By Darren Ong Chun Yew
There are all kinds of customers that businesses and entrepreneurs have to deal with whether they like it or not. You will never get a second chance to make a good first impression.
When someone contacts your company for the first time and that stranger feel wanted and appreciated, it can turn him or her into a lifetime supporter for your service or product offerings – whether he buys or not. Dealing with them requires skills and here we list down three essentials when meeting customers.
Be patient and kind
Customers who often encounter problems will definitely not be a friendly face to deal with. At this point, they are feeling dissatisfied, confused and sometimes betrayed. When a customer refers to anyone in the business, they are in actual fact looking for a problem solver. As the problem solver, we have to be attentive and listen to all their rants. By being attentive, customers will feel attended to and this gives them a good vibe about the company. When they are done with their rants, look for ways to assist them, even if they don’t ask for help and follow up to ensure that the customer is satisfied with the outcome of the meeting.
Use positive language
Most conflicts begin when the arrangement of message, voice tone and body language is wrongly portrayed to the customer. You need to stay calm and influence others even when things get a little hectic. Spoken and body language is a very important part of persuasion, and customers create perceptions about you and your company based on the language that you use.
Here’s an example: Customer XXX calls to inform that the book that they bought have defects and your company does not have the stock to replace and it will only be available next month.
Negative Message: I understand your problem but we do not have the capacity to replace your book. Please call back again next month.
Positive Message: We are sorry for the inconvenience caused to you and we are able to replace your product next month. Please leave me your details and we will send it to you as soon as we receive the product.
Clear Communication Skills
You need to be cautious about your communication habits which will be directed to customers. The details and procedures that the customers have to go through have to be clear and precise. Make sure that you take time to confirm with customers that all their issues they have are entirely resolved. This will ensure that the customers feel that you care about their problems and that you are sincere that you want to help them with it.
Sources: CustomerServiceExperts, HelpScout, Desk, SmallBusiness, Entrepreneur
