How to use the right word at the right time in customer interactions.

It’s time to revisit the idea of avoiding the word “no,” but this time, I want to approach it from a different angle. First, let me tell you about my friend Dr. Nido Qubein, a devoted husband and father, motivational speaker, entrepreneur, president of High Point University, and mentor to many, who came to this country when he was 17 with little more than $50 to his name. Almost 50 years ago, he attended High Point University, never dreaming that one day he would be president of the institution, a position he accepted in 2005.

Since that time, there has been incredible growth at HPU. In his first year, the university had about 1,400 students enrolled on the 91-acre campus. Today, there are almost 6,000 students, including 623 graduate students.

If you Google “Nido Qubein,” you will see a list of accomplishments that give insight into this man’s extraordinary career. As a business leader, Nido is executive chairman of Great Harvest Bread Company (220 stores in 43 states). He serves on the executive committee and board of BB&T, a Fortune 500 company with over $230 billion in assets, and the corporate board of La-Z-Boy Corporation, one of the world’s largest and most recognized furniture retailers.

As a professional speaker, he encourages businesses and organizations throughout the world on how to improve their vision and achieve success.

As an author, Nido has written more than a dozen books on leadership, sales, communication, reculturing organizations and achievement; recorded scores of audio-visual learning systems; and hundreds of client-customized products.

As mentioned, he is a mentor to many, and even as a friend, I am among those who consider him a mentor. I’ve learned much from his willingness to share the lessons he learned from his successes, and today, I want to share a simple lesson we might all want to consider, which has to do with the word “no.”

Nido recognizes that when someone new steps into a leadership role in any type of organization, authenticity and listening skills are of the utmost importance. People can be skeptical. He says, “I always start with a ‘yes.’ It doesn’t always end that way after we’ve done the study, but a lot of people start with ‘no.’”

I love this idea. When our customers ask us for something or they have an issue, starting on a positive note, such as finding a way to use the word “yes” from the start can help guide the conversation in the right direction. This is what it looks like:

“Yes, I understand.”
“Yes, that’s a great idea worth considering.”
“Yes, you do have a problem, so let’s see what we can do about it.”
“Yes, that is a possibility. Let’s look at the situation more closely.”

Nido’s simple leadership lesson is also a powerful customer service lesson. When a customer comes to you with a problem or issue, you are in a leadership position. You are empowered with authority to help the customer. Saying “yes” is not about giving in. It’s about using the right word at the right time to create a better customer experience.

Shep Hyken is a customer service/CX expert, award-winning keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. Learn more at hyken.com. This article originally appeared on his website at https://hyken.com/customer-service-strategies.

Image credit: istockphoto.com/akinbostanci

In Customer Interactions Start with Yes