Chapter 6

 The Pleasure of Your Business . . .

Have you ever been in a situation where if the customer would only listen to you, his problem would be solved? You probably wondered what prevented that customer from paying attention to your words. Many times, the most important thing is not what you say but how you say it.

Researchers have discovered that in actual face-to-face contact, the success of the communication is broken down into three components—words, tone of voice, and gestures or body language.

When you’re speaking to customers, are you mostly concerned with what you are saying, or are you equally, if not more, concerned with how your customer perceives the way you are projecting your message? In the game of influence, many times it’s how you play the game that counts. Influence is about perception, not reality.

Words are a very small percentage of how we really communicate.

If you’re providing customer service in person, the numbers in the preceding figure are accurate. They do change when your service is limited to the phone. On the phone, gestures cannot be seen (unless you are using a video phone or are speaking to someone on a psychic hotline). So the tone of your voice becomes more important, to the tune of 86 percent. Let’s take a look at this important piece of the pie called “tone.”

Name That Tone

Think of your voice as being the music played by that marvelous instrument known as your vocal cords. The tone of your voice is like the tones in music. Just by hearing your tone, customers will be able to identify the mood you are in and the message you are trying to convey. As with any musician, you must clearly practice the piece of music you want to play for your customers. If it is not done correctly, your customers will not be pleased with the concert they came to hear.

The elements comprising the overall tone of your voice include:

• Pace
• Volume
• Inflection
• Intensity
• Attitude

Keeping Pace

How you pace your speech helps to paint a picture in your client’s mind. Speaking too fast is an indication that you want to get off the phone and that you really don’t care whether or not the customer understands what you have to say. Of course, what you may consider as speaking too slowly may be considered as too fast by people from different parts of the country and world.

Ron, being from New York, always has to work on his pacing when speaking to people from the South. In fact, he sometimes speaks too fast for people who are from New York! But Ron understands that the success of communication depends not so much on what is being said, but whether or not it is being heard. So it’s important that you match your pace to the pace of your customer. If you and your customer are both communicating at different rates, the communication probably isn’t going to be successful. And no matter how passionately you sing your song, the customer definitely is not going to enjoy the concert.

Pump Up the Volume, or Down

Did you ever call somebody in a different country and find yourself yelling into the phone so your voice would carry over the ocean? Why? The truth of the matter is the phone equipment you are using is good enough for the person on the other end of the phone to hear you no matter where they are in the world, even when you speak at your normal speaking volume.

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 Word to the Wise
A good customer service representative adjusts his pace or speed of talking to match the pace of the customer. He adjusts the volume to ensure the message is heard, uses inflection to signify highs and lows, maintains intensity to give the highs and lows the proper effect, and makes sure his attitude is proper at all times.

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Many times, it’s easy to mistake appropriate volume for clarity of the message as you try to communicate through the cultural and language barriers. Remember the old joke from the TV sitcoms? The goofy American meets someone who doesn’t understand English, so the American tries shouting.

Your volume needs to be adequate for you to be clearly understood, but it must not be over exaggerated or you’ll create the wrong listening environment. Yelling can be an indication of anger and frustration. And for the person on the other end of the yelling, it is an assault on one’s sense of hearing that can lead to both physical and mental damage.

At the very least, the receiver of the message will do whatever she can to tune out your message and protect her senses. On the other hand, raising one’s voice—modestly—at certain times serves as a tool for helping to reinforce a theme or express enthusiasm for a certain idea.

Make sure the volume you’re using is commensurate with the selection of music you’re playing for your customer. The volume is critical for creating the listening environment you want your customer to be in.

Paint with Inflection

If you are listening to music where the musicians’ chords are the same all the time in every song, wouldn’t you be bored? Of course you would. Just as a songwriter would never dream of writing song after song that sounded exactly the same, you shouldn’t speak to a customer in a monotone (the same tone). Your words can only paint pictures for people and convey reassurance or helpfulness through your voice inflection—the highs and lows in your voice.

Imagine hearing this phrase with all the words being communicated the same way. . . .

Now, imagine hearing the same phrase with the word really being said in a manner that reflects a stronger sense of urgency. . . .

The inflection used here paints a picture of someone who is highly fond of you, while in the first example someone liked you, but without the intensity. Do you see and hear the difference?

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 Watch It!
While you should display a caring emotion for your customer, we’re not suggesting that you get caught up in your customer’s hysteria. When you have an attitude of calm grounded in concern and a willingness to help, your calm won’t be mistaken for lack of concern.

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Use a variety of inflections to adequately paint the picture you want your customer to see. And like a satisfying song, your message will find its power in its highs and lows.

Levels of Intensity

Different situations call for different levels of emotion. If you’re answering a call from a customer who has just had a catastrophic experience with your product, the customer’s probably showing a great deal of emotion. If your answer is really low key, your customer may perceive your response as lacking a great deal of care or concern. Just as you must match the volume to the situation, you must also match the emotion to the situation. Otherwise, you’re singing a different tune from the one your customer is giving you.

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 Tales from the Real World
Ron, a former volunteer medic in Fair Lawn, NJ, was crew captain on a call involving a heart attack victim. Racing from the ambulance, up the stairs, and into the house, Ron inadvertently shot right past the patient who was sitting calmly in a chair, having a heart attack. Seeing the patient frightened by his too intensive entrance, Ron concluded that he must remove himself as the primary first aid giver in order to create a calm atmosphere. He immediately relinquished his authority to his second-in-command. Ron never lost sight that the most important thing was the well-being of his patient (customer).

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Watch Your Attitude

Olympic skater Scott Hamilton once said that the only debilitating disease is a bad attitude. If you are on the phone without the proper attitude of acting in the spirit of service and understanding, then you will not be projecting the proper pacing, volume, inflection, and intensity called for by the situation.

If you are feeling down for whatever reason, take a sanity break and get some fresh air. When the phone rings, always smile when you say hello. The difference in the position of your lips will greatly affect your perceived attitude. A smile helps you say hello in a relaxed manner that acts as an invitation for the customer to come into your world. A terse hello represents a small crack in the door through which the customer must squeeze if he has any chance of really communicating with you. Your attitude will set the stage for the entire interaction and will play a large part in its overall success.

Actions Speak

Like the tone of your voice, your gestures also play a tremendous part (55 percent) in your overall success as a customer service representative. Your gestures will give the customer a picture of how you really feel about her and the situation. Take a look at the following table that lists some common gestures and how they’re commonly perceived.

Common Gestures to Avoid

Your actions also paint a picture for your customer. For instance, remember the time you walked into a store and went to the counter where the sales clerk was on the phone and failed to look up immediately to greet you? You probably felt unwanted. Unfortunately, this happens all too often.

How about when you walk in for service and you hear employees bad mouthing the company or the product. Now that must give you a good feeling about the company you’re dealing with, right? Not!

Or, how about when you are constantly being interrupted by the sales person or customer service representative who has to pick up another line, or speak with someone else, say, a fellow employee about something of great urgency and importance, like last night’s date. How do you feel then?

The best way to cure all of these indecencies is to treat each and every customer like your boss. After all, if your boss is on the phone, would you put her on hold to speak with someone else? (The right answer should be yes, if the person is a customer who’s waiting to speak to you because in the great pecking order of things customers should be regarded as having higher priority than your boss. . . . fooled you!). If you treated your customer as a boss, would you chew gum while speaking to him, or not look up when he approached you? Of course not!

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 Quote, Unquote
There is only one boss. The customer! And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money elsewhere.
—Sam Walton, founder of WalMart

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The bottom line is that the customer deserves the same treatment and respect you would give your boss. Because in the end, without customers there would be no jobs.

Watch Your Mouth!

Okay, we said that the words you use only represent 7 percent of the overall story you are telling your customer. While this is generally true, a certain group of words can dramatically change the image you’re trying to give your customer.

“I Can’t, I Won’t, I Shouldn’t”

When you say I can’t do it, the customer focuses on the question that pops into his mind, “Why not?” rather than what you have to offer.

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 Watch It!
Using words like don’t, won’t, can’t, shouldn’t, and wouldn’t all tell the customer how you cannot help him. Customers don’t want to hear how you cannot solve their problems. They are only interested in the solutions you can provide.

 

Talk about what you can do for them. It will help you create a positive environment from which to handle the service interaction.

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Turn it around and say “Let’s see what we can do.” This focuses everyone’s attention on possible solutions.

When you say I won’t do it, the customer focuses on the negative emotion revolving around your resistance versus listening to what you have to say. You want your customer listening to you, not turned off.

Turn it around and say “This is what I can do for you. . . .” Your customer is now listening to your solution.

When you say I shouldn’t, you convey the feeling that what you are offering isn’t proper (or that you are working against your company), or that the customer doesn’t deserve the solution you’re giving. Either way, the solution isn’t viewed favorably by the customer.

Turn it around and say “I would be happy to do the following for you. . . .” Now you’re presenting a solution with enthusiasm and desire. And that should encourage your customer to embrace your solution.

“I Don’t Think I Can Do This”

When you say the word don’t, you immediately put the conversation in a negative atmosphere. If you and your company don’t do certain things as a matter of policy, or if you simply don’t want to do certain things, then why draw attention to them by focusing the attention of your customers on these issues? You need to turn the tables and focus positively on what you can do or want to do to assist your customer.

Turn it around this way. Say, “This is what I can do for you.” As you have probably noticed by now, it’s the same strategy you use in substituting for the words won’t and can’t.

“Not!”

If you want to really tick-off a complaining customer, tell her that what she has told you did not, could not, would not, or simply did not happen. Talk about totally rejecting someone. All you have to do is say the word not and watch your customer turn into a raging bull or an escaping prisoner. The rage quickly presents itself as her yelling that you do not believe her. The angry, dumbfounded customer will experience a most negative Instant of Absolute Judgment (remember this from Chapter 4?) and vow to never do business with you again.

Turn this potentially disastrous situation around. Here’s what you say: “I have not come across this problem very often. Please tell me more so I can help you.”

By asking for additional information, you begin to turn the customer into a willing participant in helping to solve the mystery—and right the wrong.

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 Word to the Wise
When you show an understanding of, and an appreciation for, another person’s situation or point of view, you are demonstrating empathy. That simply means you can identify with how another person feels. Psychologists tell us that most people have a deep need to feel understood (don’t you?). So when a customer service representative shows a customer that they appreciate how the customer is feeling, this can affect the customer at a profoundly deep level.

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“But . . .”

Did you ever hear someone give you a compliment followed by the word but. Oh that dreaded word but. The word but is a clear indication that you doubt the story of your customer. When you say, “I know what you’re saying, but couldn’t it have happened this way . . . ?” you are telling your customer that something else really happened, and she just isn’t telling you.

Turn it around by simply leaving out the “but.” Instead, end your first statement by assuring your customer, “I hear what you’re saying.”

Then, continue with this as your next statement, “Tell me, is there anything else that happened I should be aware of?” Or you can ask closed ended questions like, “Was the lever ever touched?”

Whatever you do or say, the word but more times than not leads the customer to feel you are now negating whatever was said prior to saying the word but. So here’s our advice, “Say whatever you want but just don’t use that word!”

A Most Powerful Word

Did someone ever cut in front of you on the checkout line at the supermarket and not say anything to you at all? You probably experienced a state of anger, frustration, and amazement at how someone would dare do such a thing.

Now, has anyone ever cut in front of you with a statement like:

Granted, you may not really care about the man’s personal life and commitment to his baby sitter. However, since he gave you a reason to justify his request, you probably would let him in, no matter how reluctant you might be. People need justification and reasons as to why they should accept your requests and solutions.

The following are sample scenarios where the word because plays a powerful role.

Getting Someone to Help You

Sometimes, you might need your customer to cooperate by giving you the information you need to help solve their problem. For example, if you ask your customer for his computer’s serial number, he might rebel at the inconvenience and wonder why you are making him go through the hassle of crawling under his dark desk to find it.

To turn this situation around and get your customer to cooperate, you can say, “Please give me your serial number because that identifies your account. When I have the serial number, I will then be able to locate your record and proceed with assisting you.” No one wants to look for serial numbers, yet everyone wants to move towards a solution. Help your customer help you do that.

Justifying Your Solution

It may seem weird, but in order for a customer to accept what you’re suggesting, you need to provide the proper justification. Just telling the customer not to overload the system in the future may not be good enough.

However, you’d have a much greater chance of preventing future problems if you emphasized the positive outcome of cooperation, and said something like this, “To keep your equipment running without interruption, be sure it isn’t overloaded. We can help you determine how many programs can safely run at one time.” Now the customer understands why he shouldn’t overload the system and should be motivated to avoid an overload if he cannot afford to have his system shut down again.

Justifying Your Limitations

Many times, you may not be able to provide the request your customer is seeking, such as a total refund. How you respond to this request is vital to your customer’s perception of how you are handling the situation and whether or not he will want to do business with you again. Remember each interaction you have with the customer results in an impression that can win or lose a customer for life.

Let’s suppose a customer wants a refund for a product that was taken out of the box and your company has a policy against refunds on opened merchandise. Telling a customer refunds are not permitted will not mollify your customer. She will want to know why not. You can avoid this by saying up-front “Refunds are not permitted on open products because the manufacturer will not take it back and we cannot re-sell it.” Your customer still didn’t get what they wanted, but at least they received a justifiable reason as to why you cannot honor what seems like a reasonable request to him.

Don’t misunderstand us. In the above situation, we suggest offering a refund to the customer—if the request is within reason—to keep the customer happy. But many times you will be facing strict corporate guidelines to which you must adhere. Following the guidelines isn’t as important as how they’re communicated to the customer. Get to like the word because because it will provide you with power in explaining your reasons to your customers.

# 1 Capital Offense

To promise something to a customer and not follow-up, is the #1 capital offense for anyone providing customer service. In order for any company to succeed with its customer service program, it must make every employee accountable for their promises, even if the responsibility moves out of their hands. Even when you cannot provide the total solution, you can follow up to make sure the ball hasn’t been dropped—and that you have a customer who is pleasantly satisfied even in the face of initial disappointment.

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 Watch It!
When you don’t follow up to make sure a customer’s needs have been met, you leave your customer with one or more undesirable impressions:
1) you don’t care; 2) the customer can’t trust your company; 3) your company is irresponsible; or 4) your company doesn’t want the customer’s business.

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This is crucial because lack of follow-up provides the customer with a number of perceptions, none of which are good. Lack of follow-up tells your customer that you don’t care whether or not his problem is fixed. It depicts you as being irresponsible and ungrateful for your customer’s business. And with all the choices out there, your customer—the provider of your beloved paycheck—will simply take her money somewhere else.

People want to be recognized and appreciated for their actions. They will give their business to companies that make them feel good about spending their money there. And today, there are plenty of options for your customers to choose from. They will go to the places that are more than happy to show your customers how much they appreciate their business. The choice is yours.

Chapter 7

 What’s the Customer’s Style?

Ever notice how people react differently to things?

You can actually say the same exact words in the same exact tone and manner to several people and get many different reactions.

Everyone has a different approach to the world. Call it an operating style, or as the psychologists put it, a behavioral style.

Since people see and approach the world differently, to communicate effectively, you need to use different methods in communicating with different people. Now, we know the world is inhabited with billions of people, and each of them is a unique entity. But we’re not suggesting that you have to know billions of ways to communicate with your customers. (You can breathe now!)

Different Strokes for Different Folks

There are many models for classifying behavior. Behavioral scientists building on the work of people such as Dr. Carl Jung and Dr. William Marston developed a model that highlights four basic styles of behaving. We’ve adapted the model and customized it to apply specifically to customer service.

Model Behavior: DISC

All of us, to one degree or another, have some elements of four different styles in our personality. An individual’s uniqueness comes through in their distinct mix of behavior. At the same time, all of us are dominant in one behavior style. By dominant we mean that people prefer to behave more in keeping with one style than the others. We all give clues about our dominant style by how we walk, talk, and generally behave. Here are the four styles as applied to customers, summed up by the acronym DISC:

They want it now and don’t care about the details.

This person loves relating to others. They want to be accepted and they like to talk a lot.

Very interested in how things work. This is a reserved person who doesn’t like change.

Interested in the quality of things. A stickler for making sure everything is in order and that the rules have been followed.

We tend to react to others based on our own behavioral style. Often we fail to understand the behavioral styles of others and how they view the world. To give customers quality service at the highest level, it’s critical that you understand the behavioral dynamics behind most human communication.

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 Quote, Unquote
We see the world not as it is, but as we are.
—Stephen Covey

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That sounds like a mouthful. But don’t worry. We’re going to cover this vitally important area in a simple, easy-to-understand way. Heck, you might even have some fun with this stuff!

Tuning In

The success of any communication depends not so much on the actual words conveyed but on whether or not they’re really heard and understood. Are you communicating in a style that coincides with the frequency your customer is tuned to? If not, you’re in for lots of static and probably some trouble—even if the solutions you’re trying to give your customer are right on.

Let’s take a look at four channels you can tune into and communicate on for successful customer service.

The Demanding Customer (D Style)

The demanding customer is no doubt the most vocal customer. When things go according to his expectations, he will be the first one to buy something or accept an answer from someone trying to help him. Yet, if service is, in his opinion, done incorrectly, or if he feels challenged, he will be the first one to engage you in an argument. This type of customer can be perceived as being belligerent in service situations involving conflict.

“Whaddya mean you can’t honor this rebate coupon that expired two years ago? That’s outrageous! I’m a loyal customer, and actually shopped here twice in the past five years. Now I expect some satisfaction, and I mean now!”

Research shows that 18 percent of the population exhibits a mostly D Style. Typical demanding customers are driven people who push for results and expect the same from others. They are bottom-line oriented. They do not like a lot of detail and get bored very easily. If you service a D and give a long-winded explanation on how technically something went wrong, you probably lost that person’s attention after your second sentence. They don’t care how things happen or work, they just want them to work. And they want it now!

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 Tales from the Real World
Ron is probably one of the most demanding customers of all. Always in a hurry and not one for taking his time while shopping, Ron prefers the laser approach to shopping. Like a surgical maneuver, he wants to go into a store, pinpoint what he wants, secure it, and leave. All in ten minutes or less.

 

Meet Jami Cohen, a very successful sales clerk at the Casual Male. When Ron walked into the store, he immediately identified his needs and wants. Jami immediately pinpointed the styles of pants and shirts Ron wanted; she pulled them out and encouraged him to try them on. In a few short minutes, Ron had what he came for and was on his merry way. Naturally, Ron was thrilled. And so was Jami, as she had just rung up a few hundred dollars in sales. Moral of the story: Don’t fault customers for their behavioral styles. Adapt to them and watch the money fly in.

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Recognizing a D Style Customer

D Style customers tend to be demonstrative in their talk and tastes. They are status conscious, usually looking for the best in products and services. Their offices will contain large desks and walls filled with plaques, awards, and mementos.

Their style of dress represents an expensive taste and they’re always ready for action. They are highly competitive people who want to win. Since they don’t like a lot of detail, they are excellent candidates for products like executive book summaries.

Based on our perception of how they act in public, here are some famous examples of D Style Dominant Personalities: Ross Perot, Michael Jordan, Madonna, Barbara Walters, and Hillary Clinton.

Since D Style people perceive themselves as being the center of the universe, they tend to take up a lot of room. Ever notice someone sitting at a table with their arms stretched across the chair next to them? That’s a D Style of behavior. Their walk is often brisk and bold, clearing away anything in their path. If a D Style is walking toward you on a mission, move out of the way or expect to be bumped aside. To D Style people, their mission or issue-of-the-moment is the only thing that counts. At least in their minds. Ds tend to stand with their weight on the forward foot ready to spring into action.

On the phone, you can recognize a D Style very easily. She is the one who does not have time for your questions as you dutifully seek information to be helpful. Yet Mr. or Ms. D wants the answer now.

Your Body Language for the D Style Customer

If you are servicing a D Style customer in person, greet them with a strong handshake. Maintain direct eye contact with them, lean slightly forward in your stance while keeping your distance. D Styles don’t want to deal with weak people. They want to deal with strong, confident individuals who know what they are talking about. So provide that perception by how you look and act.

Speaking with a D Style Customer

As you can guess, you will only succeed in speaking with a D Style customer if you are direct and to the point. Your tone of voice must be strong, clear, confident, and direct. Your pace should be fast—give your impatient customer the impression that you are quickly heading toward results. The same goes for your actions. Look like you’re making something happen, like you’re taking definitive action on the important D customer’s behalf.

Words and phrases you can use to successfully communicate with D Style customers include:

• Fast
• Immediate
• Now
• Today
• New
• Let’s do it
• Unique
• Benefits
• Bottom line
• Leaders in the field
• Win
• Make it happen
• Results

Here’s what you need to know if you want to get your point across to a D Style customer.

Dos and Don’ts of Communicating with D Style Customers

(Reprinted with permission from copyrighted material from Target Training International, Ltd.)

The Influential Customer (I Style)

The I Style customer is the person who needs and wants to talk. She has a need for interaction with people and social recognition. Therefore she will be optimistic, inspiring, persuasive, and trusting in her approach to you. She often speaks with enthusiasm, has a smile on her face, and is hoping for the same from you.

Research shows that 28 percent of the population exhibit I Style behavior. They want their problems resolved, but want to have them resolved by people who are friendly toward them. The I Style customer isn’t a big fan of voice mail since it eliminates the element of human interaction. If you service an I Style customer, accept him and be friendly. With this type of customer, relationships are extremely important.

Recognizing an I Style Customer

Based on our perception of how they act in public, examples of I Style Dominant Personalities might include: Bill Clinton, Robin Williams, Oprah Winfrey, Steve Martin, Rosie O’Donnell, and Bette Midler.

I Style customers tend to smile and talk a lot. As with Ds, appearance is everything, especially physical appearance. They like to wear designer label clothes and jewelry that signify social affiliation.

I Style customers are into people-related products like People Magazine, Success, and Psychology Today. They appreciate funny cards and collect memorabilia from friends. They appreciate a happening, contemporary atmosphere.

You can spot an I Style very easily. They are the ones who stop to talk with everyone and look at everything on their way to the rest room. They might bump into you only because they were paying attention to other things or people.

The I Style customer is often late. Bill Clinton had to work on his inability to keep his schedule on time in the early years of his presidency. As an I, he was always talking to people and never on time. I Style customers also tend to get off the subject and talk about things irrelevant to the problem at hand. Not because they’re ditzy, but because they just love the interaction more than the subject.

On the phone, the I Style customer will be bubbly, enthusiastic, and engaging.

Your Body Language for the I Style Customer

I Style customers respond well to expressive gestures. You need to smile at them and either stand or sit next to them to provide an atmosphere of acceptance. Close is fine with I people; they like you and want you to feel close to them. On the phone, you definitely want to smile while you speak with an I. Your smile will come through in the words you use and your tone. Remember, I Style customers are oriented and driven to people and relationships.

Speaking with an I Style Customer

Since I Style customers are expressive, you need to be expressive and animated in return. That’s how you get their attention. Your tone of voice should be energized, enthusiastic, friendly, persuasive, and filled with high and low modulations.

You should also sound colorful. I Style customers love images and word pictures. Your pace should be fast and animated. Your actions should be fast and filled with gestures. These behaviors communicate your aliveness that I Styles want to experience.

Words and phrases you can use to successfully communicate with I Style customers include:

• Fun
• I feel
• You’ll look great
• Put you in the spotlight
• State-of-the-art
• Everybody
• Picture this
• Recognition
• Exciting
• The latest thing
• Wonderful
• Awesome
• Fantastic

Here’s what you need to know if you want to get your point across to an I Style customer.

Dos and Don’ts of Communicating with I Style Customers

(Reprinted with permission from copyrighted material from Target Training International, Ltd.)

The Steady Customer (S Style)

The S Style customer is an accommodating individual. This is the person who, when he is inconvenienced by your product not working will make sure he doesn’t upset you with his complaint. The S Style customer is patient, relaxed, logical, and systematic. He is adverse to change, since he doesn’t want anything to upset his process. In servicing an S Style customer, it’s important to keep this need for stability in mind. If your solution requires a great deal of change on the part of the customer, you are in trouble, especially if you don’t soften the perceived impact of the requested changes. S Styles need to be secure in the fact that the solution is going to work and bring closure to the issue.

Research shows that 40 percent of the population represent the S Style customer. The S Style customer is a person who works hard to finish a great amount of work, even taking on the work of others. In fact, you may be servicing an S Style customer who may not be the real customer, but rather someone taking care of the problem for the real purchaser.

Recognizing an S Style Customer

Based on our perception of how they act in public, examples of S Style Dominant Personalities might include: Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Barbara Bush, Walter Payton, Tom Brokaw, and Kevin Costner.

Since S Style customers are loyal and service oriented, they are likely to dress with clothing emblazoned with their employer’s logo, and jewelry they received for years of service to their company. They are casual in nature and dress modestly. They like to come back to familiar, reliable places. The moment an S Style customer buys from you, you could have them for life unless you screw up or forget to meet their emotional needs and wants.

If the S Style customer must wait while you provide service, have on hand magazines such as Reader’s Digest, National Geographic, and Better Homes & Gardens. These magazines often have articles on how things work and the order of things in the world. Remember, S people are concerned with the how comes and how to’s.

Your Body Language for the S Style Customer

Since S Style customers are relaxed in nature and weary of change, you should lean back when standing in front of them and don’t rush with your actions. You should appear to be relaxed and not too close for comfort. Use small hand gestures and maintain an atmosphere of calm.

Speaking with an S Style Customer

To facilitate a calm atmosphere, your tone of voice should be warm, soft, calm, and steady. Your volume should be on the low side. Your rate of speech should be relaxed and thoughtful. Your actions should be well paced and relaxed. Think of a baby. If you do something unexpected out of the blue, or suddenly move with a jerky motion, you’ll startle and frighten the baby. The same holds true for S Style customers. Now hold on, we aren’t saying that S Style customers are babies. What we are saying is that you can most effectively communicate with them when it’s with the same tender and calm manner as you would use with a baby.

Words and phrases you should use in communicating with S Style customers include:

• Think about it
• Take your time
• Trust
• Guarantee
• Promise
• Security
• Reliable
• Help me to help you
• Comfort
• Assure
• You can expect
• Conservative
• Certain
• Here’s what’s going to happen
• Step-by-step explanations

Here’s what you need to know if you want to get your point across to an S Style customer.

Dos and Don’ts of Communicating with S Style Customers

(Reprinted with permission from copyrighted material from Target Training International, Ltd.)

The Compliant Customer (C Style)

The C Style customer is your everyday perfectionist. She wants it precise, orderly, and accurately. She is meticulous by nature and diplomatic in behavior. If you are going to satisfy a C Style customer, you better be armed with all the facts, figures, and supporting data you can get your hands on. They want all the Ts crossed and Is dotted before they will accept your ideas. C Style customers are sticklers for following the rules. If you deviate in any way from your policy or the law, they will let you know.

If you have been keeping score all along, you will know that research suggests that 14 percent of the population exhibits this style of behavior. While you may be thanking someone above for only giving this trait to 14 percent of the population, the C Style customer plays a pivotal role in keeping the world working with some measure of precision, and in keeping all of us honest.

If you’re trying to cut corners in the service you provide, forget it. The C Style customer will spot you a mile away blindfolded.

Recognizing a C Style Customer

Based on our perception of how they act in public, examples of C Style Dominant Personalities might include: Ted Koppel, Jack Nicklaus, Clint Eastwood, Diane Sawyer, and Spike Lee.

C Style customers are great poker players. They always have the same look and you never know what’s going on in their minds. They are conservative in nature, as exhibited by their clothing, which is often of good quality. Their jewelry symbolizes professional affiliation and is the “real thing.” They love do-it yourself-projects. In fact, they always will ask you questions concerning how they can do it. They love to decorate their offices with charts and graphs. The magazines they want to read in your waiting room include Consumer Reports, Discover, and technical journals.

The C Style customer will reluctantly move out of the way of an object in his path, at the last possible moment and only after having theorized, strategized, and analyzed numerous possible solutions on how to overcome the obstacle. When they finally stand aside, they’re likely to have their arms crossed with one hand resting on the chin as in a thinking position. Hey, they are always thinking.

C Style customer’s style of humor, when you can find it, is dry wit. Do not expect them to say anything unless they’re convinced you have the right solution or they are annoyed. Especially on the phone. Forget about engaging them in casual conversation. It won’t work. They called for information or a solution. Anything else is a silly waste of time. Even downright irritating.

Your Body Language for the C Style Customer

Don’t touch or get too close to a C Style customer. Sit or stand across from them where they can see you. If standing, stand firmly with your weight planted on the back foot. Maintain direct eye contact and use little or no hand gestures. Remember, these are extremely analytical people, some to the degree you might consider as being suspicious. Do nothing to suggest you’re trying to avoid them or take advantage of them.

Speaking with a C Style Customer

C Style customers are wary of what you have to say. Therefore, you must keep your tone of voice controlled at all times with little modulation. They are suspicious of hype style responses. You must be direct and precise in what you have to say. Your pace should be slow and thoughtful. Your words, vocal tone, pacing all should convey: Here are the facts you need to get what you want. Nothing more.

Your actions should be slow and deliberate. C Style customers fit two old sayings, “Just the facts ma’am,” and, “Nice and easy.”

Words and phrases you can use with C Style customers include:

• Proven/proof
• Guarantees
• No risk
• Research (or data) shows
• Take your time
• Supporting data and analyze
• No obligation
• Here are the facts
• Information
• Analysis
• Think it over

Here’s what you need to know if you want to get your point across to a C Style customer.

Dos and Don’ts of Communicating with C Style Customers

(Reprinted with permission from copyrighted material from Target Training International, Ltd.)

What’s Your Style?

Besides identifying the behavioral style of your customer, it’s important to recognize your own behavioral style. Only then will you know how to temper your approach as you deal with the different style of customers. If you are demanding styles like us (Don and Ron), you may need to calm down and be more patient with people, especially those who are S and C Style customers.

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 At Your Service
To make it easier to identify the four styles of behavior, keep in mind that the Ds and Is tend to be expressive and outgoing. Ss and Cs tend to be reserved and introverted.

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If you are of an I Style nature, you may talk too much when it comes to dealing with Ds. And don’t forget, Cs don’t want to have idle chatter with you and Ss are looking for security, not social recognition like you.

If you are an S Style individual, you must be prepared to change your way of communicating to be heard by the other styles. While you are slow in your pace of speech and low in volume, Is and Ds want you to pick things up, both in speed and volume. They want to move faster than you are prepared to move. And while you are steady in nature and look for guarantees, the C Style customers want no risk at all in employing your solutions.

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 Watch It!
Keep in mind that when a customer calls you to complain, their behavior is affected by a stressful situation. In stressful times, people often act differently than in calmer, “normal” times. Their behavioral styles may change in relation to the stress they’re feeling. The stress can exaggerate the extreme characteristics of their style. And that can make for some strange behavior! If you follow the methods of communication we suggest for each style, you’ll help prevent the situation from getting more stressful for both you and the customer.

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If you are a C Style person, show others some emotion. The Is want relationships and smiles. The Ds want decisions and action. The Ss want a stable, relaxed atmosphere with friendly faces all around them.

As a caring, responsible service provider, you are quite valuable to your customers in wanting to make sure your solution is really appropriate. However, you must communicate the solution with some feeling—appropriate to the individual you are interacting with at the moment. Remember, your success depends not only on the accuracy of your solution, but also on whether or not it is heard and understood by an individual customer. Great service is specific to the one person you are serving at any given moment.

We hope by now you will have an appreciation of what it means to communicate effectively with others. To ensure you are communicating properly with your customer, focus more on their words, actions, and body language. Think less about your situation. The more attention you pay to your customer, the better both of you are going to feel. And the more effectively you will serve and please your customer. By tuning into your customer’s individual behavior style, you will gain a deeper appreciation for and understanding of your customer and his problems. He in turn will want to listen to you since you will be communicating on the same frequency he is tuned to. Your service interactions will be personal, pleasing, and memorable. And that’s what it’s all about!