4 Ways You Should Communicate Differently With Customers

Customer service needs to be at the forefront of every employee’s mind. Not taking customer service seriously could easily lead towards a complaint and poor word of mouth reviews. All of this reflects badly upon the business and could contribute towards loss of profits. 

Communication is a vital life skill but when you work with customers and clients, it’s even more important than ever before. Of course, communication is also vital for those working relationships in the contemporary office itself, e.g. with colleagues and management. 

Overlooking why this is important leads to problems, and when it comes to communicating with customers, the need to be a little more careful is pressing.

So, how should you communicate slightly differently with customers compared to those colleagues you know well in your office?

1. Keep things professional - When you’re collaborating around the boardroom tables, it’s easy to use your personality and speak to your colleagues in a familiar way. This is normal because you know them well, spending day in and day out with them. However, this isn’t something you should do with customers. Keep things professional and remember that how you say something isn’t necessarily the way it will be taken by the customer - you don’t know them well enough to judge how they will understand. 
2. Explain things clearly - Of course, when you’re explaining anything to someone, colleague or customer, you should be clear to avoid misunderstandings but when you’re speaking to a customer you need to make 100% sure that they know what you’re saying and understand completely. This means using clear language, not using too many words, and avoiding using ‘industry speak’, e.g. technical jargon that they may not understand. You should also seek out confirmation of their understanding, just to be sure.
3. Pay more attention to your body language - Again, when you know someone well you're likely to avoid paying too much attention to your body language but this is a big mistake when you’re speaking to a customer. Make sure you sit or stand up straight, you keep your shoulders back and you make eye contact with the customer. If you’re speaking on the phone, sitting up straight will automatically make you feel more confident, which will come through in your voice.
4. Be mindful of how you address them - Some customers may not mind you using their first name but others may find it unprofessional. Its always best to stick to titles and surnames first and then you’re covering all bases. If the customer says “call me Carol”, then fair enough, call her Carol but at least you didn’t jump in there straightaway and be too familiar. 

Ensuring that you cover the basics of customer communication means that you’re far less likely to accidentally upset someone with a very basic mistake. Customer service is full of small details and overlooking even one could create a poor outcome.