How varying the degree of warmth in a conversation can boost customer satisfaction

“Answer your phone in a brusque manner” was advice I got years ago. By sounding abrupt, the theory was you could dismiss those you didn’t want to talk to, but delight those you did once they heard the contrasting warmth you reserved specially for them.

Well, new research reveals how you can increase customer satisfaction by varying the degree of warmth you and your team use in conversation. 

Hot versus cold

Let’s say you are closing a customer service call. Should you say “It was my pleasure. Take care now.” or “I’m glad I could solve that for you. Bye now.”?

The difference is the degree of warmth you project.

“It was my pleasure. Take care now.” is a warmer, more feelings-based statement, whereas “I’m glad I could solve that for you. Bye now.” is more competency-based.

In general terms, business communications typically emphasise competence over warmth, especially in B2B rather than B2C contexts. After all, we want to seem professional and capable.

But is this the right approach?

When to be warm

Working with a major US airline, researchers analysed phrases used across a sample of 204 customer service calls (that’s over 10,000 back-and-forth exchanges), along with customer satisfaction ratings.

Customers were found to recommend the airline more when the team members used warm language to start and conclude the conversation, and competency-based language in between. This reinforced the findings of an earlier analysis of over 200 calls from a large online retailer.

As the researchers note, “’bookending’ the efficient, competent addressing of customer needs with warmer, more affective rapport building at the start and end of service interactions increases customer satisfaction”.

Implications for your business

• It’s not just what you say, but how (ie degree of warmth) and when (ie stage of call). 
• Bolstering satisfaction doesn’t have to be expensive. It may be as simple as refining your team’s approach to call handling.
• Think of customer service calls as a ‘satisfaction sandwich’, with the meat of the call being supported by soft, warm bread to start and end.

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