The importance of effective nonverbal communication when dealing with customers cannot be overemphasized. This is because people send and receive nonverbal cues differently based on many factors in their backgrounds (e.g. culture, education, experiences, ethnicity, and many others).
As Ralph Waldo Emerson is quoted as saying:
Whether you are dealing with customers or potential customers, never forget that the way that you communicate verbally and nonverbally (interpersonal communication skills) will determine the outcome of your interactions. In particular, nonverbal cues can often override your spoken words.
Personality types, cultural and educational background, the environment in which people have been reared, and many other factors affect the manner in which nonverbal cues are sent and received. All of these and more can create communication barriers since nonverbal cues carry powerful messages, you should remember that there is considerable room for misinterpretation of the cues used by different people. The skills of recognizing, assigning meaning, and responding appropriately to nonverbal messages are not exact. That is because human behavior is too unpredictable and the interpretation of nonverbal cues is too subjective for accuracy of interpretation to occur with consistency.
To prevent possible communication and relationship breakdowns, take the time to study ways in which nonverbal cues are sent and received in various cultures and by different categories of customers people based on age, gender, personality style, abilities, and other factors. Use what you learn to measure your own patterns of nonverbal communication and send messages wit others accordingly.
For customer service tips, ideas and strategies on communicating with different types of customers in your own workplace, get copies of Customer Service Skills for Success, Please Every Customer: Delivering Stellar Customer Service Across Cultures, and How To Be a Great Call Center Representative.
Effective listening skills are crucial in building and maintaining relationships with other people, especially in a customer service environment. Unfortunately, it is a skill that many people do not learn or practice well.
To improve your ability to effectively and accurately receive information and messages from others, take some time to attend training programs on how to listen better. It will be money well spent and like any other skill, the more you work at it, the better you likely will become at using it.
Before attending training, verify the accuracy of your perception about your own listening effectiveness. To do so, ask several friends, family members and people in your workplace, who know your listening abilities well, to rate you. Have them use the scale of Outstanding, Above Average, Average, Poor, and Ineffective. Once they rate you, have them provide hints on how to improve your effectiveness. These submissions or ratings could be done anonymously in order to get more candid feedback. Once you get the information, objectively analyze it and then incorporate it into your listening improvement action plan, as necessary.
For more tips on how to improve your ability to effectively communicate and interact with customers in a variety of situations, get copies of Customer Service Skills for Success, Please Every Customer: Delivering Stellar Customer Service Across Cultures and How to Be a Great Call Center Representative.
About Robert C. Lucas
Bob Lucas has been a trainer, presenter, customer service expert, and adult educator for over four decades. He has written hundreds of articles on training, writing, self-publishing, and workplace learning skills and issues. He is also an award-winning author who has written thirty-seven books on topics such as, writing, relationships, customer service, brain-based learning, and creative training strategies, interpersonal communication, diversity, and supervisory skills. Additionally, he has contributed articles, chapters, and activities to eighteen compilation books. Bob retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1991 after twenty-two years of active and reserve service.
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The key to successfully making money as an author and/or self-publisher is to brand yourself and your company and to make yourself and your book(s) a household name. Part of this is face-to-face interaction with people at trade shows, library events, book readings, book store signings, blogging or guest blogging on a topic related to their book(s). Another strategy involves writing articles and other materials that show up online and are found when people search for a given topic related to a topic about which the author has written.
If you need help building an author platform, branding yourself and your book(s) or generating recognition for what you do, Make Money Writing Books will help. Bob’s popular book addresses a multitude of ideas and strategies that you can use to help sell more books and create residual and passive income streams. The tips outlined in the book are focused to help authors but apply to virtually any professional trying to increase personal and product recognition and visibility.
“To be successful, you have to be able to relate to people; they have to be satisfied with your personality to be able to do business with you and to build a relationship of mutual trust.” George Ross
The ability to build and maintain solid relationships, and ultimately develop a level of trust, is a key skill that customer service representatives must master if they are going to be successful in the business world.
As a professional service provider, you must study human nature and become adept at the interpersonal skills of verbal and non-verbal communication, listening skills, and assessing behavioral styles and personality. You must also be able to understand and interact with people from diverse backgrounds.
For more ideas on how to better interact with and serve the needs of diverse customers, get copies of Please Every Customer: Delivering Stellar Customer Service Across Cultures and Customer Service Skills for Success.
About Robert C. Lucas
Bob Lucas has been a trainer, presenter, customer service expert, and adult educator for over four decades. He has written hundreds of articles on training, writing, self-publishing, and workplace learning skills and issues. He is also an award-winning author who has written thirty-seven books on topics such as, writing, relationships, customer service, brain-based learning, and creative training strategies, interpersonal communication, diversity, and supervisory skills.
Additionally, he has contributed articles, chapters, and activities to eighteen compilation books. Bob retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1991 after twenty-two years of active and reserve service.
Bob Lucas B.S., M.A., M.A, CPLP is the principal in Robert W. Lucas Enterprises, Inc and an internationally-known author; learning and performance professionals. He has written and contributed to numerous books on the subject of customer service skill training.
He regularly conducts workshops on creative training, train-the-trainer, customer service, interpersonal communication, and management,
and supervisory skills.
Learn more about Bob and his organization at www.robertwlucas.com and follow his blogs at www.robertwlucas.com/wordpress,
www.customerserviceskillsbook.com, and www.thecreativetrainer.com. Like Bob at www.facebook.com/robertwlucasenterprises
Stress is a common complaint for many call center representatives and face-to-face customer service providers. It is created by many things in a person’s personal and professional life. Often it is caused by the one element of the service environment that no service provider can avoid — people.
If something or someone is causing you stress or bothering you; speak up in a non-emotional, professional manner. Provide feedback by sharing with them your feelings, the behavior that you believe is causing the stress, explain the result of their action(s) and ask their assistance in fixing the problem or eliminating the stress-inducing behavior. You should think of one or more possible realistic solutions to offer prior to having this conversation.
The following is an example of how you might handle a stressful situation in the workplace:
Assume that you are a customer service representative in a clothing store and your supervisor tends to ask you to perform back-to-back tasks before you have time to complete previously assigned ones. You might say something like, “Sharon, I often feel stressed when you ask me and other sales representatives to straighten inventory on shelves or change pricing when there are a number of potential customers on the sales floor. We have been told that customers are our priority, but then we are held accountable for getting the other tasks done as well. This typically ends with my leaving work with a headache and feeling that I have not done a good job. Can we discuss ways to get all the work accomplished in a manner that will make the job less stressful for employees?”
Do not assume that they know how you feel or what is going on in your head. In many instances people do not recognize the impact of their behavior on others. In examples such as the one above, your supervisor may be under pressure that you are not aware of from her boss.
Allowing something to fester will not only cause you suffering but can also negatively impact relationships long-term. When you are not upset over something, share your thoughts or concerns with the other person in a non-emotional and non-confrontational manner. This strategy can potentially help you deliver the best customer service possible and applies to your personal life as well.
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