The Broken Record technique is a great way to get a message across to an emotional customer, especially one who appears not to be listening to you or accepting what you’re saying.
The technique involves repeating yourself like a broken record, until the message gets through. It’s usually associated with saying ‘no’ to someone who continues to talk in the hope they can get you to change your mind.
The technique can also be used when dealing with an angry or emotional customer who won’t let you take control of the interaction and help them.
Emotional Conversations
Some psychologists believe that 84% of the time we are driven by our emotion, our unconscious, only 16% of the time are we fully aware of what we’re saying and how we’re saying it.
When a customer is emotional e.g. angry, upset, worried, they are probably communicating on an emotional level. If this is the case their emotion will be hindering information being processed in a rational way i.e. they may not actually be hearing you.
This is important to remember. When faced with a customer who appears not to be listening to you, you must control your frustration and use the broken record technique.
How to defuse customers’ emotions
Emotional customers are emotional for a reason. When customers have a problem they want to speak with someone who:
- Understands their problem or frustration
- Is willing to help them
- Will take responsibility for helping them
Therefore, you need to:
- Empathise
- Reassure them they’re speaking with someone who can help
- Take control
1 – ‘Empathise’ – respond to the customer’s situation / mood
Most of us focus on and respond to the customer’s issue or problem first, however, to effectively build trust and confidence, we must respond to the customer’s mood before asking questions like “Can I take your name and address please?” or “Have you reported this before?” or “When did this happen?” A statement of empathy such as “I’m sorry to hear that” or “I understand you completely” or “I appreciate how frustrating this must be for you”, lets the customer know that you understand their situation / how they feel. They don’t think you do…. so you have to tell them. Sounding sincere is of course essential in making this sound genuine. If customers think we understand their situation or how they feel, they are less likely to give us a hard time.
2 – ‘Reassurance Phrase’ – tell the customer you’re there to help (not necessarily that you’ll resolve it personally for them)
By telling the customer that you can and are willing to help, the customer immediately starts to relax knowing they’re through to someone who wants to help them. You know you can help them but they don’t…. so you have to tell them. Reassurance phrases build trust and reduce tension in the customer.
3 – ‘Verbal sign-posting’ – explain what the next step is e.g. in most cases to get more information by asking them questions
You know what steps you are going to take to resolve the customer’s query….but the customer doesn’t…. so you have to tell them. Verbal sign-posting is where you tell the customer what you’re going to do next (not what the solution is) and enables you to immediately take control of the call or conversation.
For example “Don’t worry (empathy) I can help you with that (reassurance phrase). I’m going to ask you some questions so we can find the best way to help (verbal sign-post). My name’s Neville, can I start by asking your name and address please?” (name exchange)
In this example you can see the ‘process questions’ have been left until after you’ve defused the customer’s emotion by empathising and reassuring them.
Using the Broken Record Technique to Calm Emotions
If the customer continues to rant and rave, it may be that you’ve spoken too early and they still need time to ‘let off steam’. They haven’t contacted you to be interrupted, they want to vent their problem and get help. You interrupting them or telling them not to shout, will only antagonise them more; so listen actively and when you think the time is right use the broken record technique to reinforce what you said earlier (using different words) e.g. “I’m really sorry to hear that. Let me get that rectified for you. I’ll take a look at your account and see what the best course of action to take is.”
Or
“I can hear how frustrating this is for you (empathy), you’ve called the right place for help (reassurance phrase). I’ll look into this for you and see how we can get this fixed (another reassurance phrase to build trust). My name’s Neville, can I ask your name and address please and I’ll get into your account (verbal signposting i.e. explain next steps and take control).”
Again if they keep talking, stay in control of your emotions, listen actively and look for an opportunity to interject with the broken record again e.g. “I know exactly what you mean. If that’s the case that shouldn’t have happened I’m really sorry. Let’s take a closer look and see what we can do to sort it out.”
Good luck. I hope this is useful and please feel free to contact me if you would like further information.
The training I provide at CFA Training puts words to these phrases and helps staff manage customer emotions effectively. If this is something of interest to you please feel free to contact me to find out more, I’d love to hear from you.
Thank you
Neville