Secrets to Speaking Strong in Customer Care
A triple team approach to communication mastery
© 2009 Meryl Runion

            

A question of balance
I once had a car with a bumper sticker that read, “You’ve got to be tough if you’re going to be stupid.” The obvious conclusion is, if you’re smart, you don’t have to be so tough. Add sweetness to the mix and you rarely need to bring out the big guns.

Powerful communication does that. Communication at its best mixes intelligence, rapport and power. It mixes thought, feeling and action. It mixes logic, caring and strength in perfect balance. A PowerPhrase is as strong as it needs to be and no stronger. Assume the best and you’re likely to get the best. Show kindness and you’re likely to get kindness. Speak smart and sweet, and you won’t have to speak as strong.

Do you know that you have three sources of communication power? You might as well use all three.

Be smart
Be reasonable, rational, and logical – even if the person you’re talking to isn’t. Let people know the reasons behind your decisions. One of the smartest PowerPhrases around is:

     • Because

When you use the word “because,” your credibility goes up, even if your reason isn’t that great. If you reason is sound, credibility skyrockets.

Speaking Smart is more than just logic. Remember that car I had with the bumper sticker? Ironically, I killed it by being stupid and not maintaining it correctly. It’s smart to maintain cars and it’s smart to maintain relationships. It’s smart to be conscious of your bedside manner and have best communication practices that ensure friendliness.

It’s also smart to develop communication strategies such as planned phrases for common conversations. If you regularly deal with someone who, say, makes excuses, puts you down or derails your conversation – and you haven’t figured out how to bust them, stand up for yourself or keep the conversation on track – that’s pretty stupid.

Be sweet
A spoonful of sugar DOES make the medicine go down. Cavett Roberts says, “People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” A bit of caring softens your message and inspires a more considerate response. That can mean something as simple as adding a greeting to your emails or remembering a client’s dog’s name. It can mean letting a customer know you haven’t forgotten their service call, even if you can’t get to it right away. It can mean thanking someone for their patience when it takes longer than ideal to get something done…even if they didn’t seem that patient to you.

People like doing business with their friends, so be one. No, you don’t have to share your intimate secrets to be friendly – just care. No – you don’t have to say yes to every request to be friendly – just care. Be sweet. Use one of the sweetest PowerPhrases around:

     • How can I help you?

Be strong
Know your boundaries. Know when to get involved and when not to. If you start to resent your customers, clients or managers it’s a signal that a boundary has been crossed.

Learn to say “no,” graciously. Get to the point. Ask for what you want. Use action words. If there are consequences to behaviors, let people know what they are – before you enforce them. One of the strongest PowerPhrases around is:

     • If this continues I will…

Speak Smart, Sweet and Strong
Had I properly maintained my car, it would have lasted much longer. Maintain your relationships using the three sources of communication power in perfect balance and customer relationships will last much longer. It’s a triple-team approach to communication mastery. Your added bonus is that your job won’t be so tough.


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Meryl Runion and Speak Strong (SpeakStrong) provides Power Phrases (PowerPhrases) and other tools to help you improve communication skills at work and at home. You can read more about her at www.speakstrong.com.

Meryl is the author of six books on communication that have sold over a quarter million copies worldwide, including Speak Strong, PowerPhrases!, How to Use PowerPhrases, Perfect Phrases for Managers and Supervisors, and How to Say It: Performance Reviews. You can reach her at 719-684-2633, or by email:

You can also follow Meryl on Twitter: http://twitter.com/merylrunion.