When are people in charge of their lives and experiences? Chances are, not very often. So they seek to feel in control of their experiences and certainty in their knowledge of things in small areas, like their transactions with companies. For as many times as those in customer service have heard “the customer is always right”, the customers have heard it, too, and they want to be in the driver’s seat of their experience with us.
Recently, at a home improvement store, an elderly woman was looking for a “mat you put under your microwave”. Rather than hearing her and trying to sort out her actual need, the associate
The temptation to lead customers doesn’t necessarily come from a dismissive place. It can just as easily be motivated by an over eagerness to help provide a solution as quickly as possible, or a certainty that we see where this is going. But we are better providers of service if we can remind ourselves to pause as soon as we think we know what solution is needed, let the customer finish their request, and then ask any needed follow up questions to ensure we are not heading down the wrong path for them. Then and only then, once the listening portion of our jobs is complete, can we jump in to lead them to the correct answer. When we can do this consistently, both we and our customers are the happier for it.