1. How you communicate with customers is one of the most important aspects of customer service. The major components of communication are verbal, nonverbal, and listening.
2. Effective listening and understanding are dependent upon your listening being credible, attentive, reliable, and empathetic. In meeting the above, credible listening requires that you listen for facts and feelings. It also means that you are engaged in the conversation when appropriate, or, in other words, you are waiting for the customer to finish before responding.
a. Attentive is self-explanatory. It is not allowing you to become distracted. Reliable means that you do not prejudge during your listening, and you are able to clarify or to paraphrase back what has been said.
b. Empathetic listening means that you offer understanding. It includes some elements of the above but does not necessarily mean agreement with customers. Being an empathetic listener may require you to play various roles, ranging from a therapist to an understanding friend to a wise and patient negotiator.
3. Unfortunately, there will be incidents whereby customer’s expectations cannot be met due to a variety of circumstances and no is the word that must be conveyed by the staff. Empathy depicts to customers the feeling that their circumstances and concerns are appreciated, understood, and that you are sensitive to the issues. Demonstrating sensitivity denotes understanding without criticism or judgment.
4. In effective nonverbal communication, your actions, remarks, and length of time in response send a message to customers. Effective and positive nonverbal communication calls for the staff to smile, and to project an open posture as well as to lean forward to establish rapport (without violating personal space), eye contact, and head nods.
5. In verbal communication, word choice can be of extreme importance. Avoid phrases like, “I'll try,” or “I can’t.” Instead, substitute with more positive phrases like, "I will” or “I can.” Certain words send a better message. For example, this situation is not a “problem” but an “opportunity.” This situation is not “impossible” rather it is “possible.” Effective word selection will assist in providing positive communication with customers.
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