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About this lesson
Here you will learn about positive communication and how to apply it to your customer service skills.
Exercise files
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Quick reference
Respond Positively
Here you will learn about positive communication and how to apply it to your customer service skills.
When to use
Always respond positively to your customer to keep the customer happy or turn them back to being happy.
Instructions
When a customer makes a request or has a challenge you want to respond positively.
You want to say “YES” to your customer. Do everything you can to avoid the word, “NO.”
Say things like this instead, “I wish I could. What I CAN do for you is...”.
Take responsibility for the customer’s issue regardless of whose fault it is.
Say things like, “I apologize” or “Please forgive me”. Avoid “I’m sorry”.
Login to download- 00:04 In this video we're gonna continue looking at response and responsibility.
- 00:09 Now, I love this section because here's what we're gonna talk about,
- 00:13 positive communication.
- 00:15 So when a customer makes a request, or
- 00:17 has a challenge with you, you want to respond positively.
- 00:22 Respond positively, what does that mean?
- 00:25 Since we're little kids, we're doing things we shouldn't do and
- 00:30 our parents are telling us no, no, I said no!
- 00:33 Can I have this thing, no!
- 00:35 Can I do more, no!
- 00:37 Can I do that, no!
- 00:39 How does that feel after a while, right?
- 00:41 Especially when we're doing transactions, we're spending money.
- 00:44 Could I do it this, no!
- 00:45 Could I get a little more extra, no!
- 00:49 How can we just say yes to our customers?
- 00:54 How can we say yes, or at least how can we avoid the word no?
- 00:57 If there's something we just can't deliver, how can we avoid the word no?
- 01:01 Are you guys up for a challenge?
- 01:04 This is fun, we do this in companies all over the country.
- 01:07 And what we do is we challenge the customer service reps, or
- 01:11 we challenge the staff to avoid using the word no.
- 01:13 So you have to get a little creative, and
- 01:15 I'm gonna give you some tips on how to do that.
- 01:16 Wanna know what those are?
- 01:18 Great, here we go.
- 01:20 So do everything you can to avoid the word no.
- 01:23 All right, so what could you say instead?
- 01:25 This is one of my favorites.
- 01:28 I wish I could, what I can do for you is.
- 01:34 I like that.
- 01:35 I wish I could, what I can do for you is.
- 01:39 And I'll give you an example in my own business.
- 01:41 So there was a company that wanted to hire me to come do a speaking engagement.
- 01:47 And that's great, I love doing it, I've been in special events for, gosh,
- 01:51 20 plus years now.
- 01:52 I've been speaker and traveling around, so I understand the industry.
- 01:57 And one thing that I learned is after the event there's not a whole lot
- 02:02 of encouragement, or not a whole lot of leverage, to get paid on time, right?
- 02:08 Because the event's over, I've done my piece.
- 02:10 So long ago we switched our policies.
- 02:13 We're still giving excellent customer service, but we switched our policies.
- 02:16 Where in order to reserve the speaking day it is a 50% deposit, and
- 02:20 then the rest needs to be paid before the event.
- 02:24 Pretty simple and most clients they understand it, they get it.
- 02:27 But this particular client was used to paying net 45 all right.
- 02:32 And what that means is after the event they'll pay me 45 days later.
- 02:38 Maybe, no.
- 02:39 That's what that means, and typically big companies, that's what they do.
- 02:43 Right, it helps their cash flow so they do net 45.
- 02:45 But for us, we're a small business, it doesn't work for us.
- 02:50 So I get this email and they're asking for net 45.
- 02:54 And I said well, I wish I could, what I can do for you is.
- 02:58 Because I knew that they wanted to stretch their money, so
- 03:01 what I told them is that they could do the deposit.
- 03:04 And what I can do for you is instead of sending the balance of the check seven
- 03:09 days before the speaking engagement, you can have a check ready right there.
- 03:15 Once I arrive then you can pay me the rest, what I can do for you is.
- 03:20 And they loved that, that was great and it worked out for them.
- 03:23 And so there you go, right?
- 03:26 So I didn't say no, that's our policy, you're gonna rip me off and
- 03:29 you're not gonna pay me.
- 03:31 No, no, no, hey, I wish I could, what I can do for you is.
- 03:36 And that compromise worked and everybody was happy, okay.
- 03:40 And I knew a lot of information on the front end by asking intelligent
- 03:43 questions, okay.
- 03:44 So all this stuff comes together if you can connect the dots.
- 03:48 Good, next take responsibility for
- 03:51 the customer's issue regardless of whose fault it is.
- 03:55 Okay, we talked about that before.
- 03:56 So if it's the shipping department's problem, or
- 03:59 if it's accounting's problem, right.
- 04:01 Billing problems, those are huge, anybody ever go through some billing issues?
- 04:05 Those customers are upset, aren't they?
- 04:08 Because it has to do with their money.
- 04:10 So take responsibility even if you work in customer service and
- 04:14 the problem Is with billing, okay.
- 04:17 Take responsibility for the customer's issue regardless of whose fault it is.
- 04:22 Okay, and here's another little ninja trick, do you guys want a ninja phrase?
- 04:27 You do?
- 04:28 Here's the ninja phrase, okay.
- 04:30 So instead of saying I'm sorry,
- 04:32 when you tell somebody I'm sorry, it dies with I'm sorry.
- 04:37 You're just saying hey look, I'm sorry.
- 04:40 Okay, what's better is I apologize.
- 04:44 I apologize, or please forgive me.
- 04:47 And I love please forgive me because now you're asking somebody to do something.
- 04:52 And now they're engaged with you.
- 04:55 It's just a little two millimeter shift in the language we use, and
- 04:59 the communication that we use, to move us towards a positive outcome.
- 05:04 Okay, so this is all part of the game.
- 05:07 Avoid saying no, and avoid saying I'm sorry.
- 05:10 Instead, use I apologize, or please forgive me.
- 05:14 Okay, so this is all part of responding positively.
- 05:18 Responding positively, do everything you can to avoid the word no.
- 05:21 Use instead I wish I could, what I can do for you is x.
- 05:26 Take responsibility for the customer's issue regardless of whose fault it is.
- 05:31 And use I apologize, or please forgive me.
- 05:33 All right, awesome.
- 05:36 I'm gonna see you guys in the next video.
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