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How Should Companies Talk to Customers Online?
Article

How Should Companies Talk to Customers Online?

The words service agents use to engage customers often end up backfiring.

Brent McFerran, Sarah G. Moore and Grant Packard
MIT Sloan Management Review, 2018
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Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Applicable
  • Eye Opening

Recommendation

Customer service agents have taken to heart advice to say “you” as often as possible – and to eradicate using “I” – in the belief that these speech patterns are good for business. In this conventional wisdom–busting paper for the MIT Sloan Management Review, three Canadian marketing professors – Brent McFerrin, Sarah G. Moore and Grant Packard – overturn decades of customer service training by reporting on research that shows digital service agents’ use of the word “I” can significantly boost customer satisfaction and sales – while their use of “you” can backfire.

Take-Aways

  • Customer service language has become quite different from everyday talk, emphasizing the word “you” and reducing the use of “I.”
  • Companies and service agents believe these language patterns increase customer satisfaction – but research finds otherwise.
  • Companies can ratchet up their sales by up to 5% simply by having agents use the word “I” more often.

About the Authors

Canadian academics Brent McFerran, Sarah G. Moore and Grant Packard are associate professors of marketing at Simon Fraser University, the University of Alberta and Wilfrid Laurier University, respectively.

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