The ability to effectively communicate ideas and questions to the customer is a crucial component to repairs. When information is communicated to the customer and processed by employees effectively, everyone benefits. The following informational document contains strategies for effective communication, with examples.

Core Concepts

Communication is never as simple as an exchange of words between two parties. To communicate effectively, you must be able to process all aspects of what the customer is telling you verbally and their non-verbal cues, and then convey yourself in a way that the customer will be able to understand. There is a fine balance to be struck while communicating such that both parties can end the conversation happily with all questions addressed and a plan in place. What follows are the core concepts for communicating effectively with the customer.

Maintain control of the conversation

Above all else, you must maintain control of the conversation throughout. You will set the tone, pacing, and direction of the conversation so long as you can achieve this. Much of the advice in this section is more psychological in nature rather than technical, and can therefore only be vaguely described at a conceptual level without going into extensive detail.

• Be the one to initiate the conversation. “Hi, how may I help you today?” is a simple greeting, but it also establishes that the customer is coming to you for your technical expertise and so puts you in control from the beginning.
• Ask questions, then wait for a response. Use the customer’s response to form or adjust your follow-up questions. Doing this establishes you as the leader or director of the conversation.
• Maintain an authoritative presence. Remain standing and attentive, make eye contact with the customer, speak with confidence. Be careful not to tread too far over this line such that you come off as rude, arrogant, and/or condescending- it’s easy to fall into this trap, which leads to poor reception during the conversation and potentially to an unhappy customer.

Set the expectation

A good technician will set the customer’s expectations in a way that, if everything goes according to plan, we can easily exceed. Most importantly:

• Don’t make promises that you can’t (or that you won’t be available to) keep. If you tell a customer that we can complete their repair in three days, then the customer will expect a three-day turnaround. Any longer than that and the customer’s impression of our business declines rapidly with every day that passes. Additionally, make sure you set your coworkers up for success as well- if you won’t be in the following day, then don’t promise the customer that their repair will be done unless you have assurance from someone who will be in that it’s possible to do so.
• In a conversation, don’t get (metaphorically) backed into a corner. This plays into the above point about maintaining control of the conversation. If you are not in control of the conversation, it may be appealing to say something that will make the customer happy in the short-term but that you (or your coworkers) may come to regret later.
• Give accurate repair cost and time estimates. Over time you will come to know what an average repair will cost for a specific issue. Give the customer a ballpark estimate that lets them know what kind of money they should expect to spend if your initial quote holds true. If the customer knows that the repair is going to cost some several hundred dollars but they were unsure of whether or not to repair it before, an accurate estimate can go a long way toward them making a decision. The goal is to save us and the customer time and money by avoiding a diagnostic fee for a device that they are not interested in repairing if the cost were too high.

With correctly set expectations, we are able to comfortably meet or exceed them. At the very least you should strive to meet the expectation- an estimated 5 day turnaround should be completed in 5 days at the most. In the best case, an estimated 5 day turnaround could be completed in 3 days, which will make the customer even happier.

Always give the customer options

During any conversation, whether it’s on the phone or face-to-face or through email- it is always important to give the customer an option, even if the option is trivial or ultimately won’t affect the outcome. Giving the customer options lets them feel like they’ve had a non-trivial impact on the decisions being made which gives them a sense of empowerment and/or inclusion that they wouldn’t have had otherwise. The customer will feel more invested and involved in the repair which leaves a positive, lasting impression.

Having an option, though, does not always mean presenting the customer with a binary choice of option A or B. Rather, giving them an option sometimes plays out as giving them an “easy out” of a critical statement. For example, you may have to address an issue that the customer caused or had a part in bringing about, without directly assigning blame to them. If you were to blame the customer with no “easy out” of the accusation, they would be left with two suboptimal responses- either to accept responsibility (admit fault) or to become defensive. Instead, you should reconstruct your statement to convey the same point in a less derisive manner.* To this end, *phrase your statement such that the behavior is at fault, not the customer. Compare the following sentences where an employee tries to explain how a computer got infected:

1. You clicked on a fake Flash Player update that got the computer infected
2. You received a popup that said you needed to update Flash Player, but it was fake and it installed some malware along with it, which infected the computer

Both of them inform the customer what happened (computer infected) and what caused it (fake Flash Player update), but the second sentence places the blame on the malicious actor (the fake Flash Player update) and leaves out the direct actions (“you clicked”, “you downloaded”). Putting the customer on the receiving end of an action (like “You received”) empathizes with the customer so that you’re both “on the same team” (note: you are on the same team with the customer- this is just more proof to the customer if it was needed).

Know when to address what the customer wants versus what the customer needs

Customers, on average, have reasonable wants. Usually it’s cut-and-dry things like virus removal, or an iOS reset where what they want aligns with what they need. Sometimes, however, a customer will want something that either isn’t possible or isn’t feasible, and it is your duty to know when to redirect the conversation (and the repair) toward a different conclusion in a constructive way.

For example, a customer may have a cracked screen on a laptop, and they want to have the screen replaced. However, the screen repair might cost more than the computer is worth if they were trying to repair it and sell it, or if they were to try buying a comparable laptop. In this case, what they want (their screen replaced) doesn’t align with what they need (to purchase a new computer, to remain cost effective). In such a situation, try to steer the customer toward the option that makes more economical sense. Explain your reasoning and be honest about how you reached that conclusion. Sometimes the customer might still want to repair the laptop in such a hypothetical situation, in which case you should honor that decision and document that you advised against repair due to X and Y reasons. In situations where it’s just not possible to do what they want as requested, work with the customer to redefine the scope of their repair and explain why it needs to be changed.

Translate between technical jargon and layman’s terminology as needed

The average customer is not very interested in overly-complicated explanations or technical jargon. To the average customer, a repair business like ours might be viewed as a simple “Input/Output” system. They input a device that needs to be repaired, and a few days later we output a repaired device. Everything that happens between the dropoff and pickup is not necessarily important to the average customer, unless they’ve requested or shown interest in a more thorough explanation.

If you use too much technical jargon to explain a situation to a customer, the explanation is likely to be either misunderstood or disregarded in its entirety. The old schoolroom adage of KISS (Keep it simple, stupid) applies- keep your explanation simple and precise unless the customer has demonstrated a higher-level of technical understanding and/or a desire to know more about the specifics of a certain process.

Technical jargon isn’t limited to terms and acronyms that the customer might not know. In general, the detailed processes of how certain repairs are performed or how certain systems are conducted (such as Apple’s GSX) are not valuable details to a customer, so trying to explain it takes away from your time to do repairs and the customer’s time to do anything else and unnecessarily adds an extra layer of information that the customer has to parse.

Tailor your speech to best fit the customer’s level of technical understanding

Within the first minute of talking to a customer, you should have a solid grasp on their technical and conceptual understanding of their situation. Use this knowledge to tailor your speech such that you give the customer relevant information they need at a level they can comfortably process and retain. For example, the process of backing up a computer can be explained in several levels of detail:

• To a customer with limited technological experience: “We backup your data then wipe everything out, reinstall the operating system and put your data back. We may have to reinstall a few programs afterwards.”
• To a customer with more technological experience: “We backup your data to our local server and then install a fresh copy of the operating system. Then we move your data back- things like pictures, documents, music, etc- and reinstall and reactivate your programs as necessary.”
• To a fellow technician: “We use Acronis to backup to our local server, which creates a sparse image that can then be restored either directly to a folder on the reloaded operating system or to a shop drive to transfer. Programs (on Windows) do not transfer from one installation to the other because they’re tied to that specific instance of the OS, so we have to reinstall them.”

While tailoring your speech to match the customer’s level of technical understanding, it is important to keep in mind that the customer that is less technically-inclined is to be treated just as fairly and politely as those that can “talk shop” with you about their repair. Remember that while you are an expert in your field, the customer may very well be an expert in another field (or several) that you know nothing about- so stay humble.

In the Shop

The majority of customer communication will occur face to face at a shop location. It is important at this time to set the customer’s expectations of what we can do for them, how quickly we can do it, and how much it will cost them. A properly informed customer can make the most suitable decision for their repair.

At Check-in

Often times, a customer’s first impression of our company will be at the front counter- and it starts before you’re even able to speak to them. If a customer comes in and has to wait to be seen because there is another customer in front of them, then your conversation with the first customer will set the overall tone for the second, and so on. When a customer waits, they typically do not sit and tune everything out- they listen for context clues, for things that might be relevant to their issue, and in general to get a “feel” for how we conduct ourselves.

1. Greet the customer. If they are the only customer in the lobby (or if you’re going up front to help process a packed lobby), a simple “Hi, how may I help you?” will suffice to start the conversation. If you are currently assisting another customer, find (or make) a break in the conversation and try to make eye contact with the new walk-in customer to tell them “We’ll be with you shortly, sir/ma’am”. If you have their attention you can take this time to point them towards the self-serve water or coffee.
   1. Customers that are not greeted within at most the first 1-2 minutes may feel unwelcome and some may even leave before you can assist them.
2. Listen to what the customer needs and offer your expertise as needed. Ascertaining the customer’s specific issue should only take a few minutes.
   2. Some customers don’t know what information is important or relevant to their issue, and so they may either try to tell you everything that they think is relevant or they may (unknowingly) not share certain key details. Remember to maintain the conversation and keep it flowing towards a punctual conclusion.
3. Perform a quick diagnostic if necessary and if time permits.
4. Offer a solution to the customer. Remember, the customer is here for a solution to their problem so be sure to focus on the solution at this time. It’s too easy to get stuck at this step of the check-in process if the customer gets bogged down with too much information (remember, KISS). You’re not looking to withhold important information from them but rather to keep the solution(s) concise and simple.
5. Finalize the check-in. The most important details to get and communicate at this time:
   3. Who is the customer? Have they been here before? How did they hear about us?
   4. How can we contact them? Phone, email, address.
   5. Why are they here- what issue brought them to us?
   6. What solution can we offer?
   7. When can they expect the issue to be resolved and how much should they expect to pay?

If you follow this simple 5-step process for every check-in, paying special attention to the details in 5a-5e, then everyone can leave the interaction satisfied. You will be satisfied knowing that you’ve given the customer the best solution to their issue and the best estimate you can give them, and the customer will be happy to have a reasonable estimate on the cost and timeframe of their repair.

At Checkout

Returning the device to the customer and getting them checked out of the repair system is another crucial point of communication. It is at this time that you can finalize the customer’s perception of you and the store. You should look to establish the following during the checkout conversation:

• The repair was completed as requested
• The customer is satisfied with the repair
• Their options for return or warranty service
• Any additional services that we can provide for this or other devices the customer owns

Covering these points will serve both to reduce the amount of follow-up work to be done answering questions about the repair and set the customer up for a return trip with this or another device in the future, if necessary.

On the Phone

When speaking to a customer on the phone, a lot of the contextual clues during the conversation are not presented, since neither you nor the customer can see each other. Because of this, it is important to be clear and concise with your communication so as not convey ambiguous messages to the customer.

• Be clear and concise. Introduce yourself and verify that you have reached the customer correctly. “Hi, this is _ with University PC Care. Am I speaking with Ms __?”. Right away you are able to establish your name, where you’re calling from and for whom you’re calling. After your introduction and verifying that you’ve reached the correct customer, briefly explain the reason for your call. “I’m calling about your MacBook Air that we have in the shop”, for example.
• State a problem, a diagnosis, and any potential solutions. For example, “You brought your device in because it was infected. We’ve confirmed that the device has malware that needs to be removed, and so it’s going to need a cleanup.” With a statement like this, you affirm to the customer that they were heard and understood at the time of check-in, that we have addressed their issue and that we have a suggested solution to their issue.
• Answer follow-up questions. Often times the customer will ask “how could this have happened?” and “how can I prevent this from happening again in the future?” Take this time to offer a brief overview of potential causes and any preventative measures that can be taken in the future. This is a great time to introduce services like Personal Care Plans, BizCare, and CareDrive backup solutions.
• End the conversation with a plan in place, and restate the plan before ending the call. If the customer has authorized a PC Clean, for example, you might end the call by saying “We’ll get started on that PC Clean right away and we’ll give you a call as soon as it’s ready”. Ending the conversation with a confirmed plan assures the customer that their device is being actively worked on.

Text Message (SMS)

When communicating via text message, keep your messages clear and concise. SMS is inherently a short-form method of communication so brevity is key. If you feel like you have too much information to convey in a text message, consider making your message a customer note instead and sending a text message asking the customer to contact you or to check their repair status online.

At all times, maintain proper spelling and grammar in official communication with customers.

Online Communication

Online communication, such as those via email, should maintain the same level of professionalism as any other form of communication. Proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation should be used throughout.

Communicating via text loses even more contextual clues than speaking to a customer on the phone when compared to face to face communication, so it is imperative that your message is clear, direct, and unambiguous. If any part of your message is easily open to interpretation, confusion could ensue and either cause additional communication necessary to clarify the original, misinterpreted message or cause the customer to have an incorrect expectation on the matters discussed.

Keep in mind that it is much easier to point to and reference something said in text as opposed to in person because your message exists in a tangible, referenceable format by default. So long as you speak truthfully and clearly, this will not be an issue. Do not embellish or make unreasonable claims or promises that you are not prepared to uphold or deliver upon.