Negative comments when speaking with customers
This column will be on starting a sentence with a negative word, for example "Unfortunately, I am not able to do that, however what I can do is ... " By saying Unfortunately or any similar word at the beginning of a sentence it automatically sounds negative. From a customers standpoint all I am hearing is "No". I may go on to explain why or you may have a satisfactory workaround for the customer, but the customers still only heard no. In most cases the customer will turn defensive, thinking you are not even willing to try to help, even though you are.
Now take that same sentence and rearrange it a little bit and say, "I would be happy to assist you, unfortunately..." 9 times out of 10 the customer will actually listen to what you are saying and retain any information you provide. This will greatly improve your customers' mood and their overall outlook of the situation. By saying it this way the customer will most likely walk away from the situation with you thinking that you did everything in your power to help them. You did nothing different in either situation, the outcome would still be the same, but it is how you present your self.
I see this working everyday, my agents who start words of negatively typically will have more asking to talk to their superior. When the customer does speak to the supervisor or manager the manager will usually say the exact same thing, however worded differently and the customer is ecstatic and wonders why the first person did not offer the same thing.
In general keep everything as positive as possible, not only will the customers walk away happy but the general mood of the work place will also benefit as you will not be talking to as many irate customers per day.
Now take that same sentence and rearrange it a little bit and say, "I would be happy to assist you, unfortunately..." 9 times out of 10 the customer will actually listen to what you are saying and retain any information you provide. This will greatly improve your customers' mood and their overall outlook of the situation. By saying it this way the customer will most likely walk away from the situation with you thinking that you did everything in your power to help them. You did nothing different in either situation, the outcome would still be the same, but it is how you present your self.
I see this working everyday, my agents who start words of negatively typically will have more asking to talk to their superior. When the customer does speak to the supervisor or manager the manager will usually say the exact same thing, however worded differently and the customer is ecstatic and wonders why the first person did not offer the same thing.
In general keep everything as positive as possible, not only will the customers walk away happy but the general mood of the work place will also benefit as you will not be talking to as many irate customers per day.
Was this article helpful?998 Posted by: 👨 Robin L. Jackson
