Researchers found that service agents yield better results when they use warm language to start and end conversations, focusing on problem-solving in the middle.
July 01, 2024
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We all know from our experience as customers that the things that salespeople say in a conversation affects our feelings and choices. A new study showed that the timing of language matters as well. By analyzing tens of thousands of moments or turns in service calls, researchers found that service agents get better customer satisfaction and purchase volume if they use warmer language at the start and finish of their interaction with a customer. Contrary to some common practices where a problem-solving mode is used right away, the results suggest that employees should use words that show competence only in the middle of a customer conversation.
Language plays a key role in almost every marketplace interaction. It’s how salespeople talk to prospects, leaders talk to teams, and customer service agents talk to customers. Recently, firms have been measuring and optimizing their language to manage the customer experience, automate service, and help make business decisions.
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Yang Li is an associate professor of marketing at the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in Beijing, China.
Grant Packard is an associate professor of Marketing at the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Canada.
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New!
HBR Learning
Customer Focus Course
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Customer Focus. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
Learn how to keep your customers—and their most important needs—front and center.
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