David Leal's Library tagged relationships →  View Popular

• Empathize. Become an advocate, an ally for your customer, not an adversary. She sympathetically saw the humor in the situation, yet she took seriously the problem.
• Take ownership of the situation. Do whatever is within your power to fix the problem. If you’re the boss, empower your employees to do the same. She  didn’t pass me off to another department. Didn’t say, let me get back to you. She fixed it. Right then.
• Lessen the customer’s inconvenience in body, mind, and currency. The last thing your customer wants is a recitation of shoulds and shouldn’ts from your company’s return policy. She understood the importance to me of having the correct lenses and she made true on her promise to provide a quick resolution. Plus, she gave me a $5 discount. It’s not much, but where do you think I’ll place my next order for contacts?
• Manage the memory of the customer. Take the sting out of a negative experience. When I got off the phone with Tracee, my wife asked, “What are you smiling about.” I’m sure I’ll be telling this story in the future wearing the same idiotic grin.
• Extend the experience. Offer an invitation, an enticement, a reason for your customer to return. Think of it as a courtship. A handwritten Thank You Card? Who sends handwritten cards anymore? Exactly.

DO
make the opt-in procedure simple.

DO
swear upon your favorite relative's sainted soul that you
won't share this information in any way without the
customer's permission. If that’s not your policy, then:

DO
make it crystal clear, if you are in the practice of
passing along customer information, that this is what you
do, make clear the details of what, when and with whom,
and give the customer an out if she wants her information
to remain private. Then honor that as if your survival
depends on it (it does!).

DON'T
ask for any more information than you absolutely need,
unless there is some real value to your customer in
providing it.

DO
allow the customer to agree to different mailings from
you, or not. If she agrees to receive a newsletter, that's
the only thing she is expecting from you. You might
have it in mind to send her lots of other stuff too, but
get her permission before you go flooding her with it.
Fail to do this and you are likely to find your customer
opting-out.

DO
provide immediate visual confirmation that the
opt-in procedure (or opt-out procedure) was completed
successfully.

DO
follow up with a e-mail confirmation that includes:

·
your
appreciation

·
the
information the customer provided

·
a
reminder of what the customer has subscribed to or
requested

·
your
contact information

·
how
to unsubscribe if the confirmation was sent in error

DON'T
opt for double opt-ins.

·
When
you are responding to a customer-generated query,
address the reply to the customer: Dear Grok or Hi
Grok or Whuz Happenin' Grok.

·
Provide
a personalized response to a personalized question. If
the FAQ didn't work the first time, why should the
customer have confidence it is going to work the
second time? Sometimes, in the name of service, you've
got to repeat yourself.

·
Always
have a functioning reply address in any communication
you send, particularly if you want your customer to
resolve something.

·
Have
a human being who sounds like a human being respond.

·
If
you are in the process of resolving a problem with a
customer, don't send additional "or else"
letters until you know the disposition of the first
attempt.

·
Have
a way folks can call to speak with a real human when
the going gets tough.

Incorporate Live Chat into your persuasion scenarios as a flexible
>
point of resolution
>
and plan ahead for whatever customers may need next, AFTER the chat. If they are asking about bidding, explain it to them. Then, if you know the next step is signing up for an account, say, " If you'd like to bid on an item, first you'll need to sign up for an account. Can I help you with that?" If they ask about the authenticity of an item, you might say, "We have a 100% authenticity guarantee on all our items. Our experts make sure you're getting the real thing. Is there a particular item you are interested in?" If they answer yes, you can follow up with, "If you have any questions on our bidding process, please let me know. We have two ways to bid. I'd be happy to explain our process."
>

Choose your wording carefully so you don't seem pushy. Your goal is to appear helpful and considerate should your customers wish to take the next step. Persuasive scenarios are all about anticipating their next need. But you need to acknowledge that the customer is in control the whole time and can choose whether to proceed.

• Repeat the customer's question in the customer's own words. There's nothing quite like knowing the person you are talking to is actually paying attention!

• Avoid technospeak.

• Make every reply relevant to the customer's question or explanation.