The Phrases That Trigger Distrust

Jeannie Walters 0:00

We value your feedback. We apologize for any inconvenience you may be experiencing. We're experiencing higher than normal call volumes. Thanks for your patience. Now, when we hear these phrases, we all have those reactions, right? Those gut reactions of no, you don't, and why is this my problem? We've been trained as customers to think this way. Let's talk about the ways that maybe organizations fib a little to their customers and what we can do about it. Let me share an uncomfortable truth and a point of encouragement to start.

Good Intentions Into Intentional Leadership

Jeannie Walters 0:45

The uncomfortable truth is we don't ever intend to lie to customers. But I think if we are very honest about our organizations, we see that we do sometimes over and over and over again. We use these phrases that sound nice, but when we are on the inside of the organization, we know, don't we? We know that, yeah, we say we value your feedback, but we don't do much with it. So if you're sitting in that uncomfortable place, I also want to give you a little point of encouragement. And that is that because we have good intentions around this, I want us to turn those good intentions into intentional leadership to make sure that the experience is matching the promise. So let's talk about a few of the common offenders that we all share.

Stop Letting Org Charts Hurt Customers

Jeannie Walters 1:40

The first reminder here is that your customers don't care, nor should they care, about your org chart. When we use language like that's not my department, or I don't have access to that, or gosh, could you tell me who you spoke to? Because I don't have a record about that. What we're saying to the customer is we don't really know you or value you or have holistic records about you. We actually are transactional. And my role in this interaction is transactional with you. So when you are building your very specific transactional moments with your customers, it's critically important to think about what is the customer actually experiencing? Are they on a journey that we have to respect? Absolutely. We have to understand that. So anytime you have a handoff, you have one person talking to another, you are transferring records, any moment like that, if you are not thinking about the customer's experience, you are probably setting up a moment that they will feel is one where you're not delivering on a promise or you might even be lying to them. So your org chart should never direct the customer journey. That's number one.

When Feedback Goes Into A Void

Jeannie Walters 3:02

Number two, I think we need to rethink the phrase: your feedback is important to us. Another winner is we value your feedback. Now we can only say these things if those things are true. And all of us have learned as customers that it sure doesn't feel that way when we're responding to a survey, when we are sharing something with the contact center rep saying this isn't working, and we don't hear anything back. It goes into the void. If that happens, we can't really say that we value their feedback. The other thing is that's about us, not about them. What will it do for the customer? How will it help their experience not only with us, but their overall experience? So if you are collecting feedback and insights that disappear into a dashboard, if you are not closing the loop with your customers, if you are not looking for ways to share with customers when you make improvements that maybe they suggested, then it's really hard to justify saying we value your feedback. Maybe we need to get creative here. Maybe we need to say, hey, we really want to hear from you because we are constantly looking at improvements. We want to hear what you think because we know we're not perfect. Tell us how we can improve. When we phrase it a little differently, we're telling the customer what's in it for them, not just we value your feedback.

Overpromising Breaks The Experience

Jeannie Walters 4:40

Now, the next thing I want us to consider are the promises we make that we cannot deliver. I have seen this in so many organizations because marketing and sales, they love to talk big, don't they? No shade. That's their job. But what we have to do is make sure that the people who are creating the messaging around demand generation, around marketing, around PR, and the people who are selling the products, the offers, the things that we provide, they are in sync with the rest of the customer journey. Because if they aren't, they will unknowingly make promises that the rest of the experience cannot keep. We need to make sure that we are setting expectations that are honest. Even if they're aspirational, we have to make sure that they are honest. We have to make sure that we are setting up our processes, our people, our technology, and our tools to actually deliver on those promises. And if we aren't, we're probably overpromising. The best thing we can do in any situation is look holistically at the customer experience. And in today's world, it's not going to be about who has the best technology. The winners of the next year, the next decade, the next century, maybe, will be those who are honest with their customers, those who show up and can actually be believed. So if you do nothing else today, I want you to think about the messages that you provide for your customers and where you could maybe get a little more honest, a little more proactive about telling them what's in it for them, and a little more realistic about the promises that you make. Because our job is to keep those promises.

Be More Honest And Keep Promises

Jeannie Walters 6:45

If this podcast challenged your thinking a little bit or gave you an idea that you're ready to move on, I would really appreciate your help. Please take a moment to rate and review this podcast. It really does help listeners like you who are seeking this information find us when they need us. And if someone on your team or a leader you know needs to hear this immediately, please share with them directly. We love hearing about when these ideas spur real action that get results for you, your teams, your colleagues, your organizations. Don't be shy, let us know. And don't forget, you can always ask me a question at askjeannie.vip, and I might answer it here on the podcast. Thanks for being here. I'll see you next time. If you're ready to turn insights into action, join CXI Membership, our community for customer experience investigators just like you. Get the tools,

Review Share Ask A Question

Jeannie Walters 7:45

support, and inspiration to move from ideas to true impact. And don't miss my book, Experience is Everything: Making Every Moment Count in the Age of Customer Expectations. Available wherever you order books. Until next time, keep asking questions, keep improving, and keep leading with experience.