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This Compassionate Communication Strategy Transformed my Employee

| Mary Shores

Have you ever had a conversation with a customer or client where you just didn’t care?

If we’re being honest, it’s easy to fall into that hole. That last call on a Friday or the 5th angry person demanding to speak to a supervisor that day. It’s awful to admit it, but let’s be real. Those folks probably didn’t get your most compassionate, caring self.

Am I right?

The truth is, when we’re in customer-facing positions, it’s really easy to lose our humanity. Especially when we’re in a company that places importance on finishing calls quickly or getting to the point right away.

But what if we could put compassion back into customer service? Wouldn’t that feel way better – for you AND the client? The good news is, there IS a way.

One of my employees really struggled with this for a long time. She’s been with me for 15 years, and we’ve had some major ups and downs with communication. At one point, I could hear her yell at consumers and slam the phone down from three offices away.

It was a bad situation. The consumers felt horrible obviously, and my team member was getting frustrated and impatient as well. I knew I needed to make a change.

That was right around the time I implemented the 5 Principles of the Communication Code (or, as I called them back then, Words that Work.) I started by eliminating negative words. Over the next few years, I built out a communication strategy that completely flipped the way we did business.

And guess what?

Just yesterday, I heard my employee on the phone again. She was on the call for ages and I could tell it must have been an older person who had difficulty hearing. But on this call, she was patient and polite. She repeated herself until the consumer fully understood and she walked them through exactly what steps they needed to take to get a solution.

She never hung up – and the consumer didn’t either! They worked together to find the best possible outcome. None of the positivity and goodwill produced was directly due to the scripts or our process either. It came from my employee truly wanting to help the consumer. And THAT is the kind of business I want to do.

The truth is, when you practice compassionate, conscious communications, it actually increases your own ability to be a compassionate person. I fully believe that implementing this system changes you as a person. I could go on and on with stories, like how my office manager was able to completely cut out her prescription medication because she just didn’t need it anymore.

But instead, I want to hear from you. Are you ready to make a difference and start bringing the humanity back into the business world? Try the steps (don’t forget, the full breakdown is right here) and let me know what kind of difference you see.

To read this article as originally written, visit MaryShores.com

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