Ask the right questions in any situation and you can almost always end calls faster and make customers happier. Try these.
These questions from Maxine Kamin’s 10 Steps to Successful Customer Service will help uncover the details you need:
- Close-ended questions. Use these to get short, decisive, “yes” or “no” answers. They also work well to slow a chatty customer. Examples: “Did you receive the package?” “Do you need a confirmation number?”
- Open-ended questions. Use them to probe and get more details. Examples: “Can you tell me more about …?” “What happened next?”
- Defining questions. These help customers focus on a solution. Examples: “Where do you see this going?” “How do you imagine the outcome?”
- Relay questions. Use these to get customers involved in the solution so you reach one that will make them happy. Examples: “How do you think we should go forward?” “What do you think about …?”
- Past success questions. These help put the situation in perspective. Examples: “How was this handled in the past?” “What can you tell me about a similar situation you experienced?”
