[Music] customer service work can be a tough job whether we're supporting computer users or retail customers here are five common mistakes guaranteed to ruin customer service experiences and kill good customer service number one we seem like we don't care support situations can fail when we don't sound or act as if we care are concerned or appreciate the customers or end user situation now maybe we actually do care but in order to convey our caring we've got to choose compassionate and empathetic words and phrases that show we care no one can read another's mind try saying
things like I know this is very frustrating or I'm sure I would feel the same if I were you I'm so very sorry or if there was anything at all I could do believe me I would now make sure you use your own words try an honest expression of sympathy saying something like I'm so sorry that happened to you it's amazing how much of a calming effect that can have number two we don't listen too often we try to jump in with Solutions and we don't allow our end users and customers to finish describing their
problems or venting their feelings we need to show the customer or end user that we're listening by what we say and how we say it understand that obnoxious users and customers are often embarrassed because they made a mistake and want to blame it on someone perhaps us showing that we're interested in what they have to say of often helps us establish rapport with the customer active listening techniques including asking to make sure we understand what they've said can go a long way toward fostering a good situation by saying let me make sure I understand what
you said we are reaching out to our customer showing that we care and showing that we actually are listening number three we let the user upset us it's easy to allow the customers or users attitude to irritate or Annoy Us our customers pick up on this through our tone of voice and use of language or our silence and this can fan the fire we can make it a personal challenge to see how many upset users in customers we can turn around it don't take upset users and customers ranting and raving personally now admittedly that can
be easier said than done but it's critical for success in emotionally charged support situations don't get emotionally hooked when we let users and customers push our buttons we lose when we respond emotionally with anger sarcasm or blame we can't respond rationally when things heat up we can cool off by saying that we need to research the situation and possible solutions and ask if we can get back to the user a customer at a later time number four we use the wrong words some trigger words can cause users and customers to become more difficult some of
these are can't you'll have to or a flippant sorry about that be sure to offer users and customers an alternative choices provide users and customers some say in how they want to proceed instead of of saying I don't know try let me get you an answer or let me find out for you be careful about using tentative language such as I think when answering customer questions customers don't want to hear speculation about answers to their questions they want straight answers or an assurance that will get them an accurate and complete answer number five we focus
on ourselves instead of seeing it from the customer or user point of view and sometimes we might think our customer or end user is making too much out of a small issue and maybe by our standards they are the point is that if the issue whatever it is seems like a big deal to the customer or end user it is a big deal regardless of how we might feel about it we must always look at the customer or enduser issues from their perspective just the same as we would want a customer service rep who's helping
us to try to see our problem from our perspective no matter what it is a big deal for our users and customers and they want us to acknowledge that it seems like I run into these five problem areas regularly it's really not that hard when we act like we care when we give our customers the benefit of truly listening when we maintain our composure even in the face of angry or upset customers when we choose our words carefully striving for positive language and when we try to see the situation from our customers perspective we can
avoid these five customer service [Music] killers [Music]
