Customers contact us in many ways…online, phone, in writing, via social media, and a host of other ways. They all carry different impact and strength to us and to our markets. If your business is primarily online focused, online is where you will get the majority of interaction. If it is a more traditional B2B business you may get more email and phone calls. Regardless of the way your audience (including customers) contacts you, you need to respond.
Besides the “method” they use to contact you, there are really just a few reasons they are contacting you. These reasons, while different, deserve a response…every time. All too often businesses (or other organizations) feel like they don’t need to respond. Perhaps someone is just leaving a comment (good or bad) and we don’t feel like it “needs (or deserves)” a response. This is where I disagree…I believe every time someone interacts with your organization and took their time to say something, they deserve a response. There’s more…
Before we talk about the areas where people will comment, let me give you the two words that should permeate every response, regardless of what type it is or what method is being used.
The two words everyone should use to begin (and sometimes end) their response with are, “THANK YOU.” Simple and so underutilized and forgotten, yet unbelievably powerful.
If you want to raise the tone of any conversation, start it off with these words of gratitude and thankfulness for what it is you have heard or are about to hear. Starting off a conversation (online or in person) with these two words can often times make the difference between “doing battle” and “finding a solution.” They are two words everyone wants to hear. Everyone loves to be appreciated, even if it is for something small and somewhat insignificant to them. These words of affirmation have more power than anything you can offer to start a conversation. Think about this for a moment…
If you don’t use these two words to start things off, what words are you going to use? Often times they will be either self-absorbing words or excuse words…it’s just natural. For example, let’s say a customer compliments you on doing a good job on a particular project. If your first words aren’t, “Thank you for saying that, I really appreciate hearing that,” they will tend to be more self-serving or self-absorbing, bordering on the edge of arrogance. Maybe we would say, “Yes, we have an incredible team that really does great work.” While this is true, and can be said, it shouldn’t be said first. It carries completely different meaning and impact when it is the first response rather than a later response. But what if the comment is negative?
Negative comments make saying, “Thank you,” even more important.
If we don’t start off with them, we often times jump immediately into “defense” mode or “excuse making” type of statements. For example, if the customer calls up with a complaint and says our team didn’t do a good job, our first instinct is to defend them, after all they are our employees. This would be a mistake. It immediately puts you and the customer in battle mode of who is right…and we all know who is really right in these situations, the customer. The customers opinion is always right because it is their perception and their perception is reality.
When we go immediately into “defense mode” we might as well just tell them their perception is wrong and throw more gas on the fire. Now what might have been a simple perception issue becomes an all-out house fire and we all know who wins in these situations…no one. We can change the game (and the tone) of the conversation immediately by starting with, “Thank you so much for this feedback. Getting your perspective and feedback on how we did and what didn’t exceed your expectations is incredibly valuable for us and very much appreciated. Would you please share with me your perception of what happened and why you feel we didn’t do a good job for you?” WOW, the customer is moved immediately from “fight mode” to “solution mode” by us allowing their feelings to be recognized and for them to be able to share their story. Does this sound too basic?
Isn't this just "common sense" and something people do all the time? Common sense, yes, doing it all the time, this is where we fall short.
You might read this and be saying, “Well this just seems like common sense that everyone would (or should) be doing just as a way of doing business.” And you would be right. Easy to read this and say that in the calm of your office reading my post. But when people are “in the moment” and anxiety is at its peak for both the company and the customer, this somehow doesn’t seem to be the first response. Our “fight or flight” response is kicked into gear and we have an immediate need to “defend ourselves” against the attack. Don’t believe me? Just walk into your group that handles these calls and you can feel the tension in the room and hear the defensiveness and excuses flying around the room. And if they are in a group together, they can feed on each other and raise the tension even more. This happens…but it doesn’t need to be the “first response.”
Teaching your employees empathy and to put themselves in the “customers shoes” whenever they receive a call helps change their mindset from “defensive” to “solution.” Write these words on the wall in front of every employee in your company…Start with Thank You.
Sounds simple, but these two words can make one of the biggest changes a company can see happen…and fast. When all your employees are starting out with the words “Thank You,” the attitude of the entire company will go up. Trust me, it will happen. But you must be relentless at making it happen…no exceptions. Once the customer realizes that every employee is going to thank them, no matter what the situation, their anxiety and energy level goes down as well. And when we can get the customer to exit the “fight or flight” emotion, they can actually hear what we are saying and focus on coming up with a win-win solution.
What To Do Next...
Hold a meeting (or several over time) and read this post to them as a starting point for the discussion. Help them see how powerful “Thank You” is to their customers and how powerful it is to them in helping resolve any situation. Feedback is always better than fighting. And you can’t ever get feedback if you are fight mode. Educate your employees over and over. Put the sign up in your company…all over your company…that says, “Start with Thank You.”
You can also start your team meetings with what did we hear from our customers after we said “Thank You.” What did we learn so that we can improve? What did we hear that would allow us to change our processes or our customer experience? What did we learn that can make us a better company? What a positive discussion this and be for your employees…and arm them with even more information to handle difficult situations.
Not sure you can do this as easily as I described? I’m happy to help you out with this if you need a boost to get started. Lots of ways to do this so that you can run with it going forward. Or if you just want to talk through it a bit more, let’s grab coffee (or lunch) sometime. The coffee (or lunch) is on you…the education and information is on me. My goal is to help save you TIME in the process if you are interested in being Customer Obsessed and becoming “REMARK”able in the process...which is my passion and goal for every company on the planet. Big goal…but it starts with one.
The only question that remains is, “Are you ready to be Customer Obsessed and become “REMARK”able?”
