Negatives in Vocabulary
Suggested Strategy: When employees use words like “can’t / won’t /
don’t / problem”, it suggests a negative connotation to the conversation
in the eyes of the member. Help the employee think of alternatives to
those potentially negative terms to make sure the member feels as
though they are doing everything that can be done to assist them.
Suggested Questions:
→ Third-Party Question: How do you think a member might feel when in your conversation with them, you use words such as can’t / won’t / don’t
/ problem?
→ Opposite Insertion Question: What actions could you take to help the members that you are assisting know that you are taking every
measure to assist them by the way you speak to them?
Suggested Activities:
→ Whiteboard Coaching: On a whiteboard, write down the four or five most common phrases that you hear this person using when assisting
members. Ask the employee to describe to you how each of those
phrases might sound to a member. Then, ask the employee to
brainstorm with you to come up with positive alternatives to each of the
negative phrases. This strategy provides the employee with a visual of
how a member may perceive the phrases that they are currently using,
as well as seeing right next to that how a positive phrase may have a
positive effect on a member.
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