1. Make yourself available.
2. Listen carefully.
3. Say as little as possible.
4. Rely on prepared materials whenever possible.
5. Be truthful.
6. Request feedback.
7. Always say ...
8. Never say ...
1.Make Yourself Available
Being available doesn’t necessarily require approaching customers, making eye contact, smiling, and extending greetings, although this is the method favored by some organizations. In our view, such details are a matter of style. What is essential is that front-liners respond to customers as needed. What does that require? Being both physically and mentally present—being visible to customers and paying close attention to their words and actions.
2. Listen Carefully
Listening is the most important and least practiced communication skill. How does someone practice it? Through any and every conversation, in the following way:
• First, use both eyes and ears.
• Second, do not interrupt when someone else is speaking.
• Third, don’t let your mind wander: Concentrate.
• Fourth, ask open-ended questions such as “Can you tell me more about that?” and “Can you give me an example?”
• Fifth, when you think you understand what the other person is saying, ask specific, clarifying questions such as “Do you mean [possible meaning]?” or “Do I understand correctly that you are saying [what person may be saying]?”
3. Say as Little as Possible
The rationale behind this fundamental may be expressed as follows: The less you say,
—the less chance there is of saying something distracting, confusing, annoying, wrong, or offensive;
—the less time is consumed by your words;
—the more air space customers will have to talk (and most people prefer talking to listening);
—the more likely you will be to choose your words very carefully.
Saying as little as possible, however, does not mean saying nothing. It means that service personnel must listen carefully to customers, stop and think, choose the right words, and respond succinctly.
4. Rely on Prepared Materials Whenever Possible
The beauty of prepared materials is that they tend to reflect a substantial amount of research, judgment, planning, content selection, design, and production. Thus, they almost always provide a more thorough, precise, and attractive response than most front-liners are capable of offering. Thus it is important to do the following:
1. Make available to front-line personnel good prepared materials on services, products, processes, and issues about which customers often inquire.
2. Ensure that front-liners are sufficiently familiar with such materials to make good use of them.
This means knowing what materials are available, what they say, and where to find them.
Describes a variety of information tools that would benefit your team; also, Stage 3 of our program shows you how to involve your team in the development of information tools through a series of workshops.
5. Be Truthful
While this may seem like a no-brainer, it is more important in practice than some people might realize. Ofcourse, service personnel should not lie to customers.
But being truthful goes far beyond the obvious “don’t lie” rule. It targets the small inaccuracies that inadvertently irritate and damage trust. Such inaccuracies usually result from hopes, guesses, and exaggerations.
What is the solution?
• First, don’t express hopes out loud to customers.
• Second, don’t make guesses out loud to customers.
• Third, don’t exaggerate out loud to customers. If something is going to take 10 minutes, don’t say it will take “a couple of minutes”; instead say, “at least 10 minutes.”
What if front-liners don’t know the answer to a customer inquiry? The flat-out rule is, don’t guess. They should say, “I don’t know. Let me find out for you.” If it’s appropriate to the situation, they should add, “Let me collect your contact information so I can get the correct answer to you.”
6. Request Feedback
If your organization has a formal system for collecting customer feedback, encourage customers to use it. But the most useful feedback is not what goes into a central clearinghouse of information to be sorted through and interpreted by corporate analysts. The feedback that you need as a supervisory manager is feedback about things you can control—inventory; display; atmosphere; your team’s overall quality, ease, and speed; and anything noteworthy about individuals on your team.
What feedback do front-liners need to request from every customer after every interaction? They simply need to confirm that the customer is happy and has no unsatisfied expectation or need at the moment. That can be accomplished by asking, “Is that acceptable?”
Or “Are you happy with everything?” Or “Is there anything else you need?”
7. Always Say ...
Many organizations provide front-liners with company tailored scripts for various types of customer interactions.
Whatever scripts your organization may use, make sure that front-liners have a chance to rehearse so they are prepared to use them with confidence.
We strongly recommend also teaching some basic rules of polite interaction. For example, as appropriate, front-liners should say, “Please,” “Thank you,” and “You’re welcome.” When greeting a customer, they should ask, “How may I help you?” Following an interaction, they should ask, “Are you happy with everything?” or “Is there anything else you need?”
8. Never Say ...
Again, this is often a matter of style, and each organization is different in its preferences. Still, we feel confident in saying that front-liners should never curse; never make negative comments about a customer, coworker, or vendor; never speak in a raised voice or with a disrespectful tone; and never say, “I can’t help you.”
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