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5 Little Tricks To Get Customers To Accept Your Word As Final

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If you find it hard to get customers to accept your word as final and if too many of your customers just go over your head to talk to a supervisor who will tell the customer the exact same thing, you need to read this.

I have for you five little tricks that I share in my onsite de-escalation workshops. These ideas will help you be far more successful in getting customers to accept your word as final.

1. Show regret.

Your words of regret help you come across as genuinely concerned and helpful. When customers feel you’re concerned and willing to help, they’re more likely to accept your word as final. Saying something like, “I can appreciate how frustrating this must be for you” is perfect.

2. Sound confident.

It’s important that you sound confident when you tell the customer what you can’t do. Otherwise, some customers won’t take your word as final. They’ll push and ask to talk to someone higher up. Here are some of my tips for sounding confident.

  • Slow down a bit.
  • Enunciate and speak clearly.
  • Relax. (Consciously try to release tension and anxiety.)

3. Assertively make your point.

Continue reading “5 Little Tricks To Get Customers To Accept Your Word As Final”

9 Books Every College Senior Should Read

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A bright young Generation Z professional approached me after a customer service workshop last week in Atlanta and asked me for advice.

Here’s one of the smart questions she asked me, “What books would you recommend that my younger self, say my senior year in college, should read? What books would position me to be the most successful version of myself?”

This is the list I had her type out on her iPhone right there in the conference ballroom.

1. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
2. Presence by Amy Cuddy
3.Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
4. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
5. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
6. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
7. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
8. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
9. I Can’t Make This Stuff Up: Life Lessons by Kevin Hart (Get the audiobook for this one!)

Even if you’re in mid-life, like me, these books will propel you to reach your full potential in business.

5 New Thoughts About Work-Life Balance That Will Turn Your World Right Side Up

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It’s rare that I don’t write to you about customer service issues. But I want to talk about balance, not just because it’s so important to me, but because I know achieving peace and balance will help you be a better manager, leader, or customer service professional.

Over the years I’ve found five practices that have helped me find peace and balance between my business and my personal life.

1. Stop compulsively checking emails. Trust me; it can wait.

I’ve just started a practice of pausing my inbox every weekday from 6:00 pm to 8:00 am. I noticed that most of the time I grabbed my iPhone, it was to habitually check email for matters that were neither urgent nor important. Being untethered at night is liberating.

2. Don’t email staff after business hours.

If I follow my first practice, it’s easy not to email colleagues after hours. Here’s why I urge you to hold off on evening emails. When you email an employee at say, 7:30 pm, the late hour implies a sense of urgency and your employee may feel she has to respond to you right away. Taking the time to read and reply to your email is taking time away from whatever she’s doing (drinking wine, enjoying time with bae, watching Netflix)

Help your employees and colleagues enjoy peace after work by not interrupting their evenings, unless the matter is crucial.

3. Make business travel pleasurable.

Continue reading “5 New Thoughts About Work-Life Balance That Will Turn Your World Right Side Up”

3 Keys to a Fantastic Customer Interaction: Swiftness, Friendliness, and Knowledge

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I made a support call to a company yesterday because I was stuck in a loop on an application. I’m glad I called because the representative gave me such a great experience that I found myself smiling and thinking, “She’s good. Really good.”

Here’s a rough transcript of our conversation:

Continue reading “3 Keys to a Fantastic Customer Interaction: Swiftness, Friendliness, and Knowledge”

Customer Service Week Is Great, But…

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Customer Service Week is a fantastic time to celebrate the VIP employees who take care of your customers, and it’s the perfect week to go all out for your customers.

But, if you want your employees to take your focus seriously, and if you’re going to create a customer service culture, you need to also: Continue reading “Customer Service Week Is Great, But…”

When Employees Make Assumptions, It Hurts Your Business. Here’s How to Fix That.

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Recently, I went to buy a replacement charging cable for my laptop. I found a salesperson and told him what I needed. I should also mention that when I approached the employee, he was fully engaged with his cellphone. I felt like I interrupted him.

Looking annoyed, he turned around and grabbed a cable off the shelf and handed it to me. It didn’t look like what I had before, so I asked, “Are you sure this is the cable for my laptop?”  He said, “That’s it.”

I got the cable home, and it didn’t fit.

This employee heard parts of what I said and then just filled in the gaps with assumptions. He assumed he knew what I needed without asking me any follow-up questions.

His assumptions led to me being frustrated, and I had to make a second trip into the store. His assumption led to me having a very poor customer experience.

In my customer service workshops, I teach your employees how not to make assumptions, and I explain this concept in an unforgettable way. I show this short video called “The Cookie Thief.” Continue reading “When Employees Make Assumptions, It Hurts Your Business. Here’s How to Fix That.”