Making a Business Work When Its in the Red

Posted on: 29 March 2016

When it comes to the success of any business, there must be a strong, personal connection with customers. While this is sometimes achieved in person, face-to-face, some businesses achieve this over-the-phone with positive words and a warm tone of voice. When a frustrated customer calls in and a customer service representative uses a negative tone and poorly-worded phrase, the situation is likely to escalate and the caller will not leave the conversation feeling satisfied. Therefore, your representatives need to make sure that they avoid these phrases when dealing with customers and replace them with the ones provided:

"I don't know or I have no idea."

When a customer ask a question, the absolute last thing that they want to hear is that the person who is supposed to have the answer doesn't even if it's the truth. So, if you do not know the answer to a question that a caller asks you or if you're uncertain what the exact answer is, don't say that you have no idea, you're not sure or you just flat-out don't know. Instead, let them know that you're more than happy to find out for them by saying, "That is a wonderful question and I would be delighted to find out the answer for you."

"No problem at all."

While this isn't necessarily a terrible phrase, it can be construed as a bit negative. This is particularly true when there are so many better, more positive alternative phrases that can be used. For example, rather than saying, "No problem," you should simply try saying, "You are so welcome," "Gladly," or "It's my pleasure." You will be amazed at just how far these positive words can go in making a customer happy.

"You will need to..."

This particular phrase seems outright cold and somewhat demanding, which is not how you want to come across with a customer. You don't want to demand or tell your customers what they must or need to do. Instead, you want to guide them in the right direction and explain to them what may be ideal. So, you may want to say, "The most ideal way to do that is to..." or "The best way to....".

"Hold please."

Sure, you said "please," which makes it better than "just one sec," but it isn't enough to make this phrase polite. For one, you're making a command with this statement. Secondly, this phrase makes it seem as if you're not waiting for a response from the customer before moving forward. So, your first step is to ask if you can place them on hold by saying, "May I please place you on hold for just a moment while I check into this further?" Your second step is to wait for the customer to answer before actually pressing the hold button.

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