3 Communication Mistakes that Can Cost You Customers

This year the Pay it Forward award was created in honour of our own Barbara Bradbury

By Barbara Bradbury,

V.P. Special Counsel,

AnswerPlus Inc

Failure to Listen:

You could be missing pertinent pieces of information, problems the customer is expressing and most importantly, what that customer is expecting of you to resolve the issue.

Talking too much:

Allow your customers to do the majority of the talking.  You can still control the call by asking ‘open ended’ questions that require a detailed response. Resist the urge to cut callers off.

Jumping to Conclusions:  

Don’t ASSUME that you know why they are calling. Keep an open mind, gather the details and you’re well on your way to solving the real problem!

Telephone Tip – Use your VOICE to connect with callers

When using the telephone we don’t have the advantage of body language or eye contact to help us ‘connect’ with prospects and clients. Try these tips to really ‘connect’ with your callers.

Voice inflection will determine the meaning that others will take from the words that we speak and will help us to build rapport.

Energy conveys our attitude, interest level and enthusiasm. 

Rate of speech. Too fast implies we don’t have time for our caller, too slow can sound like we are distracted. 

Pitch. Too high and we may sound shrill, emotional, even combative; too low can be difficult to hear or sound uncaring

Ask someone you trust to critique your ‘telephone personality’. Does the quality of your voice tell your customers that you’re fully engaged and actively listening?