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· Workforce

Conversation – The Lost Art (part 2 of 2)

Did you enjoy some nice conversations during the holidays? We sure hope you did! Conversations are one of the wonderful ties we have with other human beings.

In the customer service world, where the focus has been on high customer satisfaction scores and positive customer reviews, we often are left with the feeling that the person responsible for delivering the customer service experience is caught in a never-ending cycle of the same questions and the same answers.

In order to create a personalized two-way dialogue with the customer, representatives have to ask good questions and listen to their customers. Most customer service standards require representatives to ask essential questions such as customer name, reason for the call or visit, and what type of assistance they need. How the representative asks these questions is what generates a memorable experience.

Customer Service representatives have to ask mandated questions while wrapped in the art of observing each individual customer and streamlining their communication qualities and word choices to each customer situation. This is not an easy task.

One way to ensure you make a basic informational question into a memorable experience is by using personal prompts and cues. Prompts and cues can help representatives create a memorable experience by asking mandated questions as a conversation starter with the intent to generate a personalized two-way dialogue. One of the best is called Q-A-C. Lovingly referred to as “Quacking”, these prompts allow a representative to ask standardized questions while still personalizing the conversation. Q-A-C stands for: Question - Answer – Comment.

For example:
Question: What will be bringing you to our area?
Answer: We are celebrating our anniversary.
Comment: Congratulations! We are honored that you are choosing to spend your special day with us!

Instead of the usual:
Question: What will be bringing you to our area?
Answer: We are celebrating our anniversary.
Comment: OK, so did you want a room with 1 or 2 beds?

Quacking is just one tool customer service representative can use to meet customer service standards while making the interaction a memorable conversation for the customer. By implementing small tweaks to how customer services standards are delivered, such as Quacking, using conversational word choices, implementing transitions, and the ever-important listening and matching tone of voice, customer service can go from robotic to being truly engaging and legendary.

In our electronic, standardized world, let’s shake it up with just a little engagement. Let’s be rebellious, let’s use our customer service standards to start a conversation, enhance our connections with our customers, and build loyalty through personalization.

No idea how to implement conversational skills into your organisation? Signature Canada is here to help with business and training solutions that promise to be inspiring and fun, to be results-driven and that stick!

Alethea Porter

Signature Canada is a leader in training employees to deliver legendary customer service while increasing sales. Since 1986, Signature’s unique training methodology has provided a measurable ROI for our customers, compelling them to return year after year. We offer Canadian companies, personalized, sustainable and measurable business and training solutions which contribute to optimize income by developing sales and service skills dedicated to create memorable experiences.