Youโll find this phrase said by business strategists all over the world as they explain the importance of psychology in business. The phrase is pithy, catchy, and itโs also true. Normally when this phrase is used its concerning sales, but it works for customer service too. While sales teams need to make customers connect with the product, customer service teams make customers connect with the company. With deliberate and sincere use of psychological influencing techniques, you can turn an unhappy customer into a happy one, and even stem negative feelings before they begin.
One study found that 84% of customers said that their last customer service interaction did not exceed their expectations. This can happen for many reasons, but not effectively connecting with your customers is a key reason and thatโs what inspired us to make this listโฆ
Why Sincerity is Important
People tend to get a little uncomfortable when talking about psychology when it comes to persuasion and influence. This discomfort stems from the belief that if you are acting deliberately rather than off-the-cuff, then your actions arenโt sincere. And if youโre not being sincere, then you must be trying to manipulate. In truth, manipulation is exactly what youโre doing. Manipulation has negative connotations because nefarious individuals often manipulate people for their own gain, a gain that is often detrimental to the person being manipulated.
However, at its most basic, manipulation just means the skillful handling of a situation for a desired outcome. This outcome can be good for you, and good for the customer. This is exactly the kind of manipulation weโre interested in. The kind that benefits everyone involved in the buying journey, the customer and the business.
This is where sincerity comes into the equation. Your customer service agents should sincerely want to help the customer โ thatโs likely why you hired them! However, even with the best of intentions, customer service agents can make mistakes. They may accidentally say the wrong thing, use the wrong tone, or use awkward phrasing. All of these actions can derail the customer-agent interaction into something negative and result in a poorย customer experience. This is ultimately what we want to avoid, and this is why following psychology tips is so helpful.
Language is Everything
When we say language, we mean the words you choose, your tone, and what message these invoke in the customer. Youโd be surprised how similar-sounding phrases can spark totally different emotions in people. Several of these points will focus on the language and tone should use with customers because this is where your success lies. According to many psychology studies, 55% of communication is body language, 38% is the tone of voice, and 7% is spoken words.
When it comes to customer service, your agents will likely be cut off from one element of that communication, and maybe even two. Customer service agents who talk on the phone canโt rely on body language at all, they can only rely on tone of voice and spoken words. For agents responding to customers on Live Chat orย SMS, they can only utilize the spoken word. When you cut out elements of this communication equation, you need to be much more careful with the parts you do have. Put simply, if the spoken word is all you have, then you canโt afford to get it wrong.
10 Winning Customer Service Psychology Tips You Can Adopt to Dominate Your Industry
1. Focus On What You Can Do For the Customer
Always focus on what you can do for the customer, rather than what they can do for you. Customers arenโt really interested in your achievements as a company, your success stats, and other things of this nature. If they are calling your company, itโs because they are experiencing an issue that is personal, and they expect a personal response. They want to know how you are going to solve the problem, so this should be your primary focus.
2. Write As You Speak
If youโre talking to customers over a messaging platform, then write as you would speak if you were talking to them on the phone or in person. Your language should be conversational and informal. Customers want to talk to humans, not robots. Even when they talk to robots, they want them to feel human, so donโt talk like a corporate robot.
3. Use โWeโ instead of โYouโ
If youโre helping a customer complete a task, always use โweโ rather than โyouโ. For example, letโs pretend youโre helping a customer log into their account for the first time. You should say โFirst we need to go to login portalโ rather than โyou need to go to the login portalโ. This is a subtle difference, but it makes the customer feel like you are invested in the solution to their problem. It makes them feel like youโre tackling the problem together, rather than instructing them on how to do it alone.
4. Always Use the Customerโs Name
In customer-agent interactions, itโs common to clarify the customerโs name when starting the conversion. However, thereโs another important reason to use a customerโs name outside of the initial introductions. When people hear their name, they pay attention and they feel validated and important. You might need to clarify their full name initially, but after this, you should just use their first name because itโs more personal and intimate.
Now, of course, you should abuse this tip โ donโt say the customerโs name at the end of every sentence, but rather slip it in every now and again. This will draw the customerโs focus firmly back to the interaction and let them know that youโve invested in them as a person. You want to make customers believe that you see them as a person and a valued customer, not just another number.
5. Use Positive and Confident Language
If a customer is contacting customer service, then they are likely experiencing some level of anxiety about your company or product. Maybe something isnโt working, maybe they canโt get into their account, or maybe theyโre confused about something. They are calling you because they expect you to solve the issue so itโs of paramount importance that you convey that you absolutely can help them. You should avoid using vague or uncertain language because this will make the customerโs anxiety levels increase.
6. Show Empathy
Showingย empathyย is critical to strike a connection with the customer. You should listen to their problem carefully and validate their feelings. One way to do this is to use empathy statements. Here are a few examples:
- โI appreciate your patience.โ
- โI understand your frustration.โ
- โThank you for taking the time to talk to us today.โ
- โYour business means a lot to us.โ
- โYou are totally right.โ
- โIโd feel the same if I was in your position.โ
- โYou might find X helpful.โ
7. Be an Active Listener, Not a Passive Listener
Active listening is when you fully hear and comprehend what someone else is saying. Itโs easy to get distracted by our own thoughts, especially when weโre talking to customers all day. However, itโs essential that you actively listen at all times and display this to your customers. Here are some active listening tips:
- Repeat the customerโs issue back to them. This serves two purposes. Firstly, you can make sure you understand the problem and that you havenโt missed anything. Secondly, it shows the customer that you were paying attention to them and that youโre invested in combating the problem.
- Try not to interrupt the customer unless itโs necessary. To be a successful active listener, you need to let the customer finish explaining their problem in their own words. Once theyโve finished, you can respond, but try not to interrupt them mid-sentence. This one can be a little tricky because obviously, you donโt want to be locked into a conversation where a customer is rambling and getting off-topic. If the customer starts to go off-topic, you can interrupt to repeat their issue and try to offer next steps.
8. Use Door Openers, not Door Slammers
This ties into the previous point on active listening, but itโs important enough that it requires its own section. Door openers are phrases you can say that show that you are actively listening and encourage the customer to continue talking. Door openers also put people at ease and make them feel more validated, both of which are extremely important when trying to build a connection. Door slammers are phrases that cut off the exchange and invoke a negative emotion in the customer. Here are some examples.
Door Openers:
โThatโs a good question.โ
โDo you want me to look into this for you?โ
โI can see why thatโs bothering youโ
โI appreciate you bringing this to our attentionโ
You should also use โminimal encouragersโ. These are phrases that show youโre still listening without you interrupting the customerโs flow. Examples of minimal encouragers are โum hm,โ โI understand,โ โthen?โ โOh?โ.
Door Slammers
Asking the customer โwhy?โ can make them feel defensive. If the customer is explaining their issue and you have figured out where they have gone wrong, you shouldnโt question why they took those actions or tell them what they should have done. People donโt like to be criticized, even when they can accept that they made a mistake. It makes people feel inadequate and sometimes even personally attacked, even when it wasnโt meant that way. This is just part of human nature and something weโre all guilty of. Instead of saying โyou should have done thisโ, you can say โwhy donโt we try Xโ. Even when you have to explain where the customer has gone wrong, itโs important to stress that it isnโt their fault and still make them feel validated.
9. Respond Quickly and Be Available
Nothing will make a customer feel more unappreciated than being ignored. When talking to customers, you must respond quickly to their questions, and if you need to take longer to reply, let the customer know that youโll be a few minutes. Equally, itโs important to be available for customers at all times. This can be trickier for smaller businesses, but with the support of 2020 technology, itโs doable for businesses of all sizes.ย Chatbotsย are an excellent way to still provide customer service to your customers outside of your core operating hours.
10. Be Reliable
You want your customers to know that they can rely on your company to meet their needs. This includes swiftly solving their problems when they arise. Here are a few ways you can become a reliable business in the eyes of your customers.
- Resolve issues during the first interaction. Whenever possible you should aim to solve the customerโs issues during your first interaction with them. The majority of problems can be fixed quickly, so you should aim to fix them while youโre talking to the customer. If a customer has to wait for you to solve the issue another time, they will be feeling anxiety until the issue is resolved. The more time that passes, the more anxiety is felt.
- Identify their needs. Itโs important to keep the conversation focused on the customerโs needs. This means you should repeatedly clarify the issue and repeat it when youโre doing to solve it. This must be done organically otherwise it can come across as unnatural and stunted. However, when done successfully, itโs a great way to remind the customer that they are your priority.
- Ask if thereโs anything else you can help them with. Customers donโt want to feel that youโre rushing them on so you can get onto the next customer. They want to feel like youโre working with them to solve their issues and that youโre willing to put the time and energy into helping them. When you have solved their original issue, you should always ask if thereโs anything else you can help them with before ending the conversation.
