The art of customer service is more than just a friendly voice. Interacting with the general public requires a deep understanding of your customers’ needs while providing a valuable service that solves a problem. Creating a positive, helpful experience for the customer is what makes or breaks an interaction and can gain a customer for life.
Here are some of the top phrases and actions utilized in the customer service industry today:
Repeating Back Needs
When a customer first calls customer support, they are looking to resolve their issue as quickly as possible. That requires the agent to be a good listener and understand the problem without needing the customer to explain themselves over and over. Repeating back what the customer needs is a great way to make sure you’re on the same page. Starting with a phrase like, “So far, this is what I am understanding…”
Better to understand as soon as possible versus having the customer become frustrated from issues with communication.
“Good Question”
One of the biggest hurdles customer service representatives face is being new in the industry. There is a profound amount of industry knowledge that may seem overwhelming when someone first joins the team. When starting, customer service agents will likely get a string of questions that they don’t have the immediate answer to. To remedy that, when a customer asks a tough question, the agent can respond with, “Good question, let me find that out for you.” And then follow with a time in which they can get back to their inquiry. This proactive response will also help the agent learn more about the industry in real-time situations.
Turn “Won’t” into “Will”
If a customer is asking about a product that isn’t in stock or a service that isn’t available yet, an agent may feel the need to break the news accordingly. Instead of saying phrases like, “This product won’t be in stock for another few weeks.” Use positive language to change the narrative: “This product will be in stock in the next couple of weeks. Would you like me to reconnect when we have it available?” This gives the customer an opportunity for you to check back in again and may lead to a future sale.
The “-LY” Words
Definitely, certainly, absolutely. These proactive words give a sense of reassurance to your customer while being persuasive in nature. Inserting these “-ly” words into your daily interactions turns up the notch on how positive your customers will receive information.
For instance, if a customer is having trouble with their account, stating, “I will get that fixed,” is nice, but inserting “I definitely will get that fixed,” sounds more certain to a customer’s frustrating experience.
Here are some other “-ly” and general positive vocabulary to insert into customer interactions: quickly, completely, excellent, terrific, favorite, enjoy.
Acknowledge Feelings
If a customer is calling in about an issue, agents will be expected to not only solve the problem but expressing empathy with the customer as well. Dealing with someone upset is difficult in any situation, but over the phone, it can be particularly complicated. Listening to not just what the customer wants to be done, but how the customer is feeling at that moment will help ensure the customer doesn’t escalate their feelings.
When the customer expresses their disappointment, respond with knowing phrases like, “I realize this situation is difficult…” or “I completely understand how you feel…” and follow with an actionable step on how to move forward to get the situation resolved.
At Centris, we’ve got customer service down to a science. With over 30 years of experience, Centris is an excellent resource for quality customer care.
