Forget labels

Posted by Kevin Stirtz on May 14, 2010

0 comments | 1236 reads

Think about how we often describe our customers. We might label them as difficult, angry, rude, uninformed, arrogant, etc. (Sometimes we use terms like friendly, warm, engaging and so on.) On one level this seems useful. It might help us decide how to handle certain customers in specific situations.

But labels can also cause problems.

Labels can get in the way of better customer service. When we label people we tend to focus on the label. We see the customer through that filter. Everything they do or say gets colored by the label we attach to them.

Yet to give our customers the best service we can, we need to focus on their needs and our behavior. While we cannot control our customer’s experience we can influence it. And we do that with our behavior. This is the most important tool we have to deliver amazing customer service.

So forget labels. They just get in the way. Instead, focus on your actions.

Kevin Stirtz

Kevin Stirtz is a web marketing consultant. He uses SEO, social media and local search strategies and tools to help businesses attract and keep more customers. He is a Certified Inbound Marketing Professional and has written two books about marketing and customer loyalty. Kevin lives in the Twin Cities metro area of Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN.

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