I took my mum out for Mother’s Day.
We were going for a proper fancy-pants afternoon tea. A real treat.
As we arrived, the parking gods must have been on our side. A van that had been parked right outside the entrance pulled away. The driver even gave me a friendly wave to take his spot.
Perfect timing. Mum didn’t have far to walk and we could head straight in.
Inside we were greeted by a receptionist we knew. We chatted for a moment and explained we had a booking for afternoon tea.
While we were talking, I noticed another member of staff nearby. Let’s call her Bob, as she was bobbing. You know when someone can’t wait to speak, so they lift up and down, up and down. It was obvious she wanted to say something. So she bobbed.
After a minute or two the receptionist asked, ‘Would you like to go through for your tea?’
At that point Bob stepped forward, bobbed, and with absolute pride announced, ‘You can’t park there.’
And instantly she flattened the moment.
Nothing dramatic had happened. No argument. No raised voices. Just a few words that landed with a thud.
You can’t park there.
The problem wasn’t the request. I was perfectly happy to move the car.
It was the wording.
Imagine if, instead, she had said, in front of my mum, ‘Excuse me, would you mind moving your car to our hotel car park please? It’s just round the back, will take two minutes and there’s even a short cut from the car park.’
Same outcome. Completely different feeling.
With more than a million words in the English language, the ones you choose matter.
Especially in customer service.
A small shift in wording can turn a correction into a courtesy. It can protect someone’s dignity. It can preserve a moment for me, in front of my 86-year-old mum, on Mother’s Day.
Right now, customer service feels like it’s nosediving. Politeness has been replaced by brusqueness. Helpfulness sometimes disappears behind ‘rules’.
I’ve had so many bad examples this week, from BT to Bloomingdales, I’ve run out of fingers.
But I’m positive, so I can see the upside.
When service standards fall, the bar becomes surprisingly easy to clear.
Which means those who choose their words carefully, show a little thought and treat people well stand out.
Brilliant service isn’t complicated. It starts by choosing better words.
Be Brilliant!
Michael
I would love to hear your examples of where words made or broke a service interaction. I’ll send a copy of my new customer service book ‘See, Smile, Say Hello’ to my favourite. You can leave a comment here.
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