Synopses & Reviews
Review
“If you’re ready to wipe out customer complaints, and keep your employees for years, it’s time to read this book.”
-Niche Magazine
Synopsis
"Good customer service might seem like a matter of attitude, but with a little knowledge of basic behavioral psychology, any service rep or team can dramatically improve service quality. Great Customer Connections presents a step-by-step program for turning each customer interaction into a peak experience. Adapting scientific research into easy-to-apply practices, the book lets service professionals:
* connect with customers and “speak the language” of each one’s unique personality
* use the “secret phrases” that make them feel great
* tell them anything without upsetting them
* stop saying “no” -- permanently
* defuse any crisis and take command of each interaction even with difficult or unclear customers
Combining known principles of behavioral psychology with field-proven techniques, Great Customer Connections is the key to revolutionizing the service quality that you, your team, and your entire company provide."
About the Author
Richard S. Gallagher (Ithaca, NY) is an authority on communications skills and workplace culture. A former customer service executive who is now a popular corporate trainer and public speaker, he specializes in the mechanics of customer interaction.
Table of Contents
"Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1. The New Science of Customer Service
A New Way of Looking at Customers
Beyond Attitude
What This Book Will Cover
Chapter 2. The Inner Game of Customer Contact
The Science of How We Give Off ""Vibes""
Beyond ""Vibes""--Tapping into the Inner Game of Customer Contact
Your New Mind-Set: Becoming a Neutral Observer
Chapter 3. The First Thirty Seconds
The Opening Greeting: Getting Beyond ""Hello""
The Turning Point: Your First Response
The Art of Active Listening
Creating Great Customer Experiences in Thirty Seconds
Chapter 4. Getting the Message Across
Why We Don’t Communicate Customer Information Well
How to Deliver the Message: The Staging Technique
It’s Never Just the Situation
Chapter 5. Getting into Your Customer’s Head
The Jeopardy! Technique--Putting Things in the Form of a Question
When the Customer Is Always Wrong--Using the Technique
Role-Reversal: Speaking Like a Customer
The Ultimate Goal: Think Like a Customer
Chapter 6. Respect and Empathy: More Than a Feeling
Looking at Respect
Understanding Empathy
Moving from Personal Feelings to Professional Skills
Chapter 7. How to (Almost) Never Say No
How to Stop Saying No: Doing the Can-Can
The Can-Can in Detail
Beyond the Can-Can
The Can-Can Way of Life
Chapter 8. How to Become a Human Bomb Squad
Understanding Why We Get Angry
Defusing a Crisis: The Triple-A Approach
Putting the Triple-A Technique to Work
Angry and Abusive are Two Different Things
The Paradox of Angry Customers
Chapter 9. Managing Specific Customer Personalities
Your Personality
Customer Personalities: Four Key Types
How to Say the Same Thing in Four Different Languages
Personality and You
Chapter 10. Wrapping Things Up
The Talk-a-holic
The Strong, Silent Type
The Nonlinear Thinker
The Needy Novice
The Verbal Receipt
Chapter 11. The Tough Cases
Case 1: Oops!
Case 2: The Stakes Are High
Case 3: Mr. Angry
Case 4: Painting the Town Red
Case 5: Too Close to Your Customer
It’s All in the Fundamentals
Chapter 12. Pulling It All Together
The Core in Common
In Closing: The ""A"" Word
Appendix A. Coaching for Peak Customer Experiences
The Case for Coaching
Strength-Based Coaching
Customer Skills as Coaching Skills
Effective Coaching: Some Closing Thoughts
Appendix B. From Customer Service to Real Life
The Chatty Coworker
When Your Friends Hit a Sour Note
That Was a Nice Vase
Home (Not So) Sweet Home
When Customer Skills Save Lives
Postscript: How to Be a Better Customer
Appendix C. Customer Skills for Great Customer Connections
Notes
Index
About the Author"