Many customer service articles talk about various aspects of
both mechanical communication and soft skills, but tend to overlook one key communication skill that could greatly improve your contacts with customers. What is it?
Framing.
Framing: adding context, transparency, and customer focus to
your conversation with just a few words.
We've all been through the IVR do-si-do as a customer where
you give the nice robot lady all your information short of your star sign, only
to painfully trudge through a series of questions about the same things once you
get “a live one” on the line.
Imagine the huge difference it would make if your customer
service rep took just an extra 5 seconds to explain:
“I have an account in front of me, but just to be sure I’m looking at the right one, could you please verify 2 pieces of information for me—your full name and billing address please?”
Wow, that’s so much better, right?
That’s framing.
What are the key
steps in framing?
Think like a customer
Like many key customer service skills, framing doesn't exist
or operate in a vacuum. Customer service representatives will have to tap a
skill they've (hopefully) learned elsewhere—empathy or how to think like a
customer.
As a customer service rep (or trainer / coach / team lead),
ask yourself these types of questions:
- What would I want to know right now if I were this customer?
- How would I feel if someone returned from a long hold and suddenly asked me to fax over a copy of my birth certificate with no explanation or lead- in?
- Could I add some key information or advice to my resolution to prevent the customer from encountering common issues I've seen time and time again?
Most customers want 2 key things: knowledge and control.
Few customers feel comfortable “going along for the ride” to see what happens
when they give their CCV number to someone who barks out an order to do so with
no explanation of why.
Customers will become
infinitely
more compliant and co- operative when you give them knowledge (control is
another story- and another post!).
What does it look like? “Mr. Hudson, I've researched your account and it appears that we’ll need some more documents to
process your application. I’m looking at our list of acceptable documents here
and from my previous experience the easiest thing on the list to fax in for
most of our customers is their birth certificate. Would that work for you?”
Back up one—or maybe
even two—steps
What was the root cause of the current issue? Can it be
explained quickly and clearly to avoid it occurring again, thus avoiding call
backs and repeat contacts? A few sentences of simple customer education can
prevent a scathing customer complaint on your peer- to- peer forums later.
What does it look like?“Okay, it looks like
what happened here is that back in September, due to an outage, you were
credited a prorated amount for that month.
In October, a promotion kicked in,
lowering your bill for the next three months.
Then, in January, your bill went
back up to its normal amount, which is $57.99. That series of events is most
likely why we’re seeing different bill amounts from September to now, and why
the bill seems higher today than it was in the previous months.”
When in doubt, be
transparent
Pretty self- explanatory. If you think a sentence or two
would help, use it. Don’t be a word miser.
Using clear, simple,
neutral language
Avoid jargon, long, complex sentences, “military language”
or “business-ese” like “utilizing our total capacity, we have analyzed the
output…”. Especially avoid canned, scripted ‘explanations’ if at all possible.
Customers aren't fools. They have a nose for corporate evasion, and when they
hear things like this, they end to react like a puppy seeing a vacuum cleaner
for the first time: ready to pounce—on your every misstep!
Avoid the blame game
Keep the finger pointed away from your customer by using
the passive voice. Many writing coaches strongly advise against using the
passive voice under any circumstance, and in general, they are correct. Weak,
odd- sounding sentences are usually the result.
The one exception,
however, is when the customer did something (or didn't do something) that
resulted in the current situation. Unsent documents, failure to “un-check”
auto-opt-in features during the sign
- up phase, spilled Jolt cola on the
keyboard—we don’t need to spell out to the customer that it’s “the nut behind
the wheel” that’s the problem.
If you are dead set against the passive voice, or have spent
weeks drilling it out of your ESL customer service reps, you can also shift the
focus verbally to the business—i.e. instead of “you didn't send” you can use
“We didn't get”.
No: “You failed to send your documents in time to claim your refund.”
Yes: “It seems that we didn't receive the needed documents
in time for the refund claim.”
Use the triple- play
method:
Say what you’re going
to do, do it, and say what you did. In the case of
explaining processes or records, it becomes: “Say what you’re seeing, thinking, and planning
[on doing to resolve the complaint]”.
Using concise language, summarize the steps you’ll be taking
and what you’ll be doing to resolve the issue. Then complete these steps, and
then give the customer a summary at the end of the contact.
This will calm the customers’ nerves, help them feel
connected to the process, give them some feeling of control, and help slay the
“dead air” dragon while you’re at it. It also makes your customer service reps
sound calm, collected, professional, and in control. Everyone wins.
What does it look like? “Okay, I’m going to
pull up your account, research the charges you mentioned, and find where they came from. Then we’ll take it from there,
okay?”
Gaining buy in
Use the phrases “Okay?” or “Will that work for you?” as a
“check in” moment with the customer. You’re not really asking permission, just
taking a moment to add a courtesy nod to their comfort level. It may seem
silly, and of course we want to avoid using this with gruff, all-business
types, but most customers will feel much more comfortable with a simple
“alright?” at the end of your recommendations or instructions.
Just use this tip judiciously—you shouldn't sound like a
nursery school teacher asking little Janey to stay in line and stop biting her
classmates.
What does it look like? “Alright, I just need to pull up your account
and then I’ll walk you through your billing statement, okay?”
Framing can make the difference between a stilted, jagged
conversation that is as hard to listen to as it is to suffer through and a
smooth, natural, “brand ambassador” contact.
Start using it today and see what happens! I think you’ll
love the results.
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