Great customer service is the key to customer loyalty and a growing business. Provide bad service and you may lose a customer for life. Ron Burley from Inc.com gives insight to the top five phrases customers hate hearing and offers alternatives to keep these phrases from damaging your reputation and your bottom line.<\/p>\n
1: \u201cThat\u2019s our policy.\u201d<\/strong> Everyone has probably heard this while trying to return something, but it will almost never end the dispute \u2013 it will only add fuel to the fire. Customers don\u2019t care what your policy is; they only care that you\u2019ve sold them a defective product or service and they want some kind of reimbursement. \u201c\u2018That\u2019s our policy\u2019 might save a current sale, though all future business will likely be lost,\u201d says Burley.<\/p>\n 2: \u201cThere\u2019s nothing I can do.\u201d<\/strong> There is always something that can be done, even if you can\u2019t do it directly. Lower level employees can call a manager, for instance. Or managers can give employees the power to defuse situations on their own. \u201cFocus your team on problem solving rather than problem diverting,\u201d says Burley. \u201cGive them the freedom to find creative alternatives. Reward them for innovative solutions and brushfires doused.\u201d
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\n3: \u201cWould you mind holding for a moment?\u201d<\/strong> While you may be asking them politely, you\u2019re still putting them on hold. \u201cBetter to be specific and direct. \u2018I\u2019m going to put you on hold while speak with my supervisor, and I\u2019ll check back with you in a minute or so if I haven\u2019t an answer by then.\u2019\u2026Considerably more satisfying for your already frustrated customer,\u201d says Burley.<\/p>\n