When a Customer Needs to Follow a Sequence of Actions
Robert Bacal
THE SITUATION
There are some situations where a customer needs to follow a sequence of steps or actions to get something accomplished. For example, purchasing a house involves a series of steps, including selling the current house, finding a new house, engaging a lawyer, and arranging for a mortgage. Customers don’t always know the sequence that’s most advantageous. One role you can play is to help them navigate the sequence of steps. Here’s how.
TECHNIQUES USED
■ Empathy Statements (1)
■ Assurances of Results (2)
■ Provide Explanations (3)
■ Provide a Customer Takeaway (4)
DIALOGUE
In this example, the customer is a first-time house buyer working with a real estate agent for the first time.
Customer: Sheesh, I didn’t know there was so much red tape and rigmarole involved with buying a house. It’s a pretty scary, involved process.
Employee: It does seem overwhelming if you haven’t gone through it before (1). I can help you get this organized, and I can tell you that it’s almost always easier than it sounds, and we’ll get through this (2).
Here’s what I’m going to do. I have some printed information that explains all the steps. Let’s go over that material: I’ll go through it step by step and you can ask questions (3). [The employee brings out the printed 12. When a Customer Needs to Follow a Sequence of Actions 78 material and goes through it with the customer, answering the questions (4).]
EXPLANATIONS
Once again we see that the first step involves an empathy statement (1). In this case, the employee does this to help the customer understand that feeling overwhelmed is a “normal” reaction. She then emphasizes that the process is easier than it looks, and it will all work out (2).
Finally, she provides a customer takeaway that maps out the steps the customer needs to follow and covers each of the steps in a face-to-face conversation (3, 4).
If there’s no printed takeaway, the employee can make some simple notes by hand to summarize the conversation so the customer can take those notes with him and use them as a guide.
HINTS
It’s useful to make notes to give to the customer even if there’s printed material. At least mark the important points with a highlighter.
Takeaways should be simple and clear. They’re best used as summaries of the face-to-face interactions between customer and employee.
Don’t assume that your customer will understand or even read any written material you provide. You need to walk customers through the materials.
See Also: 7. When You Need to Explain a Company Policy or Procedure