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Language is important not just to how we communicate with our customers but to how we communicate with ourselves. The right words can put an irritated customer at ease and help you approach difficult situations with greater ease.
Effective customer service language can take a long time to master, so I thought I would share a few quick language tips you can incorporate into your service communication immediately. Give your communication repertoire a shot in the arm with these five quick customer service language hacks.
Use the word “we” to let the customer know you are on the same team and working towards the same goal; use the word “I” when you need to take accountability for the situation or your company. We and I send different signals to the listener, and which signal you want to deliver depends heavily on the message you want them to receive.
There’s nothing wrong with “I’m sorry,” but “I apologize” is softer. “I apologize” sends a better message to your own head as well.
Small business owner and Social Media Manager at CTS, Tricia Keels began using “I apologize” in her customer interactions, and it made a large impact. “It completely empowers me and takes away this ‘I suck’ kind of mentality when we make a mistake,” she says. “I become more focused on fixing the customer’s problem and less on my mistake.”
This language hack is used to shape your own mindset within a conversation. “I don’t” empowers you because it tells your brain that you have made a choice. “I can’t” registers as something that is being forced on you.
Feeling empowered can keep you in control during a tough customer call. Remember, you can almost always do something for a customer, even if it’s finding someone else to resolve the issue.
“Value” is an extremely powerful word in customer-facing interactions. Use phrases like the following:
Of course, don’t say it if you can’t prove it; even the best words are meaningless if they have no substance.
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