A Positive Twist on Customer Service

Here’s a true story.

I flew into the island resort of Penang, Malaysia, "Pearl of the Orient", right about the time that they were redoing the airport.  Construction was obviously going on everywhere and sheets of plywood lined the corridors.  As I exited the aircraft, I immediately noticed a large sign which said, “Construction in Progress.  Regret the Inconvenience Caused.”  Suddenly I felt… inconvenienced.  My bags felt heavier.  I wondered, if I’d been a tourist rather than on business, is this the way I would have wanted my holiday to begin?

Put yourself in the place of an arriving tourist.  When you get off the plane, what’s the first thing you want to read?  That’s right.  Welcome to Penang!  And what about all of this construction?  We are Upgrading to Serve You Better!  Now, that makes you feel a lot better doesn’t it?  It makes you feel… welcomed, rather than inconvenienced.

If you take a moment to think about it, you can always state a negative message in a positive way, and this is a technique your customer service representatives need to learn.  When they know how to emphasize positive ideas, not only will they make unsatisfied customers happy again, but they’ll also prevent them from getting angry.

Imagine a very common situation.  A customer passes your service rep a credit card to make a purchase, but the transaction is rejected.  Publicly, your rep hands the card back to the customer and says (loud enough for everyone to hear), “Your card isn’t going through.”  What kind of reaction can you expect?  Well, the customer is likely to get defensive.  Obviously there has been some Terrible Mistake.  The customer might even blame your machine, or worse, your service rep for the problem.  Why?  Because the negative message your service rep passed along caused your customer embarrassment and offense.

Is there a better way to say this?  You could probably think of dozens.  One of the first is by simply passing the card back to the customer and quietly asking, “Do you have a different card you’d like to use?”  The message will be clear without the embarrassing baggage attached.

Look around your premises.  Have you got any negative signs that your customers might see?  Replace them with positive messages.  Your customers are much more interested in what you will do for them than what you won’t do.

Negativity is infectious.  If your reps pass it along to your customers, even unintentionally, they’ll begin feeling negative as well.  Positive messages get positive responses and prevent unsatisfied customers from becoming angry customers.