Customer Experience Tip #1270

Providing your customer with options (although not so many that it risks overwhelming them) is a good thing. It gives them the power of choice. That said, be ready to answer the question, “If it were you, which would you choose?” In that moment they are looking for your clear, honest, and certain guidance.

Customer Experience Tip #1269

Word-of-mouth drives purchase decisions. People are being driven TO you … or AWAY from you by what they are hearing from others (in the physical world and the virtual world). How are your customers describing their experience to others? Are you giving them enough reasons to sing your praises?

Customer Experience Tip #1268

Stop “templating” your e-mail messages while in a customer relationship. When every e-mail begins with “I hope all is well,” and ends with “Kindest regards,” you’ll wind up coming across as disingenuous/insincere … even though you may be the most sincere person on the planet. Instead, pick up each conversation where you left off, just as you would in person. Mix it up. Personalize.

Customer Experience Tip #1267

“Review customer feedback as a company. You don’t just want one department reviewing the feedback. You want to share it with every single person on your payroll … you never know where your next great customer experience strategy is going to come from.”  –Michel Falcon

Customer Experience Tip #1266

The way in which a customer answers your questions will not always fit neatly into your standardized systems and procedures; your neat little box. Be patient, kind, and be willing to ask in a different way if necessary. After all, your customers didn’t go to “Customer School.”

Customer Experience Tip #1265

Warm up those everyday cold, robotic, and overused phrases with something warmer and more human-centric.

Example One: When looking something up for a customer, instead of asking, “What’s the name?” say, “I’ll be glad to assist. May I have your name?” (It’s not just “a” name … it’s THEIR name.)

Example Two: instead of saying, “Next in line…” how about smiling and saying, “Good morning.” (They’ll know they’re next in line simply be being acknowledged.)

See and feel the difference in these two examples? Minor tweaks — delivered with consistency — can yield major impact.

Customer Experience Tip #1264

Having a bad day? You get to choose. You can either: a) let that spill over into your customer interactions, or; b) make someone’s day. With option “b,” everyone wins … even you. If you don’t believe me, give a try.

Customer Experience Tip #1263

Care, concern, and kindness will always win the day. Your competitors aren’t likely hitting this trifecta and your customers are sure to notice and appreciate this when they see it.

Customer Experience Tip #1262

“Assume good intent. People who handle customers, especially difficult ones, often assume that the customer does not know what they are talking about, just wants to get more for less, or will be unhappy no matter what they do to resolve the situation. Assuming good intent helps us use a different tone, and tone has five times the impact of the words we say.”

–Steven Gaffney, Bestselling Author

Customer Experience Tip #1261

The next time a client asks, “Are you OK on time?” just say, “I’m all yours.”