Perfect Phrases for Customer Service: Hundreds of Tools, Techniques, and Scripts for Handling Any Situation

by Robert Bacal

Overview

Tools for pleasing even the most demanding customers

A satisfied customer is a loyal customer, and in today's supercompetitive business economy few things are as crucial to a company's bottom line as the quality of its customer service. This latest title in the popular Perfect Phrases series is just the thing for customer service employees and those who train and manage them. Perfect Phrases for Customer Service gets you quickly up and running with everything you need to keep customers happy and loyal, including:

• Clear explanations of the reasons for difficult customer behaviors
• Proven tools and techniques for successfully handling even the most cantankerous customers
• 101 dialogues and scripts organized according to types of difficult behaviors, usable as is or as part of a training program, and easily tailored to any industry and company culture

  For more information, visit www.customerservicezone.com

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780071465113
Publisher:	McGraw Hill LLC
Publication date:	01/20/2005
Series:	Perfect Phrases Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	175
File size:	427 KB

About the Author

Robert Bacal is the author of Managing Performance and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Consulting. His performance management website, work911.com, is visited by thousands of people every month.

Table of Contents

	Preface	xi
	About the Author	xv
Part 1	Succeeding at Customer Service	1
Chapter 1	Basics of Customer Service	3
	What's in It for Me?	4
	Different Kinds of Customers	6
	First Things First-Dispelling an Important Customer Service Myth	8
	Understanding What Customers Want	9
	About This Book	13
Chapter 2	Customer Service Tools and Techniques	16
	Above and Beyond the Call of Duty	19
	Acknowledge Customer's Needs	19
	Acknowledging Without Encouraging	20
	Active Listening	20
	Admitting Mistakes	21
	Allowing Venting	21
	Apologize	22
	Appropriate Nonverbals	22
	Appropriate Smiles	22
	Arranging Follow-Up	23
	Assurances of Effort	23
	Assurances of Results	24
	Audience Removal	24
	Bonus Buyoff	24
	Broken Record	24
	Closing Interactions Positively	25
	Common Courtesy	25
	Completing Follow-Up	26
	Contact Security/Authorities/Management	26
	Disengaging	27
	Distraction	28
	Empathy Statements	28
	Expediting	29
	Expert Recommendations	29
	Explain Reasoning or Actions	29
	Face-Saving Out	30
	Finding Agreement Points	31
	Finishing Off/Following Up	31
	Isolate/Detach Customer	31
	Leveling	31
	Managing Height Differentials/Nonverbals	32
	Managing Interpersonal Distance	32
	Not Taking the Bait	34
	Offering Choices/Empowering	34
	Plain Language	35
	Preemptive Strike	35
	Privacy and Confidentiality	36
	Probing Questions	36
	Pros and Cons	37
	Providing Alternatives	37
	Providing a Customer Takeaway	38
	Providing Explanations	38
	Questioning Instead of Stating	39
	Referral to Supervisor	39
	Referral to Third Party	40
	Refocus	41
	Setting Limits	41
	Some People Think That (Neutral Mode)	43
	Stop Sign-Nonverbal	43
	Suggest an Alternative to Waiting	44
	Summarize the Conversation	44
	Telephone Silence	45
	Thank-Yous	46
	Timeout	46
	Use Customer's Name	46
	Use of Timing with Angry Customers	47
	Verbal Softeners	47
	Voice Tone-Emphatic	48
	When Question	48
	You're Right!	49
Part 2	Dealing with Specific Customer Situations	51
1	When You Are Late or Know You Will Be Late	53
2	When a Customer Is in a Hurry	56
3	When a Customer Jumps Ahead in a Line of Waiting Customers	58
4	When a Customer Asks to Be Served Ahead of Other Waiting Customers	60
5	When a Customer Interrupts a Discussion Between the Employee and Another Customer	62
6	When a Customer Has a Negative Attitude About Your Company Due to Past Experiences	64
7	When You Need to Explain a Company Policy or Procedure	67
8	When a Customer Might Be Mistrustful	70
9	When the Customer Has Been Through Voicemail Hell	73
10	When a Customer Is Experiencing a Language Barrier	76
11	When the Customer Has Been "Buck-Passed"	79
12	When a Customer Needs to Follow a Sequence of Actions	81
13	When the Customer Insults Your Competence	83
14	When a Customer Won't Stop Talking on the Phone	85
15	When the Customer Swears or Yells in Person #1	87
16	When the Customer Swears or Yells in Person #2	90
17	When a Customer Won't Stop Talking and Is Getting Abusive on the Phone #1	93
18	When a Customer Won't Stop Talking and Is Getting Abusive on the Phone #2	96
19	When a Customer Has Been Waiting in a Line	99
20	When You Don't Have the Answer	101
21	When Nobody Handy Has the Answer	105
22	When You Need to Place a Caller on Hold	108
23	When You Need to Route a Customer Phone Call	111
24	When You Lack the Authority to ...	114
25	When a Customer Threatens to Go over Your Head	116
26	When a Customer Demands to Speak with Your Supervisor	118
27	When a Customer Demands to Speak with Your Supervisor, Who Isn't Available	121
28	When a Customer Threatens to Complain to the Press	123
29	When a Customer Demands to Speak to the "Person in Charge"	126
30	When a Customer Makes an Embarrassing Mistake	130
31	When a Customer Withholds Information Due to Privacy Concerns	133
32	When a Customer Threatens Bodily Harm or Property Damage	136
33	When a Customer Is Confused About What He or She Wants or Needs	140
34	When a Customer Makes a Racist Remark	143
35	When a Customer Makes a Sexist Remark	146
36	When a Customer Refuses to Leave	149
37	When a Customer Accuses You of Racism	152
38	When a Customer Plays One Employee off Another ("So-and-So Said")	155
39	When a Customer Might Be Stealing	159
40	When a Customer Is Playing to an Audience of Other Customers	161
41	When a Customer Exhibits Passive-Aggressive Behavior	164
42	When a Customer Uses Nonverbal Attempts to Intimidate	167
43	When a Customer Makes Persistent and Frequent Phone Calls	170
44	When Someone Else Is Not Responding (No Callback)	173
45	When You Need to Clarify Commitments	177
46	When a Customer Wants Information You Are Not Allowed to Give	180
47	When a Customer Makes a Suggestion to Improve Service	182
48	When You Can't Find a Customer's Reservation/Appointment	185
49	When Your Are Following Up on a Customer Complaint	188
50	Properly Identifying the Internal Customer	191
51	When an Internal Customer Isn't Following Procedures to Request Service	194
52	When the Customer Wants Something That Won't Fill His Need	197
53	When You Want Feedback from the Customer	200
54	When a Customer Complains About Red Tape and Paperwork	203
55	When You Need to Respond to a Customer Complaint Made in Writing	206
56	When a Reservation/Appointment Is Lost and You Cannot Meet the Commitment	209
57	When Customers Are Waiting in a Waiting Room	212
58	When a Customer Complains About a Known Problem	215
59	When a Customer Asks Inappropriate Questions	217
60	When a Customer Tries an Unacceptable Merchandise Return	219