Avast me hearties! Alas, it is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, one of me favorite days of t’ year. Before I go drink a jug o’ grog with me mateys, me wants t’ set sail on another type of chatter–that of the mighty customer service buccaneer! Those swashbucklers do know how t’ becalm t’ wild seas and make ye problems walk t’ plank.
I may tell ye plainly, if ye desire to speak the tongue of customer service, ye must put away yer lily-livered fears and leap on board! Ye ready? Arrrrggggg!
If ye wish t’ learn t’ speak like a pirate, take this course!
Had enough? Alright, I’ll let the pirate speak go…for now!
But really, Talk Like a Pirate Day got me thinking about the unique ways we Talk Like a Customer Service Agent. What are the most common words and phrases we use? Tone of voice? I know for me personally, I am told that as soon as I pick up a customer call, my entire voice changes–most often, I speak slower yet higher pitched (not sure why…maybe something else to examine).
I thought about the most common words and phrases that we say on a daily basis to customers. We talk about saying “no” and “yes” often. But, what else is there? I did some digging, thought about what I say and what I hear others say, and started to compile this list. I plan to keep building on this and would love to hear what you’d like to see on the list. These are pretty basic–but, how great would it be to have a reference available for everyone in customer service with basic, creative and unique words and phrases to incorporate into their daily customer experience?
- Thank you for calling.
- How may I help you?
- How are you doing today?
- Let me see what I can do.
- I’m sorry.
- I don’t know but I will find out.
- What I can do for you right now is…
- I will keep you updated.
- We appreciate your business/feedback.
- I can solve this problem for you.
- Let me show you how to do this.
- I appreciate your patience.
- I will escalate this to our management/engineering/technical team.
- Definitely!
- Awesome!
- Certainly!
- I absolutely agree with you.
- I apologize for the inconvenience.
- I completely understand the situation.
- I assure you that we will fix this.
- I recommend
- I will/can
- It is my pleasure to assist you.
- You have my word
Great list of phrases that could apply equally well to sales professionals and anyone in customer-facing jobs.
I still remember a car sales rep from several years ago. I blogged about “Joe” because he said “It’s my pleasure” several times and really seemed to mean it.
I would add that communicating the phrases with sincerity and empathy is also key. Just robotically saying the words is not enough.
Bob, thank you very much for your comment! You’re SO right—the way that these phrases are communicated is absolutely key. I love the story of Joe—that’s impressive for a car salesman to have that priority!