Oftentimes, there is more risk in customer service when the answer to our concerns is “yes.” Can you help me? Will you make an exception and do this for me just this once? Could you look into this issue I’m having? Being helpful comes with a price, and the price is more work. But what if the tables were turned and the risk was actually in saying “no.” How much better would our interactions with companies become?
Last week I called my cell phone provider to modify the service, cancel a line, add a data line, etc. I wasn’t getting the answers I wanted from the one person I was talking with – he kept saying “no” – so I politely ended the call. I immediately dialed back reaching a new customer service person that liked saying “yes” much more than the first person.
Ultimately, there is a lot less work for the employee who says “no” (think compliance departments). If the person says “yes” they may have to do something and then take a risk for doing it. And frankly, it seems that some service people don’t feel like they are being paid to say “yes.” It’s too much hard work.
What if service people were given incentives for the “yes” answers they gave to customers and were docked pay for their “no” answers? I guarantee they’d find ways to say “yes” more often.
“Yes, I can change that for you.” “Yes, I can do that for you over the phone right now.” “Yes, I can add that to your order.” Yes, I will talk to my manager and see if we can do that for you.” How about, “YES, I can do some hard work for you even though it would be easier for me to just say no.” The result? Happy clients that go wild about you because of the surprising way you serve their needs.
I love this article because there is so much truth in it! I actually realized this several months ago while listening to my employees tell potential customers about services or products “we didn’t offer”. The problem was not that “we didn’t offer” the products and services, but the problem was the fact that we were not used to offering those products and services to clients. In fact, we were accustomed to offering certain products and services as addons to existing customers, but we never considered offering them as stand alone services.
Take for instance the creation of custom area rugs or the binding of pieces of carpet for use as an area rug. We constantly turned scraps from our jobs into walk off mats for our customers, but when someone walked off the street to have a piece of rug bound, we told them we could not do it. What?? YES, WE CAN!! Or how about sending a client to a home center to buy some flooring cleaner. What?? WE SELL IT!!
In this economy we discovered that “NO” is NO longer an answer to be dealt with. Never send a customer away empty handed. Can you do it? Yes, I can find out how. In fact, I told them, if we have to hire painters, trim carpenters, and plumbers, we do not turn away any job, unless it just does not make any sense: I’m not turning to installing satellite dishes on houses yet!