If you work in customer service or work personally with clients or other vendors for your business, building strong and respectful relationships is vital to continuing a positive brand reputation. But sometimes, whether intentionally or unintentionally, things might get said to a customer or client that could be hurtful or harm the business relationship. And because this can have a negative impact on your business, it’s best to avoid these kinds of things whenever possible.
To help you know just what you should be avoiding, here are three things to avoid saying when speaking to customers or clients.
Leading With A Negative
When speaking with your customers or clients, you may not always have good news for them. And while you want to be honest about what you can and can’t do for them, when responding to questions or concerns, it’s best to avoid leading with a negative.
When you speak with a customer or client, try to avoid starting off a sentence with the word “no”. Instead, seek to find alternative ways to go about getting your point across in a less negative way.
If you’re nervous about doing this on the fly, you can always craft scripts so that you can know exactly what to say to tough questions or requests rather than just responding with “no”.
Stating What Is Or Isn’t Company Policy
While there likely is company policy that you’re advised to follow when dealing with customers and clients, this is never something that you should use as a reasoning for why you can or can’t do something for them.
When you tell someone that something is or isn’t company policy, you make it seem like it’s not possible for there to be any wiggle-room here, which usually isn’t true. And while you might not be able to break with company policy in this case, there likely is something that can be done to better the situation in another way.
Telling Someone How To Feel
When working in customer service, it’s very common to have to deal with people who aren’t happy for one reason or another. And while you might not feel like their emotions are your fault, sharing this or telling them that they should calm down usually won’t prove to be successful for you.
As opposed to doing this, try to practice active listening and attempting to redirect their passion toward finding a solution that all parties can be happy with. And as you’re able to do this, they will automatically calm down without you having to suggest this to them at all.
If you want to have a better experience as you speak with customers and clients, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you learn what to say and what to avoid saying.
