Customer Engagement
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October 01, 2019
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The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center
Closed questions do nothing to connect with customers or patients because they lead to “yes” and “no” answers. Avoid “do you” and “are you?” questions.
DOs and DON’Ts of Customer Engagement
- DO try to connect with your customers. By engaging with your customers, you can learn more about them and you can offer them more personalized service. Customer relationships can lead to brand loyalty.
- DON’T treat your customer as just another transaction. Customers will know if you are rushing them to get to the next person. By engaging with your customers, you’re showing that you genuinely care.
- DO try asking your customer about more than just the weather. You may both agree that the sunshine is very nice, but surface topics like weather will not lead to true engagement. Having common interests—such as sports teams, TV shows or books—can help build a relationship, which in turn powers customer engagement.
- DON’T invade someone’s privacy. For example, if your customer shares very personal information such as a divorce or death, you may comment on that—but asking probing questions may feel invasive. Be aware of people’s social boundaries.
- DO keep your conversation professional. You want to engage with customers, but you should avoid discussing politics, religion and other topics where people may have strong emotional reactions.
- DON’T keep talking to your customer if he or she is not interested in chatting. Although you want to connect, your customer may be exhausted after a long day and would prefer to engage at another time. This can deter customer engagement.
Explore the Foundations of our Brand to learn more about how we enliven customer engagement each day with our guests.