Did you know that 63% of customers will leave a business after just one poor customer service interaction? If your customer service agents don’t follow good etiquette, it could be detrimental to your company.
In fact, more than 70% of customers report having been treated rudely by a customer service agent.
In one example, eCommerce brand Flipkart had its reputation destroyed online when an unhappy customer’s daughter posted on social media about her father’s poor experience with a delivery agent. The post got over 170,000 views, and although Flipkart made a public apology, the company faced massive public backlash from hundreds of customers.
If you don’t make customer service etiquette a property in your business, you’ll:
⚠️ Lose loyal clients.
⚠️ Derail the hard work you’ve put into building out your customer service.
⚠️ Damage your reputation.
⚠️ Lose out on revenue.
Ensuring your agents are positive, polite, and genuine during customer interactions can ensure your customers have a great experience with your brand, turning them into loyal advocates for your business.
In this article, we’ll explain customer service etiquette and share 10 guidelines for implementing it in your contact center.
What Is Customer Service Etiquette?
Customer service etiquette refers to a set of guidelines and practices that ensure customer interactions are:
👍 Respectful.
👍 Helpful.
👍 Professional.
It includes behavior, language, and actions that create a positive customer experience.
It involves your customer support agents being polite, courteous, and patient with customers while practicing active listening and clear communication.
Why Is Customer Service Etiquette Important?
Now that you know what customer service etiquette is, let’s unpack the benefits of prioritizing this in your business:
✔️ Builds customer trust and loyalty
Three out of five customers report that exceptional customer service is vital for them to feel loyal to a brand. Good etiquette, such as positive language and empathy, can turn one-time buyers into repeat customers, creating long-term value for your company.
Over 80% of consumers need to trust a brand before considering returning to them. Consistently polite, professional interactions build trust, as customers feel valued and respected.
When a business provides high-quality customer service, customers are more likely to feel confident in the brand and return for future purchases.
✔️ Creates a positive brand image
Every interaction a customer has with a brand contributes to its overall reputation. In fact, 78% of consumers use customer service to decide whether or not to do business with a company.
Over 90% of customers who have a negative experience with a company will tell others about it. Word-of-mouth referrals, reviews, and social media feedback are all influenced by customer experiences.
Customer service etiquette is about your agents remaining professional at all times, which creates a positive impression of your business.
✔️ Improves customer satisfaction
Good etiquette helps your agents fully understand and address customer concerns. When customers feel listened to, they are more satisfied with the outcome, even if the solution isn’t perfect.
Clear communication, empathy, and accountability prevent misunderstandings and reduce frustration, leading to a smoother resolution process and higher satisfaction rates.
✔️ Reduces escalations
The average call center escalation rate is 10%. When customers feel respected and valued, they’re less likely to want their complaints escalated.
Empathy and positive language can transform a negative experience into a constructive one, often leaving customers more satisfied than if no issue had occurred.
✔️ Increased revenue
Brands delivering outstanding customer service generate 5.7 times more revenue than competitors who don’t.
Retaining existing customers is generally more cost-effective than acquiring new ones. Good etiquette keeps customers happy, leading to higher retention rates and more repeat business, which naturally improves revenue. In fact, a 5% increase in customer retention can lead to a 25% to 95% increase in profitability.
Additionally, when customers have a positive experience, they’re more open to learning about additional products or services. A well-handled interaction can increase your sales by creating opportunities for relevant recommendations.
✔️ Improved competitive advantage
In many industries, providing exceptional customer service is a differentiating factor. By prioritizing etiquette, companies show they’re customer-centric, which appeals to customers who value quality interactions.
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10 Customer Service Etiquette Tips
As you can see, good customer service etiquette significantly benefits your business. But how do you get it right when it’s such a subtle practice? Below are some important customer service etiquette rules to follow:
1. Keep things positive
Your customer service team should aim to use positive language in every customer interaction. Positive language is about expressing what you can do for a customer rather than what you can’t.
Negative language highlights the limitations of what you can do for a customer, potentially making them even more frustrated.
To keep the conversation positive, agents should:
➡️ Use a calm tone of voice.
➡️ Share solutions.
➡️ Use positive phrases.
Some examples of positive phrases that your customer service representatives could use include:
💬 “I’d be happy to help you with that.”
💬 “What I can do is…”
💬 “You’re in good hands.”
💬 “We’ll make sure this gets resolved quickly.”
💬 “This is a great question. Let me explain.”
2. Use active listening
Over 70% of customers will remain loyal to a brand if they feel understood and valued. Active listening is a vital skill for agents, as it involves focusing on, understanding, and responding to the customer in a way that makes them feel heard.
Active listening goes beyond simply hearing the customer’s words; it includes recognizing their tone, emotions, and underlying concerns.
Additionally, active listening fosters clear communication, builds rapport, and improves customer satisfaction.
💡 Don’t Expect Your Agents to Pick Up on Tone and Emotion Without Help
Loris is a conversation intelligence platform that helps agents determine how customers are feeling and their mood when they reach out to your contact center. Through live sentiment analysis, agents can track exactly how a customer feels throughout a conversation, helping them navigate interactions and know what to say and when to say it.
Below are some key aspects of active listening that your agents need to master for good customer service etiquette:
Acknowledgment and encouragement
➡️ Verbal acknowledgment: Use small verbal affirmations like “I see,” “I understand,” or “Go on,” to show the customer they’re being heard.
➡️ Reflect back: Restate or rephrase the customer’s main points to confirm understanding. For example, “So, just to confirm, you’re saying that…” or “I understand that the issue is…”
➡️ Mirror emotion: If a customer is frustrated or concerned, acknowledging their emotions with phrases like, “I can see why this would be frustrating,” helps validate their feelings.
Clarifying and asking questions
➡️ Ask clarifying questions: If any part of the issue isn’t clear, asking questions like, “Could you explain a bit more about…?” or “Can you walk me through what happened before that?” helps prevent misunderstandings and shows genuine interest.
➡️ Confirm details: Confirming critical information, such as the product or account type, ensures that the agent has all the relevant information before proposing a solution.
➡️ Probe for deeper understanding: When necessary, probing questions like “What happened before this?” enable the agent to gather more background and provide tailored solutions.
Summarizing and confirming understanding
➡️ Summarize key points: Summing up the issue in their own words ensures the agent and customer are on the same page about what’s been said and agreed upon. For example, “Just to ensure we’re on the same page, you’re experiencing…”
➡️ Confirm next steps: After summarizing, outlining the next steps or action plan clearly reassures the customer. Saying something like, “I’ll go ahead and check this for you now” or “Let’s see what options are available” clarifies what the agent will do next.
3. Personalize your customer interactions
Over 80% of customers prefer companies that offer a personalized experience. Personalization makes customers feel like more than just a number in your contact center. In fact, 66% of customers say they would switch brands if they felt they were treated like a number and not an individual.
For example, agents can provide a meaningful, positive customer experience by repeatedly using the customer’s name in interactions.
Additionally, you should equip your agents with customer relationship management (CRM) platforms that enable them to personalize interactions based on the details you have available on each customer, like their purchasing behavior or previous contact center interactions.
4. Express empathy
Expressing empathy is essential because it helps build trust, eases tension, and fosters positive relationships with customers. When your agents show empathy, customers feel understood and valued, which can significantly improve their overall experience.
Here are some ways that a customer service representative can express empathy:
➡️ Acknowledge emotions: Phrases like, “I can understand how frustrating that must be for you” or “I can see why you’d be concerned about this” shows that the agent recognizes the customer’s emotional state.
➡️ Express understanding: Saying, “I understand why this is important to you” or “I’d feel the same way if I were in your shoes” helps the customer feel that their feelings are valid.
➡️ Acknowledge customer efforts: Recognize any steps the customer has already taken to resolve the issue, as it shows respect for their time and effort. For instance, “I can see you’ve tried several things to fix this already. Let’s see what more we can do from here.”
➡️ Validate frustrations: When a customer expresses frustration, an empathetic response would be, “I can imagine this process has been quite frustrating for you. Let’s find a solution together.”
➡️ Provide reassurance: Phrases like “I’m here to help you resolve this” or “We’ll work on this together” help reassure customers that their concerns are being taken seriously.
5. Respect customers’ time
Your customers are busy, and they expect instant solutions to their complaints. In fact, 90% of customers rate an immediate response as essential when they have a customer service question. For this reason, your agents need to focus on resolving customer problems as quickly as possible.
Here are three things you could do to ensure you can resolve complaints fast:
➡️ Encourage efficient problem-solving skills: Train and coach agents to quickly assess a customer’s issue and identify the best solution, reducing time-consuming back-and-forth.
➡️ Provide access to customer data: As mentioned above, you should equip agents with easy access to customer history and data to address issues without requiring customers to repeat information.
➡️ Develop scripts and quick references: Create scripts and resources that help agents respond to common issues swiftly without compromising quality.
💡 Loris Can Help You to Respect Your Customer’s Time
Loris can help quality assurance (QA) and customer experience (CX) leaders identify emerging issues before they become a larger problem. This enables leaders to provide real-time solutions to problems before complaints reach your contact center and waste customers’ time.
6. Use scripts for consistency
As mentioned above, scripts are a great way to ensure fast customer service. They’re also an effective way to ensure consistency. In fact, 83% of customers are more loyal to businesses that provide consistency in their customer service.
Developing playbooks, pre-written responses, and scripts ensures your agents communicate politely and professionally and avoid slip-ups.
However, as personalization is important, your scripts should allow room to personalize the interaction so that the conversation doesn’t sound robotic. Although your agent may be using a script, they should still sound like they’re speaking naturally.
7. Maintain professionalism
While customer interactions should be conversational, there is a fine line between being casual and unprofessional. Professionalism makes customers feel respected and may help ease their frustration.
Below are some tips for remaining professional, even if a customer is highly frustrated:
➡️ Remain calm: Speaking in a calm, controlled voice can ease the customers’ frustration. Agents should avoid raising their tone, even if the customer is angry or loud.
➡️ Stay focused on solutions: Agents should shift the conversation toward possible solutions. For example, say, “I’m here to help you resolve this, so let’s look at our options.” Focusing on resolution helps guide the customer to a more productive mindset.
➡️ Stay neutral: Agents should avoid getting defensive, even if the customer criticizes the company or previous interactions.
➡️ Remain assertive but respectful: If a customer uses inappropriate language or makes unreasonable demands, agents should politely explain the limits. For instance, say, “I understand you’re upset, and I want to help. Let’s work together to find a solution.”
➡️ Remain patient: Even if the customer repeats the issue multiple times, agents should aim to stay patient and listen actively without rushing them.
➡️ Gently move toward a resolution: Once the customer has fully expressed their frustration, gently guide the conversation toward resolution. Use transition phrases like, “Thank you for sharing that. Here’s what we’ll do…”
8. Apologize where necessary
Apologizing is another crucial component of customer service etiquette. It acknowledges the customer’s experience, demonstrates empathy, and is essential in restoring trust, especially when issues arise.
Research has found that simply saying “I’m sorry” in response to a customer complaint increases retention rates by 17%.
A genuine apology from an agent:
➡️ Validates the customer’s emotions: It shows that the agent understands and respects the customer’s feelings, which can help calm the situation and make the customer feel heard.
➡️ Builds rapport and empathy: By acknowledging the inconvenience or frustration, the agent connects on a human level, showing that they care about how the customer feels, not just about resolving the issue.
➡️ Demonstrates accountability: Apologizing shows the company is willing to take responsibility, whether the issue was directly within its control or not.
➡️ Repairs customer relationships: A timely apology can prevent further damage to the relationship, making customers feel that the company values their satisfaction and wants to make amends.
However, it’s important to remember that there are times when an apology may not be appropriate or helpful. In certain situations, apologies can come across as insincere, unnecessary, or even counterproductive.
For example, if a problem arises from factors beyond your company’s control, such as a natural disaster, economic issue, or third-party disruption, this would be a scenario where an apology wouldn’t necessarily be best. Instead, your agents should express empathy and acknowledge the inconvenience without taking direct responsibility.
9. Express gratitude
During interactions, especially complaints, your agents should express gratitude. They should thank the customer for bringing the issue to their attention, as this shows that you appreciate them.
A survey found that 47% of customers said feeling appreciated by customer service agents and teams is essential to their experience with a brand.
When agents thank customers, it builds a positive relationship, reinforces loyalty, and demonstrates that your company values their business.
Customers put in time and effort to reach out to your team, especially when dealing with an issue or concern. By thanking them, agents show appreciation for the customer’s effort.
Here are some examples of how agents can express gratitude during a customer interaction:
➡️ Thanking customers for their time: “Thank you for taking the time to reach out to us today.”
➡️ Acknowledging customer feedback: “We appreciate your feedback. It helps us improve our service for you and others.”
➡️ Appreciating loyalty: “Thank you for being a loyal customer. We’re here to support you however we can.”
➡️ Recognizing patience: “Thank you for your patience while I look into this for you.”
➡️ Expressing general appreciation: “Thank you for choosing our company. We’re grateful to have you as our customer.”
10. Follow up after every interaction
Research shows that very few companies follow up with their customers after contact center interaction.
Your customer service department should send personalized follow-up or thank-you messages to customers who have reached out to your contact center. This is especially important for major issues or your high value customers. Being able to identify which customers must get a follow up and detailing both the resolution and steps to avoid in future can go a long way.
Your Ultimate Solution for Customer Service Etiquette
If you provide exceptional customer service by following good etiquette, you can build customer loyalty, create a positive brand image, and increase revenue.
By analyzing every contact center interaction, Loris can identify emerging issues in real-time before they become more significant problems.
This helps CX and QA professionals deploy proactive customer service solutions before customers reach out to your contact center. This is the ultimate way to care for and respect your customers.
Additionally, Loris helps your agents remain polite and professional through our live sentiment analysis feature, helping them say the right thing at the right time and maintaining good etiquette.
Speak to a Loris expert today to learn how our platform can help you ensure the best possible customer service.
