As a worldwide speaker and author, I never in a million years would have anticipated serving as an executive consultant to provide training for customer service managers & reps.

However by reason of my global travels, cross-cultural interaction, understanding of the geography of thought, and interpersonal intricacies of the many ethnicities worldwide: I serendipitously have often been asked to evaluate and provide my unbiased opinion of companies’ internal customer service departments’ operations.

Globally, I find Asians to be far better at dealing with conflict in a respectful manner given their cultural upbringing and tendency to value people over profits.

This brings me to my customer service success secrets:

1. Always stay calm, warm, and smile when you speak.

Perhaps you remember the scene in the Rush Hour 2 movie when the Hong Kong mafia’s Chinese kung-fu killer female fighter is riding in the car with the latina detective from Los Angeles. With a sweet smile the Chinese vixen offers her Latina counterpart an apple. Moments later when the L.A. detective begins to eat the apple, the China woman throws a knife into the apple.

Whenever I found myself in conflict during my time living and working in Asia for 3 years, I was always amazed at how Asians can smile in the midst of conflict. I’m sure curse quietly in their hearts, but outwardly they maintain an amazing degree of composure.

2. Be polite no matter how difficult it may be.

Being polite overcomes the tendency to presumptuously treat the customer like a criminal, which only serves to further anger and encourage the customer to battle you more.

A personal touch often alleviates any need for conflict resolution down the road if you can simply train your customer service managers and reps to be polite. Being polite however doesn’t come easy for Americans who are increasingly impatient, a bit selfish, and somewhat arrogant.

3. Avoid being self-righteous and patiently listen to the customer.

Being self-righteous and trying to make a point never works well for customer service reps. The alternative approach is far more successful, that is listening, empathizing, and agreeing with the consumer. To do otherwise is to quickly create an adversarial relationship and erect walls of resistance.
Genuinely listen and find out what the customer actually wants before assuming you know everything.

4. Creatively seek to achieve win-win negotiations.

Creating win-win cooperative alliances is the objective customer service reps should pursue. Navigating through the relational and interpersonal complexities however requires grace, skill, and conflict resolution expertise.

Source: http://www.callcentercafe.com/2009/05/11/customer-service-trainer-secrets-for-customer-service-managers-service-reps-to-improve-skills/