Customer Service: Bad Things To Say Beginning With...

 Brief Description/Purpose

Learning how to respond effectively to customers involves two things: 1) Knowing what to say, and 2) knowing what NOT to say. This exercise focuses on what not to say in a fun way, so it's also useful as a customer service energizer.

Type

Fun Game

Age Appropriate

Teen, Adult

Ideal Group Size

10 to 25 people

Time For Exercise

15 minutes

Topic/Subject

Customer service

Detailed Instructions If Needed

This can be done with particpants in their existing places, or you can have them in a semi circle or circle.

Outline the Task:

We're going to go from person to person, and the first person is going to provide us a sentence beginning with the letter "A", that you should never say to a customer.

The NEXT person is going to suggest a better sentence that reflects the implied situation from the first person.

THEN, we'll move on to "B", and so on....until we get stuck.

You are only going to have a few seconds (about 10 seconds) to come up with a bad phrase, and/or come up with a better one.

Debrief:

End the exercise once you've hit the time you've allotted for it, or when it seems to be getting tedious. Here are some questions to ask:

How many of the "bad" phrases have you used in your customer service careers?

Did you find it hard to come up with a bad phrase under time pressure? How about coming up with an improved phrase? Does pressure affect how you function?

What's easier? To come up with a good phrase, or a bad phrase? Does that have any implications for you as a customer service representative?

Additional Information if Available

You can reverse this and have people come up with good phrases instead of bad, and drop the second step.

See also: Customer Service: Offering Options, Not Negativity