Four Key Strategies to a Stronger and More Positive Customer Experience
Rosario was waiting for a call from the telecom CSR and felt she had been waiting for over an hour, when in reality it was only about 15 minutes. Needless to say, she was getting anxious. When the phone finally rang, she was in a frenzy. Kerry, the CSR, introduced himself and began talking about what needed to be done by spewing out all kinds of technical jargon. Unbeknownst to Kerry, Rosario was so upset she began to have a panic attack.
"The single most important thing to remember is that your customer does not know your job. They may not understand the technical terms and jargon. They simply want their issue resolved."
With several CSRs out that week, Kerry had been under a lot of pressure and was frustrated by the last customer. That energy unintentionally carried over to the call with Rosario. Kerry did not mean to upset Rosario. He likely did not even realize what was happening, and the situation was made worse when Kerry immediately began speaking in technical jargon, which meant nothing to Rosario.
Unfortunately, this scenario plays out every day across the country. Here are four key strategies that Kerry could have implemented before his call with Rosario.
1. Breathe Deeply
First, before reaching out to a customer, either over the phone or in person, it is important to take just a minute to breathe and slow down your pace. We have all been in that place—wanting to be so efficient that we end up being less effective.
You may feel like there is no time for a few deep breaths. However, studies show that when we take a few very deep breaths, we can significantly slow our heart rate and reduce our own blood pressure, thus allowing us to better serve our customers.
2. Build Rapport
Building rapport is a common practice for sales professionals. Establishing a rapport with your customer helps them feel more relaxed and valued. Again, this effort takes only a moment and will go miles with the customer, especially when they are feeling stressed over whatever problem you are there to help them with. Ask simple questions and engage the customer in conversation before you address the reason for their call. Remember, we have two eyes, two ears and only one mouth so we can do twice as much listening and watching as we do speaking.
3. Find the Least Common Denominator
In school we learned that to add fractions we must determine what the least common denominator for the fractions is. Customer service is somewhat similar. As you are building rapport, listen to the customer, find what they actually know and build from there. This way, you are not making them feel bad for not knowing something and insulting their intelligence by restating what they already know.
4. Model Their Behavior
This may seem a bit daunting. In reality, it is quite simple. There are two very simple barometers to follow. (See Figure 1.)
For the vertical bar, observe how quickly or slowly the person speaks, walks, and makes decisions. The faster they do these things, the higher on the scale they will be. Think of someone you work with now and place a dot where you feel this person falls on the vertical scale.
On the horizontal bar, observe if the person is more task-based (on the left) or more socially based (on the right) in their behavior. As with the vertical bar, think of the same person and place a dot where they fall on this line.
It is important to remember that there is no right or wrong here. Everyone is different, and even more so in varying situations.
Next, you will actually merge the two barometers and place a single dot where the vertical and horizontal axis intersect. (See Figure 2.) For example, if they are faster paced, and task-based your dot will intersect in the upper left quadrant.
If the dots intersect in:
a. Top Left: You want to be direct and get right to the point in your conversation. The subject is focused on the bottom line and does not want a lot of details and very little social or small talk.
b. Top Right: People in this quadrant like some small talk and will likely talk your ear off themselves. With these folks, be more jovial, engage in casual conversation, let them warm up, and they will warm up quickly.
c. Lower Right: Slow down your pace. Engage in some casual conversation, allow them time to think and process everything you have just told them. They will take longer to make decisions because they want to process everything through on multiple levels.
d. Lower Left: Provide them with lots of facts and details. Very little if any small talk.
If the dot falls close to the middle line (either up and down or left and right) you will likely want to use a blended effort based on your interaction with the person.
Regardless of where your customer falls on the scale, you want to model that same behavior—the key word is “model,” not “mimic”. If you are naturally faster paced and the customer is slower, then slow down. If they are super social, and very task oriented, then it is important to open up and start a dialog on a middle ground and not “geek speak” at your customer.
“You may feel like there is no time for a few deep breaths. However, studies show that when we take a few very deep breaths, we can significantly slow our heart rate and reduce our own blood pressure, thus allowing us to better serve our customers.”
The single most important thing to remember is that your customer does not know your job. They may not understand the technical terms and jargon. They simply want their issue resolved.
Even when they ask the same questions as the last customer, remember that they are a new customer, with a different issue. Treat every call as a new opportunity with a new challenge and opportunity to win a customer for life.
Let’s go back to Kerry because he was dealing with a lot of stress and pressure. If Kerry had taken a few moments to take a few deep breaths, it may have been easier for him to build a rapport with Rosario.
As he took the time to build a rapport, he would be better able to determine what the least common denominator was for the two of them.
He would have been able to observe Rosario’s behaviors and recognize that she was likely in the lower right-hand quadrant. Meaning, that he should slow down his conversation, take more time to explain his thoughts, and provide her with an outstanding experience.
When we misread our customers, or speak in a language they are not familiar with, the customer becomes frustrated, the CSR becomes frustrated and, well... you get the picture.
It is always worth the few extra moments it takes to follow these simple strategies so that you can deliver an excellent customer experience.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gregg Gregory, CSP, is the Founder/Owner of TeamsRock.com. Over the last 25 years, Gregg has lent his unparalleled expertise to over 400 companies, associations, non-profits, and government agencies. His international podcast, “The Teamwork Advantage,” focuses on teamwork, leadership, and organizational culture.
For more information, please email him at [email protected] or visit www.TeamsRock.com. You can also follow them on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TeamsRock, LinkedIn: www.LinkedIn.com/in/TeamsRock, and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TeamsRock.
To learn more, you can listen to his podcast “The Teamwork Advantage wherever you listen to your favorite podcast or click here https://theteamworkadvantage.transistor.fm/episodes
