OTHER PAGE

She Ain't Heavy

I hate to generalize, but I am beginning to think that service givers are suffering from a disease I call E.D.S. – Empathy Deficiency Syndrome. Some of the symptoms of this annoying disease include apathy and an amazing ability to look right at a customer and not see a thing. In this article, I'll give you some techniques to fight customer service apathy by bringing the customer to life...most are inexpensive, if not free, and will do wonders to boost service and morale.

I got into the town car that would be taking me to Kennedy airport yesterday and the driver picked up his walkie-talkie to check in with his dispatcher.

“48 is heavy,” he said, and then repeated, “48 is heavy.”

Not being able to resist the teachable moment, from the back seat I mustered up a weak joke. “Okay, okay, I may have eaten a little too much lasagna over the weekend, but do you have to call me heavy?”

“What?” he said, not getting the joke, “That’s just how we talk, I needed to let the dispatcher know I had picked you up and we were on our way.”

“I know,” I replied, “but there have to be lots of ways you can say it, that don’t sound, uh, quite so, you know, insulting."

“My guest is in the car.”
“I’ve got Ms. Brandi in the car and we’re on our way.”
“I’ve picked up our customer,” all have a slightly different ring than “48 is heavy.”

So many businesses have the bad habit of de-personalizing the customer’s experience. The medical industry comes immediately to mind. “We’ve got 10 scans today.” “Where’s the appendectomy?” “Where’s my next x-ray?”

You get the point. What kind of jargon do you use that turns the customer into a package, a process or a procedure? What words do you use daily that takes away from the “real-ness” of the human beings entrusted to your care. Language creates reality. They’re human beings, not just humans buying.

Today’s tip: raise your customer sensitivity quotient by watching for anything you do that de-personalizes the relationship with the customer. Your mom was right — watch your language!

JoAnna Brandi is Publisher of the Customer Care Coach® a weekly training program on mastering "The Art and Science of Exquisite Customer Care." She is the author of books such as "Winning at Customer Retention - 101 Ways to Keep 'em Happy, Keep 'em Loyal, and Keep 'em Coming Back" and "Building Customer Loyalty - 21 Essential Elements in ACTION."

A Speaker and consultant, she is publisher of the bi-weekly Customer Care Tips Bulletin. To receive her free bi-weekly tips bulletin, sign up at www.returnonhappiness.com. You can also reach JoAnna at 561-279-0027 or e-mail joanna@customercarecoach.com.