Last week we identified some of the customer service challenges we all face as technology advances, interactive and automated platforms increase and improve and our customers expectations are raised ever-higher.
But if we’re all using similar tools like social media, apps, live chat, forums etc. then it very quickly becomes the “norm” for customers. The service bar is certainly raised as communication and service options are increased and cost-savings established for routine interactions but, really speaking, aren’t we just back at “square one” – endeavouring to establish that truly unique sales/service proposition (USP)?
As the technological train rumbles on we here at FIT continue to maintain that truly emotional customer loyalty will only truly be created through direct interaction with our frontline agents – “people buy people first” and it’s at this point of truth that we have the best opportunity to create real brand “fans” who will keep coming back for more of the same time and time again.
To quote Maya Angelou; “People (in this case our customers) will often forget what we say to them, forget what we did for them but they rarely forget how we made them FEEL.” I’d challenge anybody to say, within a customer service context, they’d had a deeply emotional experience/feeling during a Live Chat session, text update or Facebook post. Maybe it’s me but if you have then we need to talk!
Accepting that our people are our only true USP we’re continuing to look at those ideas and conversational techniques they should be adopting to ensure a positive, memorable experience for each and every caller. This week we’re sharing a video that looks at, what we call, Second Option Technique http://bit.ly/2k77X8R – a simple method to implement whereby we offer our customer choice whilst increasing the likelihood of them accepting the option we’d prefer. It’s another of those small, 1% changes to our own way of thinking that delivers a 100% difference to the way our conversations land “down the line”.
Try it and be sure you let us know how you get on.
Enjoy and Keep FIT!
