“Good morning, Karen. Thanks for your response. I had a bad experience with ‘Company A’ that had me really upset since Friday. I tried to resolve it on Saturday and only became more annoyed. I will be writing to formally address what I could only describe as an unfortunate situation. I was called by a bailiff regarding an unpaid account which I settled in full a few weeks prior. The call was unpleasant and so was the service by the persons I encountered when I visited ‘Company A’ to find out if there was an error in their system.” Reader.

Welcome back to our series on Moments of Truth, Moments of Misery and Moments of Magic.

This week, our focus is on ‘Moments of Misery’ and we started with an excerpt from a message that was sent to me by one of our readers.

Last week we established that a moment of truth is anything that impacts the customer’s perception of you or your company negatively or positively. The positive experiences are called moments of magic and the negative experiences are called moments of misery.

Rick Conlow International in an article titled, “5 Customer Service Moments of Misery to Avoid”, shared phrases that contribute moments of misery to customers…

MISERY PHRASE #1: I DON’T KNOW.

“I don’t know” should be removed from your employees’ vocabulary. Nothing makes a customer more frustrated than to be told by an employee “I don’t know”. If an employee is asked something that he does not yet have the answer to, the response should be “Can you give me a moment to find out?” Or, “I will find out and get back to you.”

MISERY PHRASE #2: WE CAN’T DO THAT.

Not because it may not be the norm for you to do something means that it cannot be done.

Foster a culture within your company of stepping outside the box that was created by your predecessors and create a new box for yourself. Nothing makes a customer feel more valued than to be told “This is not the norm, but we are happy to make an exception for you.” Or, “that maybe difficult but we will try to assist.”

MISERY PHRASE #3: YOU’LL HAVE TO…

This phrase sounds like and order and comes off very condescending. Train employees not to use the phrase “You’ll have to”. An alternative is “May I suggest…?”

MISERY PHRASE #4: HANG ON A SECOND. I’LL BE RIGHT BACK.

A moment of misery is created when you over promise and under deliver. To promise a customer a response in a second knowing that it would take an average of three to five minutes is setting the customer up for a moment of misery. It is better to say, “Are you able to hold for 3 – 5 minutes while I check? Or “Would you like me to get back to you in a few minutes please?

MISERY PHASE #5: NO!

The customer stops listening when the word ‘no’ is uttered. There will be times when you would not be able to do exactly what the customer wants but ‘no’ is never the most appropriate answer.

An alternative response could be “We may not be able to do that, but we could do this instead.”

According to Rick Conlow, these misery phrases put a stop to communication with the customer. He recommends that you handle each moment of truth with magnificence. Be creative, step outside of the box and take what could potentially be a moment of misery and turn it into a moment of magic.

Join us again next week as we discuss moments of magic.

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