A case for customer service scripts?
I’ve been thinking a lot about words lately.
The topic seems to be coming up everywhere for me. The power of not just what you say, your general message, but also the specific words you use to say it.
This has very powerful implications in all areas of life. Power I’m only beginning to delve into the implications of.
But for this email, I’ll stick to customer service.
The words you use in customer service matter.
For example, there’s a big difference between a 30 day “trial period” where we’ll refund your money at any point if you decide the service isn’t for you, and a 30 day “refund policy”, where if you change your mind, we’ll cancel your subscription, remove your access, and refund your money.
There’s a big difference between a guarantee and a “risk free” guarantee.
There’s a big difference between “why did you decide to cancel?” and “why did you change your mind about being a member?”.
And yes, in some situations, you may want to set up a scripted answer, or a canned response, to make the right language easier to use.
As you all know, I’m not a fan of over-scripting the customer service process. In fact, most scripts I come across in daily life actually use many of the wrong words to paint the wrong pictures in customers’ minds.
Eliminating such scripts makes things better, as people naturally use better words to convey the point they’re trying to make.
I expect to be talking about this stuff a lot more
Like I said, I’m only beginning to understand the true power of this stuff.
Look for more soon.
— Mark
P.S. “Discount” is another word that raises a lot of debate in business.
Some say discount constantly. Others say NEVER discount.
I guess I’m somewhere in between, because right now, you can get the 80/20 Service Guide with a nice, sweet discount.
