Winter is upon us. Now, winter can mean different things to different people in different regions, but just the word conjures up cold. It conjures up visions of snow. It conjures up feelings of wind and lack of warmth.
Although some of us may like the cold at times of year or around certain seasons, we don’t like the cold at the start of a conversation. And oftentimes, customer service representatives can come off as being cold right at the beginning of a customer conversation without ever meaning to do so.
The customer makes their request, and this is how the employee responds:
- What’s your account number?
- What’s your name? What’s your phone number?
- To confirm your account, I need your mother’s father’s wife’s daughter’s maiden name…spelled backwards.
While all this information might be valuable, there is typically little warmth associated with the words. There’s virtually no communication of wanting to help that person or caring about that person’s needs that’s conveyed through the phrases used by the employee.
By simply responding to a request with a few key words or phrases, the conversation can start much warmer, much more pleasant, and take no more time than 1-2 seconds additional. How about starting with:
- I will be happy to help you with that request.
- We can definitely address that for you.
- I can help with that right away.
- Great! That’s something I can take care of for you.
Simply sprinkle a “happy” or a “definitely,” a few “for you” expressions or “I can help” into your initial response to the request, and the tone and warmth of the conversation will start in the right direction.
Bring warmth to the beginning of your customer conversation.
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