A Saturday night dinner reservation was made for 6:30pm with a party of 10 for indoor seating at a small yet bustling Italian restaurant in the city.
Well, there’s been a little change in plans.
My friend picks up her phone and dials to the restaurant only a couple hours prior to the reservation.
“Hi, is it possible can we change our reservation to be closer to 7pm, for 8 people, at an outdoor table?”
I watch my friend smile and say, “OK, thanks! See you soon!” and hang up.
“What did they say?” I ask.
She laughs, “She said, ‘sure, anything’s possible, darlin’!'”
I immediately think of Audrey Hepburn’s quote, “Nothing is impossible. The word itself says “I’m Possible”.
There are many distinct lines that determine good and bad customer service and personally, I think one of them is:
Possibilities
As a customer service representative, our job is to check to see what is possible and figure out a way to make it a reality. This can be anything from creating a custom pricing plan for a customer to taking extra time to resolve a huge problem. Possibilities open doors for our customers, helping build trust with our business. As a customer service representative, possibilities allow us to work with one on one with our customer, get to know them and instill a great “can do” attitude within ourselves. It shows we are owning the issue with the customer and working until it’s resolved.
No one likes this one liner:
“We can’t do that.”
SLAM! Door shut. End of story.
But, what if you heard this line:
“It’s possible we CAN do that. Let me check to find solutions for you.”
Today, I encourage you to look outside the box and create possibilities for YOUR customers and YOUR customer service team. Encourage creativity and that “I’m Possible” attitude.
