Positive Communication With Customers

With the busy economy, people’s demanding schedules and the higher cost of travel, suppliers often have fewer opportunities to meet with their customers face to face. Here are some tips that can help make your customer phone conversations more positive.

• Smile when you answer your customer’s phone calls. A smile can be heard in your voice and this tends to relax callers and that leads to more positive phone conversations. So be friendly and polite.
• Use clear and plain language in your conversation - don’t use jargon. A qualified professional can explain things so that everyone understands.
• Return phone messages as quickly as possible, if not on the same day then within 24 hours. Nothing speaks louder about your priority for your customers than a promptly returned phone call.
• Be optimistic when talking to your customers. People tend to like optimists more than pessimists and a positive customer response is more likely if you are optimistic.
• If your customer is calling about concerns, listen to them and hear them out. Validate your understanding so that your customer understands that you have actually heard their concern. Problems that have been heard and understood are easier to resolve and your customers will be more amenable to a solution.
• If your customer needs to vent, let them vent, hear them out but don’t argue – and keep your cool. Once some steam has been vented, solutions are more easily found then if venting wasn’t allowed.
• Resolve customer’s complaints quickly. Research shows that Customer Loyalty is higher for customers who have had problems promptly resolved than for customers who have had no problems at all.
• Manage your customer’s expectations. If resolution is going to take longer than you first expected, then inform your customer so they can plan accordingly. Your customer may initially be unhappy but informing them helps you to build and maintain their trust.
• Be honest – if you don’t know the answer to a question then admit it and commit to returning an answer within an agreeable time frame.
• Make occasional courtesy calls just to chat and get to know them better. Building good rapport and stronger relationships with your customer can carry you through a valley of troubles.

Gerry Doerksen is the Managing Principal of Client Insight Inc, a research company that works with clients to measure & improve their level of service delivery. www.clientinsight.ca