Increasing Your Customer Accessibility (Wendy
Samson and Curt Swenson, 2016)
Much of the United States sees time mono-chronically. We break down our day into incremental sections of time, paying close attention to the clock and valuing being on time more than most human transactions. This is true in the UK, Australia, Germany, Austria and many Asian countries as well. In these cultures, speaking succinctly and linearly (beginning, middle and end, please!) is considered respectful and superior.
In countries or cultures formed from collectivist societies, (Latin American, Native American, Mid-Eastern, etc.) people operate from a poly-chronic view of time, which is more fluid, more contextualized and with a greater emphasis placed on human interaction and human needs. In other words, use of time is gauged based upon the needs of the people functioning in it – rather than according to the time on a clock. Circular discourse is valued here, because of the shared nature of this type of discussion and the ability to get to know others – quickly, in an effort to build rapport.
Neither type is wrong or right, they are just culturally different! The important lesson here is to offer people options so that they can either make an appointment at a set time, date and place OR have access to multiple dates, timeframes and locations to utilize your services. This will appeal to both types of cultures and will garner you more business.
All over the country, in human services, health services and customer service departments, organizations are also changing the way that they do intake and likewise, who they are hiring to provide this important service, in order to meet the communication needs of an ever more diverse population. Progressive companies realize that the more you can customize an intake to the communication needs of the client/customers, the more return business and strongly attached customers you will create.
Consider the following:
- Most clients/customers fit into two types of discourse: Linear (those who sit silently and simply want to answer questions in order to fill out the form) or circular (those who like to chat and share their story as they answer questions).
- Responding to the needs of the linear group sounds and looks a lot like traditional intake – “Can I get your name, address, phone number, please?” But the intake worker serving the circular discourse customer will handle the situation very differently.
- Representatives working with circular discourse customers are pulling out a notepad, turning toward the client, listening to the stories that the client is sharing and then culling and documenting both informational and emotional data from the interaction. Using this technique, the intake worker can gather even more important information about the customer than they would through the traditional method, and surprisingly, in the same amount of time.
- The number one excuse that intake workers use for not serving the circular discourse population properly is that they simply don’t have enough time to listen to all their stories. The reality is that if they truly attend to the speaker and do not interrupt, it will typically only take 2-3 minutes to hear even a lengthy story. That story often contains plenty of relevant information that can be applied to the intake form. In fact, using this method helps to satiate and build rapport with the circular customer who feels heard, honored and compliant. The intake worker can then ask them to answer a few more questions once they are completely done with their story and can quickly fill out the rest of the form!
- Hiring receptionists and intake workers who are less process oriented, abrupt and rule-bound and replacing them with warm, smiling, gracious human beings who can adapt quickly to the time and communication needs of your clients, patients and customers, will benefit both your customer base and your bottom line.
For more tips on intercultural communication, contact FutureSYNC International at (406) 254-2326 and speak to one of their consultants today!