Yield to customers

- Recently I listened to a random sample of recorded calls for one of my clients. I do this a lot before I deliver workshops for companies so I can get a good feel for how employees handle calls with customers. When I listen to these calls, I heard lots of interruptions. Employees weren't letting customers finish sentences. What I heard was employees who sounded rude, rushed and overbearing. For a friendly interaction with your customers, you need to yield in conversation.

Yielding to customers is just like yielding in traffic. What I mean is, let the customer go first. Always give your customers right of way in conversations. We'll do this using two easy steps. First, always allow your customers to finish sentences. Even if you know exactly what the customer needs before they finish their sentence, still let them finish before you say anything. When you know within a second or two that the call needs to be transferred, you still need to let your customer finish what they're saying.

When you do, you make sure you don't come off as rude or in a hurry. Second, if you accidentally interrupt a customer, just apologize. You're bound to mess up now and then and interrupt a customer. I teach the stuff and it still happens to me. It's okay. Just apologize. I'm sorry, you go ahead. The apology will make up for any misstep you might have made.

Remember, over talking and interrupting leaves customers feeling frustrated and disconnected. Instead, slow down and practice yielding to make customers feel heard, respected and understood.