The truism “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it…” is only partially true – what you say does matter. However, research on the human brain backs up a paraphrased version: HOW you say something CAN have a greater impact than just the words. Therefore, great communicators and customer service professionals pay close attention to how they say things.

Now, the brain research to emphasize why this is mission critical. Don’t worry, this will be a Reader’s Digest Condensed Version…

If you want the following:

-High employee morale
-Employer of Choice status
-Low turnover
-A workforce that is responsive in the face of change

… then you want to become an expert at making it comfortable for your
employees to:

1. Speak honestly and openly about what’s bothering them

2. Express a point of view different from yours

3. Challenge ideas and initiatives promoted by management

4. Speak out about management practices they experience as being
counterproductive

Now you might be thinking “Why would I want all that… I get enough negativity already?”

On Friday, I was reminded of a key “difference that makes a difference” between businesses that make it easy for themselves to find out how to satisfy customers and those that make it hard. As you know, one of the keys to survival is to get frank feedback from customers about how well you’re serving them in general, and what you can do within the customer interaction to create a positive experience.

I was doing a seminar this past Friday at the Senator Inn in Augusta and needed a couple of adjustments to the room and needed to ask for a few simple things.

What do you want customers and potential customers to think and feel about your company?

When they think about you, perhaps you want them to think: “friendly,” “go the extra mile” “more knowledgeable than the competition”, “easy to deal with”, “very professional”, and/or “smart”.

Perhaps, when they think about you, you want them to feel...