mark my words

[marcicat]

Yesterday I was training some new people at work, and we were talking about challenging calls. And the reality is, there are a limited number of things we can do for people, so the goal is generally to make the call as pleasant an experience as possible without actually being able to do what they want.

And I found myself saying, “Well, you don’t want to lie. You just want to encourage them to perceive the truth in a certain way.”

For instance:

1. “They can give you a call back once they’re back at their desk.”
(They *can* call you back. I doubt they will, but there’s a phone at their desk, so it’s a possibility.)

2. “The connection seems fine on my end; could it be your phone?”
(Where ‘fine’ means ‘the same as usual,’ not necessarily ‘good.’)

3. “Give me just a moment for my computer to catch up.”
(My computer is doing other work because I’m multi-tasking on this call.)

And the most egregious one that I use all the time:

“I’m submitting that feedback now.”
(Where am I submitting the feedback? It’s a mystery!)

Mirrored from The Marci Rating System.