Never say these things to your customers. If you do, you it’s time to work on your customer service. Learn more in this post from Pollock Paper.
Research from Salesforce suggests 61% of customers leave for a competitor because of bad service.
What shouldn’t you say to customers? Find out below:
- “That’s the Vendor’s Responsibility”
That may be true, but you sell the product or service to your customer. So its quality falls on you. If you have a bad vendor, work with them to improve service or get a new one.
Customers feel like you only care about their money, not them as people, when you do this.
- “Company Policy Says So”
You’ll stop your company from offering a refund or some other form of fixing your relationship with your customer. You save yourself money now…but you lose much more down the line.
Worried about customers abusing your refund policy? Give them a refund this time, regardless of the reason. Give them a second too.
But that’s it. 99.9% of customers don’t abuse your refund system. After the second, you’ve found the ones who do.
- “I’m Not Sure, but I Think…”
Actually you can say this one. If you don’t have the answer, reassure your customer you will find one. If you can’t get it now, take their name, phone, and e-mail down.
And then call them back! Most companies don’t follow through when they say they will.
- “I’ll Tell Them…”
This makes it sound like you’re not a part of your company. It seems like a “you” versus “them” mentality.
That may be true. Even if it is, don’t let the customer in on that information.
- “Please Calm Down…”
What’s your first reaction when you hear this? You definitely don’t want to calm down! Your customers feel the same way.
Instead, listen to your customer. Empathize with them. Say,”I understand” or “I’m sorry.”
Then they’ll calm down.
- “You Don’t Want That…”
This phrase is too confrontational. You might be right – what the customer wants won’t do what they really want.
Instead, redirect and subtly suggest to them what might do what they want. Say,”Oh, I’m not sure that’s going to do what you want. Have you thought about this (and describe the benefits of that)?”
If they don’t go for it, let them make their decision.
- Complete Silence
…As in no one’s answering the phone. Customers should be able to call, wait a minute or two, talk for a couple minutes, and be on their way.
If customer service is any more challenging than that, you need a bigger, more skilled team, or less policy.
If you find your associates saying those things to customers, you have work to do. But, better to have awareness and the ability to act, than have no idea something’s broke, isn’t it?