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Top 10 Mistakes Employees Make with Customers...and What You Can Do to Prevent Them

In my 20 years of conducting customer service training, I've observed many "sins" of customer contact personnel. Most of the time the problems I've seen are easily corrected once the staff is aware they're doing something wrong. However, managers or owners may not even be aware of what is being said to the customers, so don't know what needs to be corrected...

...so, allow me to be your ears and eyes and report on some of the common mistakes I've noticed, and how you can correct them.

1. Taking the customer for granted.
I've noticed it is common for the employee to forget the expected niceties: "Good morning," "How can I help you?" "Let me check for you," "Thank you," "We appreciate your business." Customers have come to expect these phrases, delivered sincerely, when they are purchasing something. A quick way to make customers go away is to take them for granted and stop showing you appreciate them. Make sure it is clear to your staff that you expect them to show politeness and appreciation toward customers. Give them some leeway on how to express that, so they don't sound like robots. If they go a bit too far -- "Hiya, dude!" -- reel them in by telling them what you'd rather they say.

2. Using jargon; expecting the customer to understand your lingo.
Even when the customers are highly trained professionals, they may not be familiar with your company's acronyms or buzz words. If your company deals with consumers, don't assume they understand industry talk. For example, when an insurance professional says "binder," she means something entirely different than the image the consumer conjures up, which is usually a vision of a three-ring binder! Listen closely to what your people are saying. Or ask someone who doesn't know your business to call and talk to your people. Get them to tell you how they were treated and what words your people used that were confusing.

3. Speaking so fast that the customer has to ask the employee to repeat.
When you hear a customer repeatedly asking your staff member to repeat himself, this is a sign he's speaking too quickly. When he slows down, he needs to make sure his tone won't be interpreted as condescending. The reason the customer is asking for the information again is not because she's dumb, she just may be unfamiliar with what your employee is saying, so may need it slowed down a bit.

4. Giving short, clipped answers.
When staff say "Yes" instead of "Yes, let me look that up for you," or "Yes, we do have that in stock," it can come across as unfriendly and curt. Adding a few additional words to amplify the point conveys a friendly demeanor. When you hear your employees giving short answers, pull them aside afterwards and help them understand how clipped answers can be interpreted negatively by customers. Suggest she add a few more words to her answers to show she's friendly and interested in making the customer feel appreciated.

5. Not being proactive when a problem arises.
When a customer initiates a call about a problem, he's even more angry when he finds out your company knew about the problem, but didn't notify him immediately. Train your people to call customers as soon as they're aware of a problem. It is not always a pleasant call to make, but it is more pleasant than when the customer calls first.

6. Not appearing like they care about the customer's complaint.
Often customer contact staff don't show that they care about a customer's concern, or may even get defensive when a customer complains. Perhaps it's a common complaint, so they've become callused because they've heard it so often. Or perhaps there's nothing they can do about this issue. If they would even act like they cared many problems would be resolved quicker, and the customer would feel that your business was concerned about their issue.

7. Being pre-occupied with other tasks (talking with co-workers, paperwork, stocking shelves).
Train your staff to notice what's going on around them. Teach them to look up from what their doing often, and approach customers who may look puzzled or lost. This not only increases the customer's impression of your service, it cuts down on any shop lifting.

8. Thinking they know what the customer is asking, so they either interrupt or stop listening before the customer is done asking.
After working in a customer contact position for a while, you can begin to predict what customers are going to ask or complain about. It makes matters much worse when the customer is cut off mid-sentence while trying to ask or explain something. Remind your people that each customer wants to be heard out, and not cut off. It will help build a positive relationship with the customer, which will encourage her to come back again.

9. Making judgments on the buying power of the customer based upon their appearance, grammar, or company's reputation.
Buyers come in all levels of dress and education, so to assume one's buying ability by these appearances isn't wise. Sometimes these judgments are made because the customer's company has never bought much, so the employee doesn't think this order will be large, and neglects the customer. Help your employees see that these assessments hurt your company, and aren't fair to the customer.

10. Arguing with the customer.
You can't win an argument with a customer. Even if you win the disagreement, you lose the customer. When the customer is wrong, there are ways to help him understand without throwing it in his face. Role play with your staff common circumstances where the customer may be wrong, but trying to blame your company. Help them work out how to phrase it so the customer leaves with her dignity in tact, and stays your customer, rather than being embarrassed and more angry.

Heading off these ten common customer contact mistakes is not easy. It takes vigilance, caring and time on the manager's part. It takes your helping your staff see new ways to interact with customers, while still leaving them with their self-esteem. It is easy to yell and berate your staff. It's harder to coach them in a way that they want to improve.

Rebecca L. Morgan, CSP, CMC, is a professional speaker and seminarist. She is the author of four books, TurboTime: Maximizing Your Results Through Technology, Calming Upset Customers, Life's Lessons: Insights and Information for a Richer Life, and Professional Selling. For information on her speaking services, books, and tapes contact her at 1440 Newport Ave., San Jose, CA 95125, 408/998-7977, 800/247-9662, fax: 408/998-1742, rebecca@RebeccaMorgan.com, www.RebeccaMorgan.com.