Author Archives: Caroline Cooper

How to get consistency

consistencyOne of the workshops I was delivering last week was for a group of new supervisors. I love delivering this type of training, particularly when the participants are so eager to learn.

One of the things we discussed was the importance of consistency. It’s so easy in an environment where people work different shifts to end up with dual standards. Not intentionally, but when team members may report to different managers or supervisors on different shifts or on different days it can get confusing.

And if manager A says one thing, and manager B says another it’s easy for the team member to make up their own ‘rules’. Even when the standards are laid down, different managers may have different interpretations of the standards, or have different priorities.

This lack of clarity can lead to uncertainty.

In my experience everyone like to know what’s expected of them. So here are 10 considerations to help you to help your team be clear about what you expect of them.

  1. Agree what good looks like in behavioural terms and document this, so there is always a point of reference in case of any uncertainty.
  2. Lead by example; each manager may have their own style, but their interpretations of the standards and their own behaviour should still demonstrate a consistent standard.
  3. Ensure the same standards apply to everyone. It shouldn’t matter what shift they are on or who is the team leader/supervisor/manager on that shift.
  4. You can still be flexible by focusing on the end result, rather than dictating how to do a task. This allows people to adopt their own style.
  5. Once you’ve set your expectations make it possible for your team to reach these by providing the appropriate tools, resources and training to do the job effectively.
  6. Communication across the management/supervisory team is key. If any of the  supervisory team doesn’t have the same knowledge as everyone else it’s bound to have a knock-on impact on their team.
  7. Conduct proper handovers at the change of each shift. Make this as simple, clear and easy as possible, otherwise they won’t happen. If you need 2 versions of this one for face to face and one where shifts don’t overlap, have 2 versions.
  8. Provide a quick and easy forum (such as WhatsApp or Messenger) for managers and supervisors to keep abreast of day to day ideas, questions or issues and anything that’s impacting the team.
  9. Create an environment where it is easy to share best practice, recognise good performance and nip problems in the bud. Face to face will normally be more productive.
  10. Whenever you promote someone internally into a supervisory role, ask them for their thoughts and ideas on setting expectations or gaining consistency; they will know from first-hand experience where there are any uncertainties or inconsistencies, and where improvements can be made.

Time for action

If you only do one thing – Bring all your supervisors and managers together and re-establish what good looks like.

Related posts: https://www.naturallyloyal.com/set-expectations/



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Preparing your team for customer service training

Engage in customer service trainingHow to prepare and engage your team for customer service training

I’m just putting together the finishing touches for two customer service training workshops I am delivering next week. But I can’t do this alone.

When carrying out any training – customer service training or otherwise – what happens before and after is just as important as the training itself if you are to get a return on your investment of time, money and effort, and start to see a positive impact on your customers’ experience and their long term loyalty.

Whoever is delivering the training naturally there’s plenty to do before the training.

But it’s just as important to get the participants prepared if you want to get them engaged and turning up for the training in the right frame of mind.

Here are 3 considerations for getting started on the right track, whether you are delivering the training yourself or using an external trainer.

  1. Keep in mind delegates’ schedules and personal circumstances when scheduling the training. You can’t expect someone to spend several hours in a training session on top of a 9 hour shift and still get full benefit from the training. Or remain fully focused on the training if it means being late for the school run or missing the kids’ bedtime.Give plenty of warning and aim to schedule training so it doesn’t interfere with their normal routine outside work, or potentially getting behind in their work resulting in the stress caused by playing catch-up.
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  2. Tell people what the training is about and why they are attending. Some people see training as a punishment or a criticism of how they do things now.Relate the training to a personal benefit; will it make their job easier, quicker, safer or more interesting? Will it put them in a better position to progress to a new role they aspire to? Will it give them more confidence and independence in their role?You shouldn’t ignore the business benefits, but help them identify what’s in it for them too, so at least they turn up to the training with a bit of enthusiasm.
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  3. Recognise not every customer service problem equates to a training need.  If there are shortfalls are these down to lack of time, resources, motivation, or authority?  If so recognise these and have a plan to fix these otherwise they become an ‘excuse’ for people not to adopt change.Be careful not to use training as a way to improve one person’s shortfall when everyone else is already doing an excellent job. In my experience the good people see through it instantly (and begrudge having to waste time or worse see it as an insult, whilst the person it is aimed at is often blissfully unaware!

So if you only do one thing before your next training – tell people what’s in it for them.

 

Need help with the training itself?

Get all the materials you need to deliver your customer service training in house.

 

 



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How to Re-energise, Enthuse and Engage Your Team

Engage your teamEngage your team after a busy Easter

I hope you had a good Easter, and if you were open you were able to provide all your customers with a good time and helped make some happy memories.

It’s probably back to business as usual today, but don’t forget to do a debrief. What went well, what didn’t go so well and what can we learn from it?

As a result, you may be planning on more training before your next peak time. If so I have just the thing for you, so you get maximum benefit.

Here are five ideas to re-energise, enthuse and engage your team for the next few weeks ahead

1. Say thank you

If your team were working hard right over Easter (and maybe missed out on family and friends events) don’t forget to tell them how much you appreciate their efforts.

Update your team on your achievements for the Easter period. What milestones has the business achieved, what were the highlights, and what’s been their contribution? Give praise where it’s due to create a buzz for the rest of the season ahead!

2. Near misses

In any business there are times when things don’t go according to plan or mishaps happen. Review what’s not gone to plan over the past few weeks. Rather than dwelling on the negatives, reflect on what you and the team have learnt from these events, and ask how equipped they are to deal with these situations if they happen again.

3. Fresh perspectives

There will always be little tweaks you can make to improve your service.

It’s amazing what your team pick up and the opportunities they see to improve the whole customer experience

Take a few moments this week to ask their views on any opportunities they can see to improve your service, to add value or make recommendations to customers.

4. What’s next

Update your team on what’s happening in your business and your plans for the next few months ahead, so they’ve a sense of purpose and focus.

It’s easy to feel you’re not achieving much in the first week after a particularly busy period. Whilst it’s good to catch your breath, don’t leave it too long before setting new goals. Allocating specific short term projects or goals gives everyone some fresh focus to get stuck in and see some results within the first few days.

5. New challenges

Not everyone wants to progress, but that doesn’t mean you let them stagnate. A bored employee is unlikely to wow your customers!

Schedule 1:1 reviews as early as possible to discuss individual contributions and where they fit in with your plans for the season ahead.

Discuss how you can add variety, set new challenges or stretch them.

Utilise strengths, providing further development where needed to bring out the best in these areas.

Take Action

And if you only do one thing give recognition to the team of a job well done.

 

related post: Play from a 10


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How to change your team members’ moods

I’m sure from time to time even your most outgoing team members have their off days – those times when they are down, flustered, bored, angry or frustrated.

And of course, this impacts their colleagues.

And your customers.

Most people believe they can’t change their moods, but here are 4 things (including an exercise you can do with your team as part of your customer service training) you can do with your team to influence their moods, so they are more productive and engaged with their job and engaged with servicing your customers well.

Action point

If you only do one thing as a result of watching this, help your team members identify when they are in an unresourceful state and how to change this.



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The First Rule of Upselling

London’s taxi service is the best in the world. If you get into a London cab you can be pretty certain the cabbie will know exactly how to reach the address you give him or her. That’s because they have to pass “The Knowledge” before they can drive a London Taxi, something that can take 3-4 years to master.

Although we wouldn’t necessarily expect quite such a detailed knowledge, every customer expects team members to have at least a basic knowledge of their products and services.

Here’s a scenario I’m sure you can relate to…

The other day I was standing in the lunch buffet queue. This was an impressive hotel in the Midlands, where the setting (and prices) suggested we were going to get an excellent experience.

Sadly this was not the case!

Don’t get me wrong – the ambience, interiors and views were fabulous, staff helpful. But there were so many simple things they just had not got right.

Of those, the one that frustrated me most was the lack of product knowledge. At lunch I asked the person at the buffet table (who I assumed was a manager by his suit) had no clue of the ingredients of any of the dishes! And the same thing happened at dinner when I asked the waitress to describe one of the dishes to me.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re selling rooms in a five star hotel, serving sandwiches in a café or the latest exercise class at the gym, customers want and expect your team to be able to give accurate information on your products and service so they can make an informed choice.

But this is even more important if you want your team to sell, upsell, or cross sell.

The first rule of Upselling

If you expect your team to cross sell or upsell or recommend additional products or services, as a minimum they must understand all the offers, products and services you provide. This goes beyond just a laundry list; it needs to include understanding of the features and of course the benefits from a customer’s perspective.

What’s included in a package, what are the different options, what are your recommendations or suggested combinations? A good understanding of your customers’ profile, needs and expectations will help this process.

Sometimes when I’m working with a business I’m alarmed by the lack of exposure staff have to other departments, and they then wonder why they don’t make any attempts to cross sell.

As examples: In a hotel – have any of your reservations team ever set foot in the spa, or seen first-hand the difference between a standard and an executive room? At a leisure centre – how many of the classes have your receptionists experienced first hand? In a travel business – have any of the consultants ever flown with the airline in question or seen the resort they are recommending (even if only a virtual view)?

Your team can never hope to convey to customers all the benefits of these products or services if they’d never had any first-hand experience, let alone describe them with any enthusiasm or feeling (or have empathy with customers when they’re trying to resolve problems).

You won’t necessarily be able to cover every conceivable angle. Such as, in a restaurant you might not expect every team member to have sampled every wine on the wine list! But they still need to understand the points of distinction and what complements which dishes.

Involve other team members who you know have an interest and passion for the service and/or products in question, who will be more than happy to share their knowledge with others and let their enthusiasm rub off. Your spa manager or therapists will do a better job of describing your treatments than a manager who isn’t involved in the spa every day.

However, help your team put things into context. For example, although your head chef knows everything about your dish of the day, all the ingredients and how it’s cooked, your customer may not be interested in the finite detail or be blinded by culinary terms. What they want to know is if it will satisfy their need – be that something hot and filling, light and refreshing, indulgent and rich.

It’s finding a way to describe your products and services so they sell themselves.

Take Action

If you only do one thing as a result of reading this – test your team members on their product knowledge of the top 10 products or services each might sell, upsell or cross sell. Don’t assume they know; put it to the test!

Need more help with upselling?

Adding Value and Boosting Sales is one of the modules in the Developing Service Superstars Programme. If you need to get your team up to speed with making recommendations and boosting your sales speak to me about a tailored programme or get the full Developing Service Superstars Programme right here


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I don’t have the authority

give authority

We’ve all heard it haven’t we “I’m sorry, I don’t have the authority to do that; I’ll need to get my manager.”  It’s certainly frustrating for a customer, but also demotivating for a team member knowing that they can’t resolve the problem even if they wanted to. And of course, this wastes your time too, when you’re called over to deal with the situation.

Here are 5 things to save you time, make team members feel empowered and trusted, and keep your customers happy…

1. Anticipate

Of course, prevention is better than cure, so involve your team in looking for solutions to common issues. Often what’s not obvious to us can be obvious to them.

But in any business there are times when things don’t go according to plan or mishaps happen. Equip your team to deal with the unexpected.

2. Train

The more you can anticipate issues the more you can prepare your team to handle such situations, the more confident they’ll be, and the more likely they’ll deal smoothly with anything that crops up.

Even if you can’t avoid the issue, your goal is to minimise the negative impact on the customer experience, so teach them how to do this!

For example: how to minimise the impact of queues, what to do when a customer makes a scene, how to apologise without losing face when they make a mistake on a customer’s order or when something the customer really wants is no longer available.

It’s easy for the team members to get flustered when it goes wrong, so make this part of your training.

3. Agree levels of authority

Establish up front what levels of authority your team members have in any given situation. Define these levels of authority when training, and give examples of when they need to refer to a manager or get sign off, and when it’s OK for them to make the decision.

4. Feedback and learn

Create a culture where it’s accepted that they won’t know all the answers or always know what to do, so it’s still OK to escalate if need be. But use this as an opportunity to learn for next time.

5. Recognise

Give your team a sense of ownership and pride by encouraging them to come forward with their own ideas of how the customer experience can be improved and make every effort to take their ideas on board. And when they’ve come up with their own solution to a customer’s problem give recognition where it’s due, then they’re far more likely to do so again!

If you only do one thing

Look back over the past couple of weeks, and review the most common situations when you or another manager has been called to assist with a customer issue. Then agree with your team what’s within their power to resolve these in future.

Then trust them to deliver!


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A-Z of service culture

a-z service cultureHere is a summary of my mini video series on the A-Z of Creating a Service Culture.
Find the full series here: https://www.youtube.com/user/carojcooper/

 

A for attitude

To help you create and maintain your service culture only recruit people with the right attitude who fit in with your service culture and you are confident can deliver excellent customer service skills. You can train people in technical skills, but you won’t be able to change their attitude so include this in your selection criteria.

https://youtu.be/jzCb3zzvGM4

 

B for Behaviours

Your service culture will be influenced by your actions and behaviours – towards customers and towards your team. Behaviour breeds behaviours so be a role model in tune with your service culture or the service culture you want to create. You must demonstrate first class customer service skills for your internal customers as well as your external customers if you want your team to demonstrate first class customer service skills too.

https://youtu.be/ojtPFKkMZcA

 

C for Consistency

To achieve a positive service culture, you must have consistency. Consistency of your expectations, your standards, systems. Everyone must be able to meet your standards, not just your exceptional team members. Systems should mean it’s easy for people to deliver your standards on a day to day basis making it easy for your team to contribute to your service culture.

https://youtu.be/-YYxjvgLvRk

 

D for Development

Invest in your team’s development so they feel part of your service culture. This isn’t just developing hem for a promotion, but about tapping into their strengths and stretching them to keep them engaged so they are more likely to deliver a wow customer experience and fit in with your service culture.

https://youtu.be/tzg3ndLD7SE

 

E for Emotion

More than 50% of a customer’s perception of your service will be down to the emotions you create i.e. how you leave them feeling. When building your service culture it’s important to identify the emotions you’d like to create for your customers at each touch point on the customer journey for the ideal customer experience. Recognise that you may want different emotions for different customers. Once you know the emotions you want to create it’s a lot easier to identify what needs to be happening at each touch point on the customer journey t achieve these.

https://youtu.be/jLtNTubxUj0

 

F for Feedback

When building a service culture it is important to gain feedback from your customers as well as giving supportive feedback to your team members. Customer feedback will tell you what is important to them and how well you are meeting customer expectations – all important when shaping your service culture. Even if you don’t agree with their feedback ask what has led to their perception. When giving feedback to team members let them know what is good and where they can improve. Use the AID model to give supportive feedback.

https://youtu.be/1T1_mjPrHO4

 

G for Glue

One way to help your business stand out from the competition is by adding some GLUE. GLUE stands for Giving Little Unexpected Extras. To help build this into your service culture, start by adding some GLUE for your team members. When they experience this first hand, they’ll be far more likely confident to add GLUE for your customers. But to make it part of your service culture you must empower them to do this. Give them examples and a free hand to do this.

https://youtu.be/aWQtQx8tMtU

 

H for Happy

As Simon Sinek says “Happy employees ensure happy customers. And happy customers ensure happy shareholders—in that order”.

Your employees create your culture. So if you want a positive service culture it starts with positive employees. Not only do happy employees result in happier customers they are also more productive, less likely to leave and more likely to be ambassadors for your business. Here are 4 ideas to create a happy and engaged team

https://youtu.be/7L5CgSZ1Xdo

 

I for Interested

“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Theodore Roosevelt

Showing you care is an important factor in creating a service culture. This doesn’t just apply to customers, but also to your team members. The easiest way to work out what’s important to your team members and show an interest is to ask them. Ask what they enjoy, what’s important t them about their job. But, it’s not just about work, what are their interests outside work. What do they value? Understanding these factors and taking account of them all helps create a happy team as discussed in the last video.

Take an interest in your customers too. Find out their priorities and what they value, so we can easily identify how to add extra value with things they will appreciate.

https://youtu.be/27WKwuFkK3E

 

J for Journey

Map the whole of your customer journey from the very first touch point to the very last. Bear in mind the last touch point on the customer journey may be some time after they have bought from you. Consider how well you maintain the relationship with your customer after they have bought.

Once you have mapped you customer journey, define the emotions you want your customers to experience at each touch point. This becomes a useful training tool for your team.

https://youtu.be/B6Q26e5XYtI

 

K for Knowledge

Lack of product knowledge leads to frustration for both customers and team members who have to spend time seeking information.

Giving your team thorough product knowledge is key if you want them to be able to describe and promote your products or services, or do any ‘upselling’.

https://youtu.be/oG1nmYDqTsg

 

L for Listen

Your service culture will be impacted by how well you listen.

Listening to customers is of course important and will have an impact on their perception of your service; show that you are listening by responding accordingly – how many times as a customer do you feel your comments have fallen on deaf ears?!

It’s not just your customers though, but also your team. Failing to listen to them can be demotivating; which inevitably has a knock on impact on the service they give your customers.

https://youtu.be/Io4IA7vmxXQ

 

M for Measure and metrics

If all your metrics focus on profit, productivity and sales that may be counter to your good intentions of creating a service culture. Put metrics in place that will help you measure your service. Whether these are based on repeat business, customer satisfaction, Net Promoter Score, recommendations, customer reviews, or any other metrics it’s important they are aligned to your service values and are compatible with metrics in other areas such as sales.

In the video I cover considerations to ensure your metrics do actually enhance service, not hinder it.

https://youtu.be/2xnL3XnQxJk

 

N for No no’s

Saying no to a customer can come across as if you don’t want to help. That doesn’t mean to say that you never say no, but there are ways of saying no in a positive way, and your team need to know how to do this.

In the video I cover 3 stages.

Always tell people what you can’t do first, before telling them what you can do instead.

https://youtu.be/STy04iD6if0

 

O for Ownership

Failing to take ownership is frustrating both for customers and colleagues. This might be anything from taking responsibility for complaints, even when it’s not your department, passing on messages to colleagues, or even just picking up litter in the car park.

No customer ever wants to hear “I can’t help you, you need to speak to xxx” or “They’re not hear today; can you call back tomorrow?”

Or the manager, you don’t want to hear people complaining “that’s not my job!” or “That’s not my fault!“

It’s not just your customer facing teams who need to take ownership; your customers won’t differentiate between someone who has a direct responsibility to customers and those who are support staff or even third party providers. Either way, these people represent your business in the customers eyes, so it’s important everyone takes ownership.

In the video I cover 3 things you can do to get people to take ownership.

https://youtu.be/546C4nilsxc

 

P for Perceptions

Recognise that your customers will often see things from a different perspective, therefore will have a different perception. This doesn’t mean they are wrong! They simply see things differently.

It’s therefore important to review the whole of your customer journey from a customer’s perspective, which often highlights things that can be improved or refined in some way, and gain more understanding for the customer.

It’s even more important when you’re dealing with problems or complaints. This is especially true when you don’t necessarily agree with them. Whether we agree with them or not , the first thing is to identify what has led to their perception.

https://youtu.be/aNMUBUc_7SA

 

Q for Quality questions

The ability to ask quality questions is a vital skill for anyone dealing with customers as well a key leadership skill, so plays a key role in creating a positive service culture.

Your team need to develop the skill of quality questions to understand your customers’ needs and expectations, so include this in your customer service training. This is particularly important when dealing with problems or complaints to really understand the issue so that they are solving the right problem! It’s important customers recognise that they’ve been understood, and the better the questions the easier this will be.

Good quality questions also help managers to get the best from their teams, to understand individuals within the team, and demonstrating you care about them. They are also a good way to involve your team to get buy in, to find out their ideas, and to aid their development by getting them to think things through for themselves, all of which helps with employee engagement and staff retention.

https://youtu.be/h3mUyFC9ssI

 

R for Recognition

Of course it’s important to recognise your valued customers and reward their loyalty. But building a positive service culture starts with your team and ensuring they feel valued and recognised. The more your team members feel proud of the job they do, the more this rubs off and gets picked up by customers so has a knock on effect on your customer service.

In the video I cover 7 ways to recognise your team which in turn will make them feel valued and aid employee engagement and staff retention.

“If you treat your employees like they make a difference, they will” Jim Goodnight, CEO, SAS

https://youtu.be/AqtiFtTEIdg

 

S for Smile

A simple smile is so easy, but can have a dramatic impact on your customer’s experience and how they feel. A smile is infectious, if you smile at someone 90% of the time they will smile back and it’s difficult to feel grumpy when you smile.

Create an environment where everyone feels they have something to smile about. A warm smile and a cheery good morning to your team is a good start and helps to engage your team. They are far more likely to follow suit with customers…

https://youtu.be/tIrB-HILE14

 

T for Trust

Do you do anything in your business which sends an unconscious signal to your customers that you don’t trust them?

What about with your team? If they feel that you don’t trust them, they might feel under valued, and can be a source of employee disengagement. Empower your team to do the job they are employed to do, and to do what’s best for your customer under the circumstances. Give them flexibility to find their own way of doing things, as long as the end result is achieved. Create an environment where it’s okay for people to make a mistake, as long as they learn from it; people will be far more likely to own up to errors if they are confident they won’t be reprimanded or punished.

Earn the trust of your team. Demonstrate personal integrity.

Be open with your team and how your own vulnerabilities, and admit your own shortcomings; the more open you are with them the more open they will be with you.

https://youtu.be/E8EAgGvZYhM

 

U for Unselfish

In building a positive service culture you people on your team who are prepared to go out of their way to help others, will go the extra mile for customer, even if that means staying late, or will help a colleague, even if it means getting behind with their own work.

Take account of this need for unselfish people when you are recruiting. Look for evidence and examples of them going out of their way to help others in their previous role. Do they get involved in any charity work, volunteer for organisations, or do any type of unpaid work such as coaching a kid’s football team. How do they feel about giving up their time, passing on their skills, or sharing their know-how for the benefit of others?

https://youtu.be/G700xYePhHo

 

V for Values

Your customer service values are your way of saying “this is what’s important to us about the way we treat our customers”. They represent a way to share beliefs that relate to your purpose.

It really doesn’t matter if you refer to them as values, vision, mission, ethos or philosophy, just so long as you have something which acts as a guide for everyone within your business to relate to. You don’t need to a engineer, your values. In the video I outline 3 factors to consider to ensure your customer service values mean something to you, your team and your customers.

If you’re looking to create a positive service culture, start with defining what good looks like, I defining your customer service values. And if you already have, customer service values check how well they are understood and met on a day by day basis.

https://youtu.be/ZsvyCLaEfUg

 

W for Watch your words

Your choice of words can influence people’s perceptions of you and your business, so they are bound to influence your culture.

For more on words and how they can shape your culture go to:

https://www.naturallyloyal.com/words-impact-customer-experience/

Be mindful of your vocabulary, terminology and the words you use, and the emotions they create.

In most cases over 50% of people’s buying decisions are based on emotions rather than logic, so if were not creating the right emotions, this can impact not only our customers perception of value, but also hit your bottom line (just as it did with Gerald Ratner a few years ago!)

https://youtu.be/Fo3fkMwX5jA

 

X for Exceed expectations

In creating a positive service culture is not enough to aim for merely meeting customers’ expectations, we need to exceed customer’s expectations.

To meet and exceed customer’s expectations we need to:

  1. 1.understand their expectations, and recognise these don’t stand still; customers’ expectations are always changing and increasing
  2. Be continually making incremental improvements
  3. 3.involve your team in looking for opportunities to improve the customer experience: opportunities to add unexpected extras, pre-empt customers’ needs, solve their problems, save time and effort, adding a personal touch
  4. 4.empower your team to do whatever is best in any given situation to meet and exceed the customer’s expectations

https://youtu.be/pHXwUEpvT2o

 

Y for Yes

A positive service culture includes having people with a positive mindset and who will always be trying to find a solution for the customer, so aiming for a yes, rather than a no.

However, Yes, but can sound confrontational and doesn’t get you any further forward, whereas yes, and keeps the conversation positive, and shows you are listening.

Making the switch from ”Yes, but…” to “yes, and… “can take a bit of practice, so at the end of this blog post is an exercise you can do with your team: https://www.naturallyloyal.com/yes-but/

https://youtu.be/ZjjnReyB8Lc

 Z for Zeal

The dictionary definition of the is a great enthusiasm, eagerness or desire for a cause or movement. In this instance the cause or movement is for your customers have brilliant service and a fantastic experience. It’s not enough for you to have the enthusiasm, eagerness or desire, it’s also important to create that in your team, so everyone is striving for your customers to have a fantastic experience. When you are enthusiastic (and have zeal) this will rub off on to your team.

https://youtu.be/aHPk21eVXxI

 


 


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Ways with Words and how they impact customer experience and service culture

words impact service culture

Do you remember the saying “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”?

Won’t they?

Ask any experienced marketing copywriter and they’ll be able to tell you just how powerful words can be in creating both positive and negative emotions, and prompting people to take notice, put up barriers or take action.

In today’s video in my mini video series on the A-Z of creating a service culture (we are up to the letter W now) I talk about the importance of your choice of words, and how some can create a positive or negative emotion; not from a marketing perspective, but how they might impact how your customers and/or the team members feel and how this gets reflected in your customers’ experience and service culture.

 

Building Rapport

People generally like (and feel more comfortable with) people like themselves. Using similar words, terminology and expressions helps build rapport with customers and team members alike. So, listen out for the terminology others use and try to use their terms rather than yours.

(This extends to showing common interests, common goals and common values.  So, assuming you share these let them know, as these can help to bond you together.  A relationship with a customer or team member will be a lot easier if you share something you have in common.)

 

Adding Value

Do you remember how Gerald Ratner described the jewellery he sold in his (up till then successful) jewellery stores?

The words you use to describe your products and services will have a big impact on how people perceive them, and the value they place on them.

Describing something as ‘just…’ or ‘only…’ can work to play down the price, but when you’re describing a product or service you have the impact of diminishing its value. Instead, use powerful words which will create emotional appeal (bearing in mind that most buying decisions are based more on emotions than logic). Such as: gorgeous, luxurious, delicious, creamy, warming.

Teach your team to use such descriptions for your products and services. That doesn’t mean to say they need a script, but get them to identify what – for them – best describes that product or service, a description they are comfortable with when explaining to a customer.

 

Dealing with disagreements

Whether it’s handling complaints, dealing with poor performance, or simply having to say no to a customer or a team member, your choice of words can have a big impact. Some are like red rags to a bull. Here are a few examples we so often hear…

Yes, but… As soon as anyone hears the word ‘but’ they know they are about to be contradicted. See: https://www.naturallyloyal.com/yes-but/

It’s our policy – no one cares about your policies, they just want to get what they want (or the next best thing).

You can’t, you have to, you must – people don’t like being told what to do; offer suggestions, recommendations, if you do X you’ll get Y (Y being a solution or something of benefit to them).

That’s not my job, that’s not our department, that’s not my responsibility.  Focus on what you can do rather than what you can’t do – even if this is simply helping to put them through to the appropriate person or department.

 

Blinded by science

It’s easy to fall into the trap of using industry jargon, but if your customer or team member is not familiar with this jargon, it can make them feel embarrassed, uncomfortable or patronised.

Don’t dumb down if you don’t need to, but just beware of using terms others either simply don’t understand or could be misinterpreted.

 

Common courtesies

Ensure your greetings are sincere; there’s a huge difference between a scripted, bland and robotic “how are you today, sir? ” without even bothering to look up or listen to the answer, and being greeted with a sunny smile and a cheerful “Good morning, Mr Smith! We haven’t seen you for a while; welcome back!”

Using someone’s name when you greet them makes them feel more valued. However, never shorten their name unless they ask you to. So, Mr Smith doesn’t become Fred, Andrew doesn’t become Andy or Deborah doesn’t become Debbie unless that’s what they request.

Never under estimate the value of a heartfelt “thank you” be that to a customer, team member, supplier or colleague.

 

If you only do one thing

Over the next 24 hours take stock of the words and language you use and listen the words your team use.

Ask: do these create a positive emotion or leave people with a negative impression, and how well does the outcome reflect the service culture you want to create.


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Fluff Busting

Do you ever find yourself having conversations with a customer or team members and then they say to you at a later date, ” No, that’s not really what I meant!”and you realise that you have completely misunderstood them?

Or they misunderstand you; you’ve made a comment that’s been mis-interpreted?

How does this happen?

Because we all filter or delete information it can mean the information we share or receive, or questions we ask can be very general or vague, making it difficult for others to fully understand the question, issue or action required.

We are all inclined to generalise, exaggerate or distort situations by the language we use, and this can easily take us off track when we are communicating with others.

In order to overcome this, we often need to drill down to get specifics; to recognise the ‘fluff’ in our communications and learn the art of clarification or ‘ fluff busting’.

Fluff busting can help in three ways:

  1. To help us to say what we mean as precisely as possible
  2. To help us to understand as clearly as possible what other people mean
  3. To help other people to understand exactly what they really do mean

This is particularly important at times when wires can get crossed – such as dealing with customer complaints.

Here are the four main areas of ‘fluff’ and ambiguity, and how to overcome them.

Generalisations, exaggerations and distortions

These include words like always, never, everyone, nobody. For example: “This happens every time!” Or, ’’Everyone is always so unhelpful’.

You want to challenge with respect and probe/explore their sweeping statements.

The ideal response to this type of statement on paper might be ‘Really? Everyone? Always?’ but when handling complaints it can seem sarcastic or patronising if we’re not careful, so better to ask for some examples and gather the facts.

Abstract nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs

These are the words which are often used to describe the type of service or response the customer is looking for, for example quick, quality, good fun, luxury, value for money. The problem with these types of words is that they mean different things to different people. What might be luxury to you may be very different for the customer; one person’s idea of value for money may be very different from somebody else’s.

So, check for clarity – what do you mean by that?

Respond to these types of words by asking for examples of what constitutes good fun, value for money, etc, or ask what criteria they would use to define these things.

Another example might include throwaway comments such as ‘Your receptionist was really unhelpful.’  So again, check what they mean by this or ask, ‘How specifically was he/she unhelpful?’

Or a comment from a team member such as saying, ‘I don’t feel confident to do that’. So again, check what they mean by this or ask ‘what areas are you unsure of?

Comparisons

These are the words that we would use to compare one thing and another for example quicker, faster, cheaper, better, best, bigger, smaller.

In order to be useful, we need to know what things are being compared to and any measurement involved.

To put this into context an example might be ‘I’d hoped for something cheaper than that’ your response might be ‘What is your budget?’ Or your customer asks “Do you have anything bigger?” You need to identify how much bigger? Are they looking for something 10% bigger, twice the size or 10 times the size?!

Rules & Blocks

Rules are often self-imposed and may be determined by past experience, or our own sense of values.  These include statements like “I couldn’t possibly agree to that.’ Or “I must get this sorted today.”  What you want to do is to identify where the pressure or barrier is coming from, so use questions such as ‘What is preventing you?’ or ‘What would happen if you did/didn’t?’ these replies open up possibilities in the other person’s mind and can create a new awareness.

For example, you ask a team member to carry out a task and they reply ‘I can’t do that”. This could be for any number of reasons: Is this because they don’t know how to? In which case is it because they haven’t been shown, or they simply believe they won’t do it well due to their lack of confidence. They may believe they can’t do it due to lack of authority or access to the tools or resources to do it. Or they may simply say they can’t as they don’t have time. Each situation needs a different approach in the way you handle it.

A word of caution

This degree of precision would not be appropriate in every situation, so only use it when it is important to really understand other’s meaning. Remember the importance of maintaining rapport when you are using this technique; it is not to make people feel they are under interrogation.

This is one reason why you should try to avoid using the question ‘ why?‘ When people hear that question they often react on the defensive and looking for excuses or justifications. Each of the above examples work better by using what we call ‘ softeners’ where you start the question with expressions such as ‘ I’m wondering what…….’

So remember to cut through the fluff when you are:

  1. Asking for help or giving instructions
  2. Identifying customer needs and expectations
  3. Handling objections or responding to customer complaints
  4. Faced with objections or barriers from team members

to ensure you are really clear on what you mean and you fully understand what other people mean.


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