In today’s business/corporate/entrepreneurial paradigms, businesses need to adapt and embrace a new mindset when it comes to customer service. There was a time, not far gone, when consultants, instructors, mentors, and executives of every stripe excitedly embraced the idea of using the results of psychological research to pressure, cajole, persuade, and even compel potential customers.
“This is fantastic,” these leaders thought, “We don’t have to worry about product innovation and quality, genuine service to the customer, and corporate culture anymore. Just start talking as if the decision to buy were already made. Bring them into your office and behave authoritatively. Offer incentives for referrals, and follow up aggressively. Play on the need most people have to avoid confrontation.”
They published sales handbooks that were kept secret because they were, well, frankly despicable. The entire mindset was adversarial – “Customers are liars and are out to impoverish us, so we’ll do it to them first.”
We still hear, and still pretend to agree with, that old saying that It’s just business, as if that platitude can excuse just about any antisocial behavior.
Those days are fading. Online shopping has a lot to do with that. Why go try and find an authentic salesperson who see’s you as more than a mark, when you can do your own research and make the purchase without ever enduring a face-to-face interaction?
And yet, the pendulum also swings back. It turns out that we like in-person conversations, when they serve both parties. We like to talk and chat. We like to shop local and support the time and talent of our neighbors.
And so, genuine, authentic customer service is more important than ever. Today’s customers crave connection. They want to be treated respectfully and known like friends.
It’s time to shift our focus from artificiality to authenticity in customer interactions. Here are the top five tips for modern customer service.
- Build Trust through Transparency: Customers value honesty and transparency more than ever before. Be open about your products or services, and seek to educate rather than manipulate. By emphasizing trustworthiness, you can establish lasting relationships built on mutual respect. Even if a purchase does not happen, people remember being treated well, and are likely to return, and/or to refer their friends and family.
- Listen Actively: Instead of bombarding customers with sales pitches, take the time to be genuinely curious about their needs and concerns. Active listening allows you to understand their unique preferences, desires, and pain points. After you’ve put in the effort to understand, you can do your best to help them. Treat customers as individuals.
- Cultivate Empathy: Authenticity thrives on empathy. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. What if a close friend had sent this person to you, specifically, to be helped? How would that change how you treat them?
- Draw boundaries, and stick to them. You aren’t there to be a sycophant, servant, or punching bag. Use politeness to encourage politeness, and protect yourself from toxicity in a firm, respectful manner. “It sounds like you’re having a hard day and you’ve had some really frustrating interactions. I’d like you to know that I am truly trying to help you, so let’s try and be polite to each other.”
If they don’t want to do that, send them somewhere else. Not only does this establish authenticity (which is fundamentally two-sided), but it maintains your own energy and sense of yourself – you need that to keep being open and helpful throughout the day.
- Provide Proactive Service: Anticipate and resolve issues before they become problems for your customers. By being proactive, you can surprise people with exceptional service and personalized recommendations, exceeding their expectations. For example, if you know set-up can be a bit tricky, you can recommend an online guide or video you like, or even offer to sit down for a few minutes to walk through any initial concerns.
One of the issues that the old ‘tricks and tactics’ methodology ignored is that psychological research has also shown that people tend to be naturally good at discerning between genuine care and artificial sales tactics. Nobody likes to feel they’ve been taken advantage of. Embrace authenticity by building trust, listening actively, cultivating empathy, respecting yourself, and providing proactive service. By doing so, you will foster strong and long-lasting relationships with your customers, leading to loyalty and long-term success.
