In keeping with our theme of improving and delivering exceptional service and how small changes will build deeper relationships with our clients, I unexpectedly fell down a rabbit hole when researching the word tone; more on that later.
The first interaction we have with our clients is listening to them explain why they have come to us–whether it is a scheduled service or an unexpected issue. This means the first thing we all need to focus on improving (and it is a constant improvement, not something anyone ever completely masters), is active listening. In a nutshell, it is giving a client your undivided attention, understanding their needs, providing feedback, and deferring judgment. Whether in-person or over the phone, these key elements are critical to actively listening, and the benefits are improved client satisfaction, enhanced relationships, reduced misunderstanding and conflict. This allows your technicians to have better information to solve issues more effectively.
We talked last month about always smiling while on the phone, and here are some other basics:
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Pay attention: Multi-tasking is off-limits when interacting with clients. You are not paying attention if you are doing three things while they are talking.
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Make eye contact: Looking people in the eye is one of the most essential elements in making someone feel like you are hearing them.
- Use verbal and non-verbal cues to show you are engaged in the conversation: Nodding, body language and eye contact are critical elements.
- Ask clarifying questions: To ensure you are capturing what they are trying to explain to you. Feel free to email me and ask for my easily printable noise sheet; you can laminate it and hand it to a client when they have trouble articulating a specific noise. This form is also helpful for clarity within your shop and consistency across job functions.
- Paraphrase and summarize: Reading your summary back to the client ensures you truly understood what they were explaining and assures them that you will communicate their concern to your team and that you care about solving any challenges for them.
- Avoid using industry jargon or acronyms: While you know what you are talking about, using phrases that your clients may not know will only alienate them. My friend Carm Capriotto has a great resource for shifting our industry vocabulary by using words like testing vs. diagnostic, vehicle performance inspection vs. DVI, and service rate over labor rate.
- Empathize and validate: Conveying that you understand someone's frustration surrounding challenges helps a client feel more comfortable and at ease. This one is sometimes tough, especially when something as simple as a flat tire (to you) feels like the end of the world to the client. We have no idea what else is going on in people's lives, and a simple bulb being out could be the one thing that sends them over their tolerance edge.
- Defer judgment: We have all heard it in our shops, "That person is an idiot!" Please remove this junk from your vocabulary. People can feel it when you are speaking to them (even over the phone).
That leads us to the next step in delivering exceptional service–how we communicate, more specifically our tone. But this was a lot, so let’s take some time to digest all of it, and we’ll discuss our communication and tone next month.
