A People First Approach….

Freshness-Freedom-Innovation

Delivering Customer
Service Excellence
Participant Manual
About Us
Go Blue Inc. is a Caribbean Management Consulting and Training Company. We are a dedicated
team of professionals who are committed to helping our clients create amazing value, deliver
unsurpassed customer service excellence and doing what is required for their ultimate success. We
focus on helping Caribbean companies build capacity, competence and resilience through
organisational redesign and strategic realignment, talent management and development and
training
Our Mission is to provide our clients with strategic, logistical and technical services; and to
consistently provide fresh and innovative approaches that guarantee the success of our clients,
stakeholders and shareholders.
Our Promise:
To always have a people first approach to doing business – We believe firmly in the ethos of
human potential and development.
Our Guiding Principles:
Professionalism – To be consistently professional in all that we do.
Customer Service Excellence – To consistently provide an unparalleled Customer Experience in
every area of our business.
Integrity – To Always uphold the highest integrity in every aspect of our business.
Teamwork – To always use a team approach so that we consistently deliver high standards of
service to our clients. A people first approach!
Training & Development – To always strive for continuous improvement, we will constantly
update our knowledge.

Course Overview
While many companies promise to deliver a great customer service experience, some are better at
delivering it than others. The main objectives of this workshop are to help organizations deliver
remarkable and unforgettable customer experiences. This workshop is designed around the critical
elements of extraordinary customer service excellence, that when an organization lives them,
creates raving fans and evangelists.
Decades ago, having satisfied customers was a primary management objective via the offering of
quality products and services. Today, products and services are no longer enough to ensure
sustainable customer loyalty. A recent study showed that defecting customer include those who
are satisfied. This course will show employees how to create a deeper emotional connection with
customers to consistently create great customer experiences. It will explore what is customer
Service Excellence, communication skills and techniques, dealing with customer and people
challenges, and critical elements of service excellence particularly in a digital environment.

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Learning Objectives
At the end of this course, you will be able to:
• Demonstrate a customer service approach
• Identify what the customers really want
• Understand the nuances and challenges of providing excellent customer service
• Confront challenges assertively
• Communicate effectively
• Learn how to connect emotionally
• Provide excellent service and consistently get it right

Personal Objectives

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What is Customer Service?
Customer service is the way you treat the people who support your company. These can be paying
customers (external customers) or staff members (internal customers). The customer’s perception
of that service is what brings them back to you for repeated service. Great service is what they cite
when they send referrals to you.

People who provide good customer service (regardless of the nature of their business) earn
psychological benefits in addition to any rewards offered by their company. If you are unhappy in
your job, take an objective look at the kind of service you are giving. In almost every case, your
job satisfaction mirrors the satisfaction people feel when doing business with you. Giving poor
service is a way of beating up on yourself.

The Critical Elements of Customer Service

This course is focused around the critical elements of customer service. Each of these will be
discussed through the course.

The critical elements of customer service are:

1. Creating a customer service philosophy and focus
2. Understanding what customers want
3. Dealing with challenges assertively
4. The emotional Connection
5. Communication and problem solving
6. Holistic organization readiness

Strategies For Service Excellence

1. Your service philosophy
2. Excellent products and services
3. Efficient delivery systems
4. User friendly policies and procedures
5. Well trained competent staff
6. Customer information database
7. Effective organisational structure
8. Systems for continuous improvement
9. A service mindset
10. Adequate feedback system
11. Building relationships

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Service is a philosophy — not a department, a program or a policy.

Service Excellence means not only meeting, but exceeding, customer expectations.

Service is not always natural, automatic, or coincidental.

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Who Are Your Customers?
Who are our customers? For many of us, customers are easy to identify. They buy something from
us, or we serve them in some way. People will sometimes say, “I don’t work directly with
customers.” Before you accept this idea, try taking a closer look at who our customers are.

In most organizations, customers take two forms: internal and external.

Internal customers are the people, departments, or agencies served by what we do. The only
person who might have no internal customers is the individual who works completely alone. For
the rest of us, internal customers are a fact of life. Do you meet with external customers, or
somehow meet the needs of internal customers, like your co-workers?

As individuals, we all have at least one internal customer: our boss. We may also have internal
customers in the form of people we supervise. They rely on us to meet their needs and they form
opinions about how well we meet those needs.

External customers are the people, departments, or tenants who are the end users of our
organization’s products or services. This is a much more traditional use of the term “customer.”

Do you have VIP (very important person) customers, people who rate extra special service? You
may think that certain customers who spend a lot of money at your business are VIPs.

In reality, all the people we work with are our customers and deserve VIP treatment. When we
treat all of our customers like VIPs, we start to become known as an organization that offers
exceptional service to everyone.

What do people want? At the simplest level, our customers have some basic needs.
They want to be understood.
They want to feel welcome.
They want to feel important.
They want to feel comfortable.

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Meeting Expectations
Every individual’s needs are important. Each customer wants to be treated like they are your only
customer. They know that isn’t true, just as well as you do, but they still want that kind of attention.
A service-oriented philosophy says that you are there for your customer.

How do you feel about knowing that customers today are much more demanding than they were
50 years ago? The customer’s expectations are higher than ever, they know more about you and
your products, and they also know about your competition.

Here are six ways to meet your customer’s expectations.

• If customers make contact via the phone, email. Text, online chat, social media etc., make
sure someone answers it. If no one is available, then a voice prompt will suffice (provided
that it is working properly). People appreciate talking to people when they call to get
service.
• When a customer enters your premises, greet them as though you are happy to see them.
Don’t leave someone standing awkwardly.
• Be present for your customer. Your body language and tone of voice, whether you are on
the phone or in person, need to let your customer know that you want to be there, and you
are pleased to serve them.
• Be polite. There is no excuse for bad manners. Your customer will not forget rudeness,
even when they are being difficult.
• Pay attention to the details. If you promise something, make sure you deliver. Wow them
by being on time and remembering all of the required pieces.
• Always thank your guest. There is a lot of competition out there, so your goal is to retain
your customer, not send them on. Even if you are providing a service they cannot get
somewhere else (like a government department issuing a driver’s license), be thankful for
their attention and business.

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Defined in Your Organization
Standards are helpful because they let us know what is expected of us. They also tell us what we
have to do in order for our work to be considered satisfactory by our supervisors or managers.

Standards also need to meet the expectations of our customers, with a degree of reasonableness.
The customer may feel that the phone should be answered on the first ring, but the company may
have a standard of two or three rings. Since this is pretty close to what the customer expects, it
might be considered close enough. However, we should make certain that our standards are
meeting or exceeding the expectations of our customers. The only way to do this is to ask our
customers, on an ongoing basis, if they are satisfied with the service.

In order to meet expectations, we need to know what the standards are. Here are some sample
standards.
• If customers ask to have their repairs completed in 24 hours, and your standard turnaround
is three days, you have to be clear on what you can do.
• If employees are driving company cars that they sign out as needed, a standard may be that
the car is returned with a full gas tank.

You can replace these with standards that actually fit with your organization. If you have not set
standards yet, perhaps now is the time to do so.

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Create standards for the following items.

Answering the phone/voicemail/email/text/social media/chat box

Response time to customers

Internal Communication

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Communication Skills

Defining Communication
What is communication? It is more than just sending and receiving messages; it is about
understanding those messages. There are lots of things that can and do get in the way of
understanding a message, such as:

• Noise
• Language
• Culture
• Disinterest
• Experience
• Education
• Emotion
• Vocabulary
• Mood

Here are two tips for removing those barriers.

• Empathy: Make a conscious decision to try to understand. We often talk about empathy
as taking off your own shoes to walk in someone else’s. This helps you to understand where
they are coming from and to set aside your judgments or biases in order to give your full
attention to the other person.
• Rephrasing/Reframing: This technique gives you a chance to think of your response. It
also allows you to demonstrate that you understand while putting it into words that you can
relate to.

Remember the saying: “We have two ears and one mouth, so we can listen twice as much as we
talk.”

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Empathy

The Importance of Empathy

We can do a lot to keep problems from happening. If you develop your empathizing skills, you
can put yourself in the other person’s shoes. This doesn’t mean that you must agree with them, but
it helps you see where they are coming from.

If you are practicing being empathetic, you should avoid phrases like, “I agree” or, “Yes, that’s
true.” Don’t reinforce a concern, either. You can simply express your empathy by rephrasing the
key topic of the person’s statement. Some phrases you might use include:
“I hear…”
“I understand…”
“I think you're saying…”

Rephrasing before answering gives you:

A chance to empathize with the concerns
An opportunity to show the person that you understand the concern
A moment to think of an appropriate response

It is also important to check that the other person is satisfied with your level of understanding or
your explanation. Your ability to empathize will play an important role in your overall
communication skills and your ability to foster a positive and productive environment.

Dangerous Misconceptions

Although we believe that we are being clear when we speak, we’re not always as efficient as we
think. Here are some important misconceptions for you to keep in mind when you are having a
conversation:
People always pay attention when you are speaking to them.
When people say they are paying attention, they really are.
When someone says, "I know," they really do.
Saying something over and over will ensure that your listener understands.

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Body Language Basics

Much of our face-to-face communication is through body language. While we deliver a message
through words, we are also emphasizing, confirming, or even negating what we say through our
tone of voice and our non-verbal body language.

Facial Expression
This needs to be pleasant, or at least neutral. The face should be relaxed instead of tense to convey
that you are comfortable with your role.

Smiling
Smiles are always welcome and help people to relax. When we are tense, however, our smiles can
look like grimaces. Practice smiling in a mirror and get comfortable with offering more smiles.
This shows that you like what you are doing.

Eye Contact
When you speak with people, your eye contact needs to be steady and confident. Don’t stare people
down but do look at them. While there are cultural aspects to eye contact, it’s our position that you
need to look at people so that they see you are being genuine and honest. Also, if you are nervous
you will tend to blink more frequently which can make it look like you have something to hide.
Try to relax so that you blink at a more normal rate.

Overall Message
This needs to be welcoming, confident, and comfortable. Even if we are incredibly busy, our body
language should show that we are interested and focused on this conversation with this person at
this time. Leaning into the conversation, avoiding distractions such as phone calls or people at the
door, controlling nervousness, all convey positive messages through our body language.

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Voice

Your attitude is projected through your voice as well as your body language. Make sure your body
language always says, “I’m here to help as best I can.”

When your voice is annoyed, impatient, or condescending, the other person may become angered
or angrier. Speak with a calm, firm, caring, soothing tone. Your communications will be more
relaxed, more pleasant, and better understood.

The speed and rhythm of your speech is important as well. Clear communication includes
appropriate pauses and inflections to support the words being said.

Here are some tips:

• As people talk to you, say to yourself: “Which means that...”
• Be clear in your own mind what you hope to achieve.
• In sales or when dealing with problems, take the lead in conversations wherever possible.
This gives you the psychological advantage, putting you in a stronger position to direct the
conversation along lines that are favorable to you.
• Check your understanding with your six helpers: why, what, where, when, who, and how.
• Talk less than you listen.
• Try silence.

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Asking Questions

We spend a lot of our lives asking and answering questions, but we aren’t always aware of how
we ask questions. Open questions in particular often give us difficulty, which is unfortunate, since
they are the most important ones for us to become skilled at using.

Closed questions can be answered with a single word or two, or a simple yes or no. They can
begin the closing process in a conversation, or provide confirmation of a detail, but they don’t
usually lead to gathering more information. Where most people need more practice is asking the
open question, those where the listener is given a chance to explain, to tell how they feel about an
issue, or offer suggestions.

Open questions give us more information because:

They encourage other people to talk
We get opinions and ideas from others
They can help us determine if people have interpreted what we say correctly
They can help us arrive at consensus much more readily

Good open questions include:

“What is your opinion?”
“How do you think we should solve the problem?”
“What would you do in my shoes?”
“Tell me more about…”

Note: Be very careful about “why” questions. All too often these questions sound like accusations,
and the listener immediately becomes defensive.

It is easier to build relationships with potential customers if we become skilled at asking

questions that give us more information about that person and their wants and needs. The questions
help us find common ground with someone, show the person we are interested in them, and we
put the emphasis on them rather than on ourselves.

Good customer-focused questions can include:

What do you think we can do about this?
What would you like me to stop doing?
Would it be helpful if I…?
Supposing we were to…?
Help me understand where you’re coming from?
Can we set a time to talk about the changes we’re prepared to make?
I’m prepared to… Would that ease the situation?

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Your Initial Greeting

Identify the organization, the department, yourself, and then offer to help. Be careful about verbal
shorthand or internal jargon. Don't make the caller say, "Is this?" or "To whom am I speaking or
communicating with?" Try to make the telephone experience easy for your caller.

Personalizing Service
All customers are important. Together, they represent the sum total of our reason for working
where we do. However, each individual customer craves to have their uniqueness recognized and
acknowledged in the process of being served. We can appreciate each customer’s importance by
knowing and using their name.

A Formula to Practice
• Prepare to hear the name.
• Write it down immediately. If you miss it, ask the person to repeat it.
• Ask, “Let me be sure I’ve spelled your name right. Is that J-a-y-s-o-n?”
• Repeat the name immediately in your next comment to the person.
• Use the name occasionally in the conversation. It’s an attention getter at the beginning of
the sentence.
• Thank the person and use the name again as you are parting.

Addressing a Person
Should you call a person Mr., Ms., or Mrs., or use their first name? It really depends on the
company and whether you have spoken to this person before. Usually, it’s best to err on the side
of caution and use “Mr.” or “Ms.” until the customer says otherwise. Remember that the
expectation may be different depending on your industry. Know what is appropriate and endorsed
within your company.

Your Telephone Voice

Keep these tips in mind for a pleasant telephone voice.
• Speak at the right volume, neither too loudly nor too softly.
• Don’t talk too quickly.
• Practice when you start working with a new or unfamiliar phone system. Telephones distort
sound to varying degrees, so you need to adapt your speaking voice in order to be
understood.
• If you are using a headset, practice with a colleague so you can set the microphone volume
at the right level.
• Use a pleasant, friendly tone.
• Speak clearly and pronounce your words carefully.
• If you have an accent that customers or clients might have trouble understanding, spell
things out or use simpler language to make sure they have it right.
• Last but not least, smile! Customers can hear a smile through the phone.

Your Listening Ear

Never interrupt. Wait to be sure your caller is finished before you start to talk. However, don’t
hesitate to ask your customer to repeat anything you don’t understand. You, in turn, should repeat

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important information that they give you, such as numbers, spelling of words, important names,
cities, and streets.

Listen for the caller’s mood to try to determine not only what they are saying, but how they feel
about it. Remember the importance of asking questions until you are sure that you understand the
problem or have as much information as possible.

Your Format for Closing

If necessary, summarize the main ideas of your call by confirming details discussed or follow-up
actions promised. Rather than just saying, “Goodbye,” try to close with a friendly, courteous
phrase such as:
“Is there anything else I can have done to make the experience better you?”
“It was nice talking to you.”
“Thank you for calling.”
“Thanks for your help.”

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Putting Callers on Hold

If you are handling a call and you must put the caller on hold, ask their permission and explain
why you are putting them on hold. You should also give them your best estimate of how long they
will be on hold. Remember that you are asking permission and not making a statement; if they
don’t want to be put on hold, you need to keep the call open.

If you think the waiting time might be more than three minutes, give the caller the option of holding
or having you call back. Waiting time always seems longer than it is.

Progress Reports
A progress report means informing the waiting person what progress is being made on the call.
Here’s an example: "Mr. Johnson, I'm still checking the code for that. Do you mind waiting a little
longer, or should I call you back?"

Dealing with Challenges Assertively

An Assertiveness Model

One difficulty that we can face in our customer interactions is the need to act assertively. Being
assertive is not natural for some people. It can cause anxiety for the person responsible for
customer service. However, sometimes customer demands really are outrageous or cannot be met.
Sometimes they are rude, and we must intervene assertively in order to resume a sense of calm
and professionalism, either in the workplace or over the telephone.

Speaking assertively doesn’t mean being aggressive, angry, or disrespectful. Assertive behavior
means standing up for your personal rights, and acting in direct, honest, and appropriate ways that
express your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs without violating others’ rights.

There is an assertiveness formula that can help when we aren’t sure how to tell others how we
think or feel and how we would like them to behave. There are several variations to this formula,
and the formula doesn’t work in all situations, but it can be useful. When using the model, you
will frame your conversation in the following way:
• When you (specific behavior)
• I feel (specific feelings)
• I would appreciate it if you (suggested change of behavior)

Example: “When you come into our restaurant and yell at me to get you a good seat, I feel like
you expect me to ignore the lineup that is here in front of you, and I feel embarrassed. I’d like you
to acknowledge me, say good morning, and then wait your turn like everyone else.”

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Think of situations where you could use this formula. Practice the wording to yourself, and then
try it out in a non-stressful situation and see how it works. Like most things, it gets easier with
practice, and feels more natural with time.

You don’t have to act assertively in every situation, and this formula isn’t the only way to deal
with difficult or stressful situations. For example, most of us hate being criticized, but rather than
become defensive, or react assertively, allow the criticism to prick your curiosity. Ask questions
like, “Why do you feel that way?” or, “What exactly do you mean when you say I’m not playing
fair?”

Assertiveness Quiz
YES NO

1. Are you able to exercise and express your strengths?

2. Can you express negative feelings about other people and their
behaviour without using abusive language?

3. Can you easily recognize and compliment other people’s achievement?

4. Do you have the confidence to ask for what is rightfully yours?

5. Can you accept criticism without being defensive?

6. Do you feel comfortable accepting compliments?

7. Are you able to refuse unreasonable requests from friends, family or co-
workers?

8. Are you able to stand up for your rights?

9. Can you comfortably start and carry on a conversation with others?

10. Do you ask for assistance when you need it?

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The Emotional Connection

Building an emotional connection with your customer could be the most important thing you do.
Emotional connection creates and maintains loyalty. Research shows that customers who are
emotionally connected to a product or service, buy more and are more profitable and are more
loyal than customers who are highly satisfied.
So, what is emotional connection? Emotional connection has more to do with capturing the hearts
and minds – how the customers feel when they buy your product or service, how they feel with
they interact with your company. Customers are most likely to connect with you emotionally
because you have fed their desire, stand out from the crowd or become closer to the people they
want to be.

Your focus:

Walk your talk

Employees can better connect with customers when they’ve had similar experiences. Allow them
to experience your product or service, so that they can talk about it with passion to your customers.
Listen
To your customers and front-line employees. To connect organically with your clients, you want
to increase the reasons they like you, your products and services. Get regular formal and informal
feedback and act on them to keep improving the customer experience. Customers comment all the
time about things they like and dislike, take heed, don’t let that information go to waste.
Be Authentic
When your transactions are scripted, your policies inflexible and your actions are not transparent,
then you are creating a divide between you and your customer and making the connect process
difficult. Customers want to know that you care, be passionate about some social cause and let
them know about it. Give your front-line employees the flexibility needed to create a warm and
fuzzy experience for your customers. Be honest and open when you’ve made a mistake, let them
know you will fix it – humanize the experience for the customer.

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Problem Solving in Six Steps

Step One: Define the Problem

Discuss symptoms (especially if the problem is unknown).
Discuss size (or seriousness) and impact (effect) of the problem.
Determine the exact wording of the problem in question form.
Define terms in the question.

Step Two: Research and Analyze the Problem

List topics that need to be researched or discussed, including causes and past efforts to
solve the problem.
Research the problem if necessary.
Discuss the research in an organized way.
State the first topic to be discussed.
Give everyone a chance to cite research or their opinion on the topic.
Ask if anyone has anything further to say on the topic.
Summarize the group’s findings on the topic.
State the next topic to be discussed and repeat the procedure until all topics have been
discussed.

Step Three: Establish a Checklist of Criteria

List all possible criteria and give everyone a chance to respond.
Discuss each criterion.
Reduce the list to a workable length by combining criteria where possible.
Rank remaining criteria from most to least important.

Step Four: List Possible Alternatives

Think outside the box. This means you have permission to get creative and find alternatives
that are outside what we usually think of.
These are just possibilities, so list anything that comes to mind.

Step Five: Evaluate Each Alternative

Read through the list of alternatives, eliminating those that obviously do not meet the
criteria agreed on in the third step.
Reduce the list further by combining any similar alternatives.
Discuss each remaining alternative’s strengths and weaknesses, referring to research
presented in the second step when necessary.
Determine how well each alternative meets the criteria (according to the number of criteria
and importance of each).
Continue reducing the list until the best alternative (or alternatives) is reached.

Step Six: Select the Best Alternatives as Your Solution and Discuss How to Implement Them
Outline the who, what, when, where, why, and how.
Make sure you consider all people involved.
You may want to develop contingency plans

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Seven Steps to Customer Problem Solving

The Process

Let’s look a specific process that we can use to resolve a customer’s problem.
1. Express respect
2. Listen to understand
3. Uncover their expectations
4. Repeat the specifics of their problem
5. Look for possible solutions
6. Take action and follow through
7. Double check for satisfaction

The Recovery Process

Once a customer problem is identified, the service recovery process should begin. Not all of the
six steps described below are needed for all customers. Use what you know about your products
and services, and what you can discover about your customers’ problems, to customize your
actions to the specific situation. One size doesn’t fit all.

You should always take immediate steps to solve problems. The sense of urgency you bring to the
problem solving tells your customers that recovery is important to you and to your organization.

Apologize.
It doesn’t matter who is at fault. Customers want someone who will acknowledge that a problem
occurred and show concern.

Listen and empathize.

Treat your customers in a way that shows you care about them as well as about their problem.
People have feelings and emotions. They want the personal side of the transaction acknowledged.

Fix the problem quickly and fairly.

A “fair fix” is one that’s delivered with a sense of professional concern. At the end of the day,
customers want what they expected to receive in the first place. The sooner, the better.

Offer atonement.
It’s not uncommon for dissatisfied customers to feel injured or put out by a service breakdown.
Often, they will look to you to provide some value-added gesture that says, in a manner appropriate
to the problem, “I want to make it up to you.”

Keep your promises.

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Service recovery is needed because a customer believes a service promise has been broken. During
the recovery process, you will often make new promises. When you do, be realistic about what
you can and can’t deliver.

Follow up.
You can add a pleasant extra to the recovery sequence by following up a few hours, days, or weeks
later to make sure things really were resolved to your customer’s satisfaction. Don’t assume you’ve
fixed the problem. Check to be sure.

Developing and Maintaining Relationships

Relationships are the key to a functional, positive team. There are several parts involved when
developing and maintaining relationships with your team members.

Clear Expectations
Every partner in a relationship has certain expectations of other partners. Most expectations remain
unspoken until they have been violated. One way to develop and maintain effective relationships
is to make your expectations of one another clear.

Recognizing the Reciprocal Quality of Relationships

We can use the reciprocal nature of our relationship with others to establish interpersonal
cooperation and trust. Remember two clichés: “It’s a two-way street,” and, “You only get back
what you give.”

Understanding Different Communication Styles

We can communicate more successfully with others and establish more meaningful relationships
if we not only understand others' styles but can also attune our styles to theirs.

Recognizing the Power of Your Behavior

The secret to success is not very hard to figure out. The better you are at connecting with other
people, the better the quality of your life. Is there a natural talent for getting along with people or
is it something we can learn? The truth is that it’s a bit of both.

Connecting with other people brings infinite rewards. Connecting is what our ancestors were doing
thousands of years ago when they gathered around the fire to eat woolly mammoth steaks.

Likeability Works
No matter what you do or where you live, the quality of your attitude determines the quality of
your relationships—not to mention just about everything else in your life. The good news is that
attitudes are yours to select. And if you are free to choose any one you please, why not choose a
useful attitude?

In face-to-face situations, your attitude precedes you. It is the central force in your life—it controls
the quality and appearance of everything you do.

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Power Talk

Phrases for Customer Service Success

Ten Most Helpful Phrases

1. I care.
2. I’d like to understand. Help me to understand.
3. How are things with you?
4. Let’s define the problem.
5. This is what I heard you say.
6. Let me put this another way.
7. How can I help you? Can I do anything to help?
8. What would you do?
9. Thank you.
10. Silence, with concern.

Ten Least Helpful Phrases

1. You shouldn’t feel that way.
2. Why did you do/say that?
3. That’s not important.
4. I know exactly how you feel.
5. I know what you are going to say.
6. How come you’re not as good as…?
7. Do you want to know what I think? Here’s what you should do.
8. I told you so.
9. Any phrase that contains the words always, never, all the time, everyone or permanently.
10. Silence without concern/indifference.

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How to Feel Powerful in Your Position

What comes out of our mouths can strengthen our relationships with our customers or weaken our
place in their heart. Along with our knowledge, skills, abilities, and a willingness to provide
excellent customer service, the words we use with our customers are so powerful that they can
build or destroy relationships.

Power Talk examples:

• “That may be so, but....” can be changed to “That may be so, and…”
• Instead of “I disagree,” how about, “I understand. Let’s consider another viewpoint.”
• Change, “I think I got that,” to, “Let’s verify that.”
• Change, “I’m so sorry, I’m afraid I’ve forgotten your name,” to, “Hello I’m......”

Whether at work or in your personal life, people who make things happen learn how to phrase their
words, so they are encouraging and decisive. We can project positive expectations, both in
ourselves and in others, by remembering some basics of good communication.

Project Positive Expectations

If you’re going to say… Try instead…

I’ll have to I’ll be glad to

I’ll try I will

I’d hate to I want to

I can’t I haven’t yet, and I can

If you can When will you

This is a terrible problem This is a challenging opportunity

I’m never any good at ... I’m improving at....

I’ll spend time/money I’ll invest time and money

That’s impossible That can be done

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Give Credit Where It’s Due

If you’re going to say… Try instead…

I really just got lucky I planned well and worked hard

I’ve never done this before This is an opportunity to learn

I’m getting too old I feel good. I have lots of experience.

They did a good job You did a good job!

Rebound from Failure

If you’re going to say… Try instead…

I failed I learned

I can see negative consequences I can see positive consequences

I’m a loser I’m a winner

Accept Responsibility

If you’re going to say… Try instead…

They make me so mad I feel mad when

I don’t have enough time I can manage my time

It’s the other guy’s fault It’s my responsibility

Someone else will do it I will take care of it myself

I can’t change things I choose to make the best of what is

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