“Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do!”
– John Wooden
“No!” “We can’t do that.” “Our policy says…” “You must…” “You will have to…” “Sorry…”
You just told me what you can not do. What you will not do. What you don’t feel like doing.
You also told me what I must do. What I will have to do.
No I don’t!
I resent it when someone tells me that I must do something. I suspect that you feel the same way.
“Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do!” – John Wooden
Rather than saying, “We can’t do that,” try saying, “Let’s see what we can do to make this happen.”
Don’t tell your customers, “You will have to fill out this form.” Tell them, “Let’s get started! I’ll need to gather some information first, so tell me…”
Never. I repeat, Never, hide behind your company policy. The customer doesn’t care about your policy!
And … unfortunately, the people who write company policy frequently do not care about the customer.
“Customer service people give excuses about why they didn’t and why they can’t (stuff about them) instead of what will be done about it, and how to solve the problem (stuff about the customer).
When serving, the secret is “think other guy” first.” – Jeffrey Gitomer (Customer Satisfaction is Worthless. Customer Loyalty is Priceless)
Think about this for a minute. No, actually think about your customer for a minute.
Think about what you can do for your customer. Remember why you are in business…
Because your customer has a problem. And you provide a product or service that solves that problem. You are in business because your customer wants something. And your product or service satisfies their wants and needs.
If customers didn’t have problems there would be no need for your product or service. You are in business because customers have problems. Invite them to share their problems with you. That is your business – you solve your customer’s problems. And they will pay you to do so!
Think about what you can do. Emphasize what you will do. Don’t hide behind the “doo-doo” that is your company policy.
Here is a link to a related article on customer service: “Empathy – Serve it to your customers”
Do you have a favorite customer service story? Please share it with our readers.
