Using a Customer's Name

"Now we're going to discuss the types of customer service. I'm Pamela Unruh on behalf of Expert Village. Another simple factor to consider when you're dealing with a customer over the phone use that customer's name. Now when you use the customer's name, what are you doing. First of all you're telling the customer that they are an individual, nobody wants to be a number. Don't you hate it and go into a place like I don't know, DMV comes to mind. You pull a number and that is all you are to the person behind the counter. Well the person who is calling you feels anonymous immediately because they are not face to face with you. One way to establish a relationship and it's a very simple low cost very quick method is just to repeat the customer's name. Now in my experience I found that when you're dealing with a customer with a very difficult last name and believe me a lot of people have trouble with Unruh. When dealing with a customer with a difficult last name, ask them how to pronounce it and tell them that you don't want to butcher or mispronounce their name. I found that this is a very handy icebreaker as some instances and also the customer appreciates you taking that extra time to make sure that you have your facts right. But again by using the customer's name you make the feel like more than just a number."