Things not to say to your customers!“No Problem” or “Don’t worry about it” Saying that there is no problem might make the customer think that they were bothersome. “Don’t worry about it” implies that the customer needs to worry because we will not fix the problem. Instead, when providing a solution to an issue, take ownership of the problem and let the customer know that you are happy to help. You can say, “I am happy to help” or “I’ll do my best to help you resolve this.”‘It’s not a big deal” It may not be a big deal to you but rest assured if customers brought something to your attention — a problem, concern, or question — it’s a big deal to them. Instead, say “Tell me more.”“I will be with you in a second or minute” Every customer knows this in an unrealistic time expectation, and it is very irritating. Instead use “I will be with you as soon as possible and thank you for your patience.” This sets up the expectation that you will be with them as quickly as you can and their patience is appreciated.“I’m not sure, but I think . . . “ This phrase makes your customers feel like they can’t trust you to provide excellent customer service, which is not what you want them to think! A customer should be able to get help from customer service representatives with confidence. Instead of saying you are unsure about their question, you can say: “I’m happy to answer your questions today.” This customer service response will give customers the impression that you are knowledgeable and experienced.“Calm down” If there is one sentence that has the power to exponentiate any flare of anger is this one. Telling someone to calm down is like adding oil to a hot pan, it’s explosive. The best thing you can do in stressful situations is just letting the customer speak it out. Let him say all that he has to say, all the problems and anxieties. Listen to all that he says and keep agreeing with sentences like “I understand…” or “I see…”. Sooner or later the customer will naturally start to calm down and prepare himself to listen to you. Your receptiveness will also convey that you care about what they have to say and that fact will give you extra points when trying to solve this customers’ issues, with an understanding mindset from his side.“Your wrong” A customer should never be blamed for an issue. Even if it feels like the customer is at fault, avoid language that comes off sounding rude and judgmental. It’s best to avoid this phrase and instead acknowledge a customer’s feelings without blaming them. For example, you can say: “I appreciate your feedback” or “I can hear what you are saying.” These sound more empathetic and respectful.Do not swear at the customer. Swearing is or otherwise insulting the customer a sinful no-go. Remember: you are representing your company, not yourself. Swearing shows unprofessionalism and can be extremely offensive.Silence – not responding to the customer Yes. Far worse than anything you can say is not saying anything. We're not talking about the "I am listening" type of silence, we are talking about the silence from an unanswered chat or phone call, from a never-ending waiting queue. Silence represents a lack of capacity to serve your customers, making them look for alternatives soon.“I don’t know” Excellent customer service requires strong listening skills to understand the customer’s needs and concerns. Avoid simply saying that you don’t know the answer because this might suggest you are unwilling to help. Instead, show the customer what you are going to do to help them. You can use additional phrases such as “Let me check that for you” or “I’ll be glad to look into that for you.” It’s completely fine if you don’t know the answer, just show the customer that you will make an effort to find out and help them.Use “We” instead of “I” When talking to customers change your pronoun from “I” to ‘We”. We implies that the company as a whole is there to help the customer. That “We are in this together” is the feeling you are portraying to the customer. The term “We” is more inclusive.I am inviting you to check out my resources page. It is completely FREE and has a ton information and some downloads. You can find it at resources.xpansioncode.com.I have a YouTube channel that has snippets from my podcast. Check it out! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcVYzjRI9v-BCnSeB_mw-jAI will be releasing a new episode every Thursday! If you like this podcast, then check out my newsletter called Xpansion Press. Business content delivered to your inbox. Just click here to sign up.I would love to hear from you. If you would like to give some ideas for upcoming episodes, just click here to leave your topics. Check out my new Chatbot called "John Bob", just click here to get access. If you want to know how I came up with the name just listen to episode #32 called "A...
