented feedback loops that

allow them to capture feedback at the point of experience. For example,

National Express has invited passengers to send text messages

whilst riding the bus.

Standardization:ISO and The International Customer Service Institute (TICSI)

have published the following ones:

1. ISO 9004:2000, on performance improvement2. ISO 10001:2007, on customer service conduct3. ISO 10002:2004, on quality management in handling

customer complaints4. ISO 10003:2007, on dispute resolution5. The International Customer Service Standard (TICSS)6. CCQA Customer Care Standard (Care Quality Alliance) 7. www.CCQA.org.uk

There is also an Information Technology service management standard: ISO/IEC 20000:2005. Its first part concerns specifications

and its second part the code of practice.

Tom Mboya UniversityTherefore needs the right set of

skills when hiring staffs both Academics and Non-academics for an all-important team who will be

taking care of their customers (students).

CUSTOMER SERVICE SKILLS

FIFTEEN CUSTOMER SERVICE SKILLS

EVERY EMPLOYEE NEEDS

Below are customer service skills that all employees of


Must master if they are forward-facing with students and public.

Without these skills; Tom Mboya University College

run the risk of finding our operations in an embarrassing customer service train-wreck,

or we'll simply lose students and public trust as our services continues

to let people down.

1. PatienceNot only is patience important to customers, who often reach out to support when they are confused and frustrated, but

it's also important to the business at large:

N/B: great service beats fast service every single time.

Yet patience shouldn't be used as an excuse for slothful service

either!Derek Sivers explained his view on "slower" service as being an

interaction where the time spent with the customer was used to

better understand their problems and needs from the Organization.

If you deal with customers on a daily basis, be sure to stay patientwhen they come to you stumped

and frustrated, but also be sure to take the time to truly figure out

what they want; they'd rather get competent service than be rushed

out the door!

2. AttentivenessThe ability to really listen to customers is so crucial for providing great service for a

number of reasons.Not only is it important to pay attention to individual customer interactions (watching

the language/terms that they use to describe their

challenges’), but it's also important to be mindful and attentive to the feedback that

you receive at large.What are your customers telling you without saying it?

3. Clear Communication SkillsMake sure you're getting to the problem

at hand quickly; customers don't need your life story or to hear about how your

day is going.More importantly, you need to be cautious about how some of your

communication habits translate to customers, and it's best to err on the side

of caution whenever you find yourself questioning a situation.

An example under Clear Communication Skills;The last time I went to get work done on my car, I

was told by an employee that if I wanted to get an oil change, it would be "included" in my final bill.

I thought that meant I'd be getting it for free, yet as it turns out, that wasn't the case. The employee

apologized and I truly believe it was an accident (they just worked there), but I haven't been back to

that garage since because of the miscommunication.When it comes to important points that you need to relay clearly to customers, keep it simple and leave

nothing to doubt.

4. Knowledge of TMUC Academic & Professional

ProgramsThe best forward-facing staffs in TMUC

will work on having a deep knowledge of how our University programs runs.

It's not that every staff to know all courses offered in every school from scratch, but rather they should know the ins and outs of University

programs, just like students and public who uses it every day would.

Without knowing your running programs from front-to-back, you

may not know how to assist students, parents, and the public who comes to

you, when they run into any challenge.

5. Ability to Use "Positive Language"

Sounds like fluffy nonsense, but your ability to make minor changes in your conversational patterns can truly go a long way in creating happy customers.Language is a very important part of

persuasion, and people (students) create perceptions about you and your

University based of the language that you use.

Here's an example: Let's say a customer contacts you with an interest in a particular product, but

that product happens to be backordered until next month.

Small changes that utilize "positive language" can greatly affect how the customer hears your

response...•Without positive language: "I can't get you that

product until next month; it is back-ordered and unavailable at this time."

•With positive language: "That product will be available next month. I can place the order for you

right now and make sure that it is sent to you as soon as it reaches our warehouse."

The first example isn't negative by any means, but the tone that it conveys feels abrupt and impersonal, and can be taken

the wrong way by customers.

Conversely,

The second example is stating the same thing (the item is unavailable), but instead focuses on when/how the

customer will get to their resolution rather than focusing on the negative.

6. Acting SkillsSometimes you're going to come across people that you'll never be able to make

happy.Situations outside of your control (they

had a terrible day, or they are just a natural-born complainer) will sometimes

creep into your usual support routine, and you'll be greeted with those "barnacle"

customers that seem to want nothing else but to pull you down.

Every great customer service representative will have those basic acting skills necessary to maintain

their usual cheery persona in spite of dealing with people who may be just

plain grumpy.

7. Time Management SkillsHey!, despite my many research-backed

on why you should spend more time with customers, the bottom line is that there is

a limit, and you need to be concerned with getting customers what they want

in an efficient manner.The trick here is that this should also be

applied when realizing when you simply cannot help a customer.

If you don't know the solution to a problem, please! please! the best kind of

support member will get a customer over to someone who does.

Don't waste time trying to go above and beyond for a customer in an area where

you will just end up wasting both of your time , Organization and customer’s! time

8. Ability to "Read" CustomersYou won't always be able to see

customers face-to-face, and in many instances (nowadays) you won't even

hear a customer's voice!That doesn't exempt you from

understanding some basic principles of behavioral psychology and being able to "read" the customer's current emotional

state.

This is an important part of the personalization process as well, because

it takes knowing your customers to create a personal experience for them.

More importantly though, this skill is essential because you don't want to

mis-read a customer and end up losing them due to miscommunication.

Look and listen for subtle clues about their current mood, patience level, personality, etc., and you'll go far in keeping your customer interactions positive.

9. A Calming PresenceThere are a lot of metaphors for

this type of personality: "keeps their

cool," "staying cool under pressure,"

etc., but it all represents the same thing: the ability that some people

have to stay calm and even influence others when things get a

little hectic.

I've had my fair share of hairy hosting situations, and I can tell you in all honesty that

the #1 reason I stick with certain hosting companies is due to the ability of their

customer support team to keep me from pulling my hair out.

The best customer service representative know that they cannot let a heated customer

force them to lose their cool; in fact it is their job to try to be the "rock" for a customer

who thinks the world is falling down due to their current problem.

10. Goal Oriented FocusThis may seem like a strange thing to list as a customer service skill, but I assure

you that it is vitally important.Relying on frameworks like the Net

Promoter Score can help businesses come up with guidelines for their employees that allow plenty of freedom to handle customers on a case-to-case basis, but also leave them priority solutions and

"go-to" fixes for common problems.

11. Ability to Handle SurprisesSometimes the customer support world

is going to throw you a curveball.Maybe the problem you encounter isn't

specifically covered in the Organization’s policy, or maybe the customer isn't

reacting how you thought they would.Whatever the case, it's best to be able to think on your feet, but it's even better to create guidelines for yourself in these

sorts of situations.

•Who?•One thing you can decide right off the

bat is who you should consider your "go-to" person when you don't know what to

do. The CEO might be able to help you, but you can't go to them with every

single question! Define a logical chain for yourself to use, then you won't be left

wondering who you should forward the problem too.

•What?•When the problem is noticeably out of your league, what are you going to send

to the people above? The full conversation, just the important parts, or maybe some highlights and an example

of a similar ticket?•How?

•When it comes time to get someone else involved, how are you going to

contact them?

12. Persuasion SkillsTo truly take your customer service skills to the next level, you need to

have some mastery of persuasion so that you can convince interested

customers that your services are right for them.

It's not about making a sales pitch, but it is about not letting potential customers slip away because

you couldn't create a compelling message that your company's product is worth purchasing!

13. TenacityA great work ethic and a willingness to do what

needs to be done (and not take shortcuts) is a key skill when providing the kind of service that people

talk about.Many memorable customer service stories out there were created by a single employee who

refused to just do the "status quo" when it came to helping someone out.

Remembering that your customers are people too, and knowing that putting in the extra effort will

come back to you ten-fold should be your driving motivation to never "cheat" your customers with

lazy service.

14. Closing AbilityBeing able to close with a customer means

being able to end the conversation with confirmed satisfaction and with the customer feeling that everything has been taken care of

(or will be).Getting booted after a customer service call or

before all of their problems have been addressed is the last thing that customers

want, so be sure to take the time to confirm with customers that each and every issue

they had on deck has been entirely resolved.

Your willingness to do this show the customer

Three very important things:• That you care about getting it right• That you're willing to keep going

until you get it right• That the customer is the one

who determines what "right" is.When you get a customer to,

"Yes, I'm all set!" is when you know the conversation is over.

15. Willingness to LearnThose who don't seek to improve

what they do, whether it's building products, marketing businesses, or

helping customers, will get left behind by the people willing to

invest in their skills.

IMPROVING CUSTOMER

SERVICE SKILLS

Six keys to improving Customer service skills

How to make sure your service team is skilled, empathetic, and engaged

No matter how great your product is, or how talented your staff is, one of the

things that customers are most likely to remember is the direct interaction they

have with your Organization.

Bottom line: Your customer service team is often the face

of your company, and customers’ experiences will be defined by the skills and

quality of the support they receive.A strong company will always have great customer

relationships. But

A smart company will always be asking “What is good for customer service?”

If you are not constantly on the lookout for opportunities to improve your customer

service, then your relationships will stagnate.

Here are six customer service tips for identifying ways to better serve customers.

1.STRENGTHEN YOUR

CUSTOMER SERVICE SKILLSFirst, it’s important to make sure that your

customer service team has the right skills for your managing customers’ needs.

Following are skills you should be looking for in a customer service representative?

•Empathy, patience and consistency. Some customers will be irate. Others will be full of questions. And others will just be chatty. You must know how to handle all of them and provide the same level of service every time.

• Adaptability. Every customer is different, andsome may even seem to change week-to-week. Youshould be able to handle surprises, sense thecustomer’s mood and adapt accordingly. This alsoincludes a willingness to learn– providing goodcustomer service is a continuous learning process.

•Work ethic. Customers appreciate arepresentative who will see their problem throughto its resolution. At the same time, you must havegood time management skills and not spend toomuch time handling one customer while others arewaiting.

• Knowledge. Ultimately your customers rely onyou for their knowledge of your product/services.

• Thick skin. The customer’s always right… right?The ability to swallow one’s pride and acceptblame or negative feedback is crucial. Whetheryour team works directly with customers orlooking for feedback on social media, they’ve

got to keep the customer’s happiness in mind.

• Clear communication. Ensure you convey tocustomers exactly what you mean.

2. LOOK AT EVERY TOUCH POINT

A bad customer experience at any point in the customer lifecycle can ruin your

relationship. In addition to making sure the right skills are demonstrated, you need to be

sure they’re being demonstrated consistently. Pay the most attention to key

touch points, but make sure you have a full view of the customer experience, or you risk

lapses in service that can really hurt business.

3.IMPROVE YOUR CUSTOMER

INTERACTIONSIf the staffs have the necessary skill set, that’s a good start.

But they still need to relate to customers.

Through;• Identifying a common ground–like shared

interest–with the public.• Practice active listening so your

customers feel heard. Clarify and rephrase whatthe customers say to ensure you understand them.Empathize with and reflect their feelings by sayingthings like, “That must have upset you” or “I can seewhy you feel slighted.”

•Admit your mistakes, even if you discoverthem before your customers do. This buildstrust and restores confidence. It also allows youto control the situation, re-focus the customer’sattention and resolve the issue.

•Follow-up after a problem is solved. Makesure the issue stays fixed and that yourcustomers were satisfied with the service.Sending an email or even a feedback survey isan excellent way to let the customer knowyou’re still on their side.

•Admit your mistakes, even if you discover them before your customers do.

This builds trust and restores confidence. Italso allows you to control the situation, re-focus the customer’s attention and resolve theissue.

•Follow-up after a problem is solved.Make sure the issue stays fixed and that your

customers were satisfied with the service. Sending an email or even a feedback survey is

an excellent way to let the customer know you’re still on their side.

4. ENHANCE YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE

STRATEGYYour staff may have the skills and know-how to interact with your customers. But what

organizational strategies can you employ to please customers? Practice proactive customer service by making your customers happy before they come to you with

problems. Here’s how:

•Get personal. Your customers want to feel like they have access to real people, not bots and FAQs. Offer more than

just automated email responses, and do not let your telephone prompts or website send them down a rabbit

hole. Take full advantage of social media (such as Face book, Twitter and Yelp) and write responses when your customers

post on your page. Post photos and bios on your website. This shows your customers that you are real people working

on their behalf.

•Be available: Part of the personal touch is making sure your customers can reach you.

For example if your business is primarily online, meet in person occasionally with local

customers and offer video calls (such as Skype) for those farther away. Work early and

late when needed, especially if your customers are in different time zones. Even

providing customers with your physical address helps build their trust and reminds

them that your company exists off the internet as well.

• Cater to your customers:Make sure you are fully meeting your customers’ needs. Consider assigning reps to specific customers so they can

build a relationship. Offer VIP treatment for your best customers to let them know

they are appreciated. What special services might your customers like? Set

up focus groups, interview customers, or run a survey to get ideas.

•Create communities.Your customers will feel even more valued if you treat them as important members of a

community. You can bring various customers together in numerous ways, including

webinars, interactive websites, social media, trade shows and conventions. And don’t

forget that while your customers come to these forums to learn from you, you can learn

as much–if not more–from them.

5. MAKE SURE YOUR

REPRESENTATIVES ARE ENGAGED

You can have the best customer service skills and the best training in the world, but if your representatives are checked out, it won’t matter at all. Improving

employee engagement is another way to make sure customers have a great

experience.

Dissatisfied employees are unlikely to come forward with their problems, so

consider an anonymous suggestion box or an employee engagement survey to see what makes your employees tick.

Since engagement can vary from industry to industry, you may also want to look at more specific data through a

service like;Survey Monkey Benchmarks.

6. GIVE YOUR CUSTOMERS

A WAY TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK

No matter how proactive you are, you’ll never be able to get in front of every

customer issue. To make sure you learn about the good, the bad, and the ugly

experience your customers have, create an easily accessible way for customers to

give feedback.

Whatever steps you choose to take, remember feedback is

importance to customer satisfaction. Unsure what your strengths and

weaknesses are? Don’t know why the numbers are

dipping? Make an effort to get closer both to your

customers and your representatives.

Factors to Successful Customer

Care

Factors to Successful Customer Service Care

Customer Communication, Love, Loyalty & Retention

Ask any consumer what their number one reason for shying away from buying

through a mobile app is, and they will tell you something along the lines of,

“If the purchase doesn’t go right, I’m not going to have any help!”

Asking a person to part with their hard-earned money is a struggle all businesses face, and

customers want to feel confident that if something goes wrong in their transaction, your company or

Organization will be there to make it right.

-1-LISTEN

Listening tops the list because it is the most important thing your brand can do. Let your customers talk and tell you what

happened, or how you can make it right.

Your brand shouldn’t assume anything. Are you making it easy to listen to your

customers?

Are you giving them obvious channels to communicate with you, inside your apps?

If you’re not actively investing in listening capabilities, you’re missing a lot

of easy wins with your best customers.

Listening to customers opens the door for changes that must be made across all

parts of your marketing, product, and business strategies.

-2-GET FEEDBACK

Collecting feedback doesn’t just mean you should send out surveys about your

service. What getting feedback really involves is

encouraging suggestions from your customers.

You have to be proactive about feedback; x

You must get feedback from customers by starting more conversations.

e.g. simple fill-in questionnaire

-3-ANTICIPATE NEEDS

Anticipating customer behavior is a skill for all customer success teams to master.

Spend time learning what your customers want and need before they tell you in

order to offer the best experience possible.

Mobile is ripe for opportunity in allowing brands to learn so much about what a customer has done and what they’re

currently doing,

But it’s up to the brand to use this data to build richer profiles

and understanding of its customers.

Any opportunity to demonstrate your brand actually

knows its customers is an opportunity to impress them and

delight them.

-4-BE FAIR WHEN SAYING NO

There are times when a customer wants you to do the impossible, and in those

moments, it’s easy to lose your cool and approach them in an unfair manner.

However, if you have been fair in your response, the customer will be more receptive to the things you can do for them to make their experience better.

Brands lean on different ways to say no: no with more detail, an explanation

around why the request isn’t possible at the time, or even an apology is much

better than a flat out “no.” When you involve the customer in the

process or the challenges you’re facing as a brand, you invite them to see you as

someone with a complex job working at a brand that cares, rather than as someone

who rejects them.

-5-KNOW YOUR CUSTOMERS

If your customer base is not technologically savvy, you can’t talk to

them like they are Steve Wozniak. Alternatively, if you have a highly skilled

customer base, don’t talk to them like the just bought their first Smartphone.

It’s crucial to work to understand your customers by asking them more about their experience, what their names are, and what they’re trying to do with your app and your company to offer them the best

customer service experience possible. When you deeply understand where people are

coming from, you can help them figure out how to get where they need to go.

The first step to understanding your customers is through implementing app analytics to understand what they are doing, in addition to communicating

with individual customers to learn about why.

-6-TRUST YOUR CUSTOMERS

It’s an unfortunate fact that there are people out there trying to get something

for nothing, but if you assume this behavior of everyone; especially your

customers; then you are sure to anger a fair share of your customer base. If you’re focused on the long-term, you know that

customer trust is hugely important to loyalty.

Trust your customers and they will learn to trust you, as well.

-7-SAY “YES”

From a customer’s perspective, “yes” is the ultimate favor a brand can do for them.

Whenever a customer has a reasonable request, try as hard as possible to accommodate them. Saying yes a couple of times will go a long way with most people as it induces positive feelings

and a sense that the company is invested in helping them out. Whenever you’re about to

give a quick “no,” take another look and consider a simple “yes” an easy win.

-8-VALIDATE CUSTOMER CONCERNS

Never argue with your customer or put them on the defensive. When a disagreement arises,

do anything you can to understand their frustration before you figure out a way to help them. Validating their frustration and showing

that you see how they feel is the first start in fixing the problem. How each person feels is

their own emotion, and as a customer service provider, you can’t tell them that it’s wrong without likely exacerbating the situation.

-9-GIVE MORE THAN EXPECTED

Nordstrom Company in USA is a brand who always gives more to its customers than expected when a person returns a purchase or complains about a product,

and they have lifelong customers as a result. The ethos of the company gives

every employee the freedom to do what is right for the customer rather than

providing just the bare minimum.

Oftentimes, this model completely surprises and delights the

customer in a frustrated time, opening the door to build loyalty

and trust.

-10-MAKE YOUR CUSTOMER FEEL

APPRECIATEDLast but not least, making your customer feel appreciated is a point that’s implicit

in much of this advice. When you treat and every customer as a person, and when you appreciate their

feedback, their time, and their business, you’ll make different decisions.

If you truly focus on making your customers feel appreciated, you’ll be well on your way to delivering an experience

that is exceptional and, in mobile; we know that the experience matters more

than anything. Treat your customers with respect and

appreciation at every opportunity.

TIPS TO NOTE!! from the Author

S O William

Establish a Consistent Style of SpeechNo brand is complete until a brand-appropriate style of speaking with

customers is in place at all levels of the enterprise. You should therefore work to achieve a consistent (although not stilted

or overly scripted-sounding) style of service speech.

Here, for example, are some good/bad language choices I use in my private Consultancy office.

I’ve prepared for my own businesses. It’s certainly not surgical rocketry to be good to your client or

business partner(s).

Bad: ‘‘You owe . . .’’Good: ‘‘Our records show a balance of . . .’’

Bad: ‘‘You need to . . .’’ (This makes some customers

think: ‘‘I don’t need to be your baby! - I’m your customer!’’)

Good: ‘‘We find it usually works best when . ..’’

Language is important not just to how we communicate with our customers

but to how we communicate with ourselves.

The right words can put an irritated customer at ease and help you

approach difficult situations with greater ease.

Effective customer service language can take a long time to master.

Give your communication repertoire a shot in the arm with these five quick

customer service language.

Use “We” sometimes and “I” sometimesAs explored below!!

Use the word “we”

to let the customer know you are on the same team and working towards

the same goal; use the word

“I” when you need to take accountability

for the situation or your company.

‘We’ and ‘I’ send different signals to the listener, and which signal you want to deliver

depends heavily on the message you want them to receive.

Use “I Apologize” Instead Of “I’m Sorry”There’s nothing wrong with “I’m sorry,” but “I apologize” is softer. “I apologize”

sends a better message to your own head as well.

Small business owner and Social Media Manager at CTS, Tricia Keels

began using “I apologize” in her customer interactions, and it made a large

impact. “It completely empowers me and” she says. “I become more focused on fixing the customer’s problem and less

on my mistake.”

Use “I Don’t” Instead Of “I Can’t”This language hack is used to shape

your own mindset within a conversation. “I don’t” empowers you

because it tells your brain that you have made a choice. “I can’t”

registers as something that is being forced on you.

Feeling empowered can keep you in control during a tough customer

call. Remember, you can almost always do something for a customer, even if it’s

finding someone else to resolve the issue.Focus On “Value”

“Value” is an extremely powerful word in customer-facing interactions.

Use phrases like the following:• I value your opinion• We want you to know we value you as a

customer, of course; don’t say it if you can’t prove it; even the best words are meaningless if they have no substance.

CUSTOMER SERVICE LANGUAGE

DON’T SAY DO SAY

1She’s not in. She is away from her desk. May I take a message?

2She already left. She is away from her desk. May I take a message?

3I don’t know. May I call you back in 15 minutes with the answer?

4We can’t do that. We can handle that. Here is the information I will need to help you.

5Who is this? May I have your name?

6Why do you want to talk to her? May I tell her who is calling?

7

She is not taking any calls.She is away from her desk. May I take a message or give you her voice mail?

8You did not pay your bill on time. I do not see your payment.

9You did not fill out the form right. I would be happy to help you complete the form.

10I can’t help you. Here is what I can do for you.

11It is against our policy. In order to be fair to everyone, our policy is…. The guidelines are …

12

You reached the wrong department. I will transfer you; here is the number in case you get disconnected.

You have reached XYZ. I need to connect you to ABC. For the future the phone number is…..

13That is not my job. I am not familiar with this but ____ is, let’s call him.

Words You Should Not Use Can’t Against Not Won’t Don’t Unable Always Never *Sorry But You have to….

*Do not ever say sorry to an irate customer. If you say sorry it opens you up

to a personal attack. You should say I apologize.

End of Session

Customer care workshop

Business

Transcript of Customer care workshop