In every line of business, people will often refer to truisms to help explain how conversations should be conducted. A couple of the most common are: ‘You’re only as good as your last encounter with that customer’ and ‘Always treat others as you want to be treated’. In fact, these are – even if we have to invent words for them – falsisms. A certain transatlantic political leader might even mutter ‘fake news’ to describe both. Here’s why…
You’re not really only as good as your last encounter
Often, when delivering effective outsourced customer service, we are dealing with new customers who may have little or no idea how we perform. Last encounters might build a reputation, but even with regular users, the truth is that, as you start a call: ‘You’re only as good as your next encounter’. The people you deal with will judge the level of service, and behaviour of the person giving it, on what happens from the start of the call now being made. This can, positively, provide a chance to improve on past encounters with an organisation; but also the sense of let-down if what now occurs undoes the good work of previous calls can be even more palpable. Always be prepared to be judged in the moment.
Others don’t necessarily like to be treated in the way that you do
This saying about treating others in a manner that pleases you has been around for years – yet is amazingly wrong-headed. The focus should always be on the person the service is being delivered to. Therefore, the wording should really be: ‘Treat others as they would like to be treated’. Simple example: a serious-minded, information-related person doesn’t really want to be treated as a straight-man or audience by an individual who likes to use humour! Someone who pays great attention to their feelings doesn’t really respond well to a statistically-minded, cool and professional caller. The key is to be empathetic, listening for clues, and then in quickly adjusting your attitude, behaviour, and language to best suit the other party to a call.
Understanding others, moulding your behaviour to suit them, and appreciating that each call is a brand new situation both helps to build empathy and then to deliver effective results. Contact Frontline today to obtain customer support that embodies these revised phrases.