We sure hear a lot about organizational culture. It would be nice if people were nicer to each other at work. I believe these interactions between coworkers affect customer service.

One of my favorite books on customer service is “Great Customer Service On the Telephone” written by Kristin Anderson. The book recommends that you think in advance about the words you will, and won’t use to ensure that your message creates the best experience possible. Here are some examples:
Instead of saying, “What took you so long? Why didn’t you call back sooner.”
Which, of course, we wouldn’t say to a customer…but we would probably say it to a coworker. This creates a customer service culture. Replace that with “Thanks for returning my call.”

Instead of saying, “He went to buy another candy bar.” Again, we wouldn’t say that to a customer, but we would probably say it to a coworker. This diminishes our customer service culture. Be more professional by saying, “He’s not in his office at the moment.”

Instead of saying, “Is that it?” replace that with “Will there be anything else?”
Again, these comments create a customer service culture.

Also, instead of saying, “It’s the policy…so what can I do?” focus on being more positive by saying, “Here’s what I can do for you.”

Instead of saying, “I don’t know” replace that with something like, “The person that handles that is Rachel. Let me get her on the line.”

Oh yeah, the one that gets me is when people say, “No Problem.” Drives me crazy. No is a negative word and problem is a negative word. And it implies that normally this would be a problem. Brainstorm some better responses like, “It will be my pleasure.” “Consider it done.” “I would love to.” “Absolutely…great idea.”

If we would treat each other as well as we do our customers, we would probably be happier at work and that could make us more engaging with our customers. Imagine…creating a world-class customer service culture.

If you want to create a world-class customer service culture…contact me at kit@welchlin.com and I will provide a presentation packed with ideas and strategies to help make the dream a reality.