Every novice call center operator is always puzzled by the question of how to make communication with customers more pleasant. And it is important at every stage of communication – whether it is the beginning of a conversation or presentation of a product for sale, and most importantly – in conflict situations, where without the skills of pleasant communication operator will be extremely difficult to switch the attention of the client from the problem to its solution. All this requires a certain skill that makes communication with customers in any of the situations as pleasant as possible.
How not to become a slave of other people’s emotions
You have probably faced a situation when an online store or some service center did not fulfill its promises. If your future plans depended on their actions, and you have already calculated everything according to time and budget, and the company let you down – this will undoubtedly cause you negativity. In this case, you start to call, write to online chat – in short, do everything you can to somehow influence the situation. And if suddenly an operator gets in your way, this person will be the first person on whose head the barrage of your indignation will fall. Such a simple picture to the operator of the incoming line should always keep in mind when a customer with a complaint approaches him. In this case, making a promise with the customer pleasant can only be done with the help of certain techniques, but the very first thing to remember is that you should never go along with the emotions of your interlocutor. After all, if you both give in to emotions – who then will solve the problem that has arisen? This is worth remembering, and therefore, if you can not solve the problem yourself or you really do not have the appropriate authority – gently inform the client about it. At the same time, without hanging up the phone, be sure to tell him the possible solutions – do not wait for the client to interrogate you himself. If you can’t solve the problem, try to connect the customer to someone who can – a senior manager, supervisor or department head. Most market research has shown that customers, when approached with a problem or request, would like to have their issue resolved after the first call. And mind you, putting yourself in their shoes, it’s very hard to argue with that. Of course, this approach requires from the customer of call center services a clear scheme of actions, within which the operators will be able to make decisions or redirect the client to the employee responsible for solving such situations. At the same time, it is worth remembering that it is unnecessary to argue – pleasant communication with the customer does not imply confrontation. In most situations, when the problem happened due to the fault of employees, the best solution will be to apologize on behalf of the company. Sometimes, that’s exactly what the customer wants from you – a simple admission of guilt.
A few tips for critical situations
When communicating with a client, never forget about the meaning of the words you say. Do not use phrases that indicate your uncertainty: “I think”, “I assume”, “I think”, “I think”, “maybe” – all these sayings sooner or later will lead you into a dead end. Just like when you try to convince the person on the other side of the phone line using the word “true”, “really” – so there may be a question about the truthfulness of everything you have told the client before: “and before that everything was not true?”. You don’t want to tell the client to be unsure, much less use a word that reinforces that position. Whether you are selling over the phone or taking a call from a customer – instead of making assumptions, talk about the offer and solution, use concise phrases and forget about uncertainty-generating words. If the client is upset and his speech is constantly overflowing with foul language, in no case should you switch to personalities. It is clear that in this situation he is not insulting the operator who is talking to him, he is just trying to vent his negative emotions on someone – don’t get involved. In this case, every call center should be provided with appropriate instructions, which should contain clauses regarding in what situations the operator has the right to hang up. As a rule, they include threats of personal violence, constant foul language with no desire to listen to the operator and so on. All this should be agreed upon in advance, otherwise it will be difficult for the operator to understand the line that the client should not cross. After all, to take and simply hang up the phone at the moment when the client speaks, at first glance, seems to be a wrong decision, which in fact may entail even the dismissal of the operator for such willful steps. Nevertheless, critical situations do happen, and any communication with customers is not immune to this.