The customer communication exercise highlights some key barriers to effective communication between an employee and a new customer at a car wash. The employee comes across as rushed, distracted, and lacking clarity in their interactions with the customer. As a result, the customer feels confused about what to do and where to wait, and eventually becomes irritated about an incomplete service. While the employee's intentions may not have been poor, their communication skills failed to establish common understanding and goodwill with the customer.

1. Customer Service / Effective Communication
Skills Training

2. Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson you will be able to:
• Define communication
• Understand the process of communication
• Identify characteristics of effective communication
• Recognize barriers to effective communication
• Distinguish between types of communication (verbal, nonverbal)
• Provide examples of each type of nonverbal communication
• Understand the impact that verbal and nonverbal communication styles have
on outcomes
• Evaluate communication skills from a script
• Understand facets of miscommunication and how to avoid misunderstandings
• Identify characteristics of active listening
• Apply effective communication skills to diffuse tense situations

3. What is communication?
The word, Communicate, comes from the
Latin word, Communis, which means to
make common.

4. Communication
has been defined in many ways; for our
purposes, we will apply business
terminology to a workplace setting.

5. Communication
• Means of sending and/or receiving a message
• Two-way process of reaching mutual
understanding
• Participants exchange information, news, ideas,
and feelings
• Involves creating and sharing meaning
• To inform, unite, join

6. Process of Communication
• Communication is a process involving much more
than speaking
• The process begins with an individual’s mental
images/representations including thoughts, ideas,
and emotions coupled with a desire to convey such
images to another
• One important goal of the communication process is
to share a common meaning

7. Common Meaning Exercise
Define each of the following words according to
what they mean to you in terms of quantity
(approximate number of occurrences) or
timeframe.
• Seldom –
• Frequently –
• Soon –
• Shortly –
• Rarely –
• Often –
• Few –
• Several –

8. Communication Process Model
Message Delivery
Verbal (In person,
telephone)
Written
Encoding
Information
translated into a
coherent
message
Receiver
Listens and
translates
message in a
meaningful
way
Decoding
Message is sensed
and interpreted by
receiver
Sender
Generates
ideas,
thoughts, and
information
Response
Based on
receiver’s
interpretation of
message
Feedback
Message back to
sender
Noise
Physical and
Psychological *
Physical noise refers to distractions in the environment; psychological noise affects an individual’s ability to express and/or
understand messages filtered through past experiences and perceptions of self and others.

9. Effective Communication
Communication is effective when a message is conveyed clearly and received by
someone who understands the message’s meaning in the way it was intended. Effective
communication requires a set of skills including active listening, recognition and
management of emotions (your own as well as those of the person you are
communicating with), non-verbal communication, clarity of content delivery, questioning,
and feedback.
Components
1. Active Listening – fully engaged listening requires focus, not only the content of the
message, but also the emotions behind it. Active listening involves restating or
rephrasing what you heard the speaker say and asking questions to ensure clarity and
mutual understanding. Further, an active listener does not interrupt or redirect the
conversation to his or her own agenda. Problems cannot be resolved without listening to
the customer’s concerns. Listening also provides a platform for an angry customer to
vent. Oftentimes venting allows the customer to clear his head of frustrations, enabling
him to proceed in a calm manner, more conducive to problem solving.

10. Effective Communication Continued
2. Clear, concise message – communication is enhanced by the use of easily
understood words that are free of jargon or technical terms. Also keeping your statement
brief fosters communication flow and understanding. Practice delivering messages
without straying from the topic and repeating yourself.
3. Positive non-verbal communication – how we say something can be as important
as what we say. Body language and voice tone should be consistent with the content of
the message. Practice good posture, friendly tone of voice, maintaining eye contact, and
using fewer gestures. Also pay attention to the customer’s non-verbal signals as these
signals reveal clues into emotions behind the message and clues into how the the
customer is receiving your message.
4. Calm under pressure – stress can quickly escalate and derail communication.
Remain aware of stress, recognizing how it manifests in your body and practice applying
stress reduction techniques, such as pausing and taking a few deep breaths. Pausing to
collect your thoughts can be achieved by asking the customer to repeat his question or
comment.

11. Effective Communication Continued
5. Empathy – the ability to put yourself in another person’s position and experience
their feelings and thoughts about the situation is called empathic concern. Empathy is
the willingness to see things differently, through the customer’s eyes. Just as important
as experiencing empathy is displaying or conveying empathic concern. Letting the
customer know you can relate goes a long way towards effective communication and a
successful outcome.
6. Respect – people are more willing to communicate and work towards a solution when
they feel respected. Using the person’s name, maintaining eye contact, and actively
listening are simple ways of showing respect for the customer.
7. Feedback – providing immediate, specific, clear, and constructive feedback to
customers improves the chances of successful communication and generation of
mutually beneficial solutions.

12. Non-verbal Communication
• Facial expression: We communicate (intentionally or unintentionally) vast amounts of information
through facial expressions. Emotions such as happiness, fear, surprise, anger, sadness, and
contempt are universally expressed across cultures and have a strong impact on the message.
• Gestures: The use of hands in an animated way while talking conveys different messages to
different cultures; therefore it is wise to use gestures sparingly and cautiously to avoid
misinterpretation by others.
• Body movements and posture: The manner in which one moves or carries himself
communicates information to the observer. Even subtle movements and stances such as folded
arms carry meaning.
• Eye contact: The way in which we look at someone or divert our eyes from them is indicative of
our level of interest, affection, respect, hostility, or attraction depending on cultural norms.
Maintaining eye contact while speaking and listening fosters communication flow and mutual
understanding.
• Space: Although the amount of physical space considered appropriate varies among cultures, we
all need physical space. Relative proximity and position occupied conveys feelings such as
warmth, aggression, dominance, and respect. From a customer service perspective, research
suggests that approaching a customer from behind creates a feeling of unease in most customers.
• Voice: Vocal qualities such as tone, pitch, volume, inflection, rhythm, and rate provide powerful
clues about underlying feelings and unstated meaning. Tone of voice, for example can signify
sarcasm, anger, affection, or confidence.

13. Barriers to Effective Communication
• Use of jargon – The use of technical terms the listener
may not be familiar with impairs the listener’s ability to
understand and can create frustration. What are some
examples of jargon in the carwash industry? How can you
avoid using jargon in your job?
• Background (external) noise – the nature of the carwash
environment lends itself to distractions. From loud
equipment in the tunnel to conversations, music, and cars
driving in the parking lot/full-service area, noise is
pervasive and often unavoidable. Practicing focused, active
listening and clear speaking are key to overcoming this
barrier.
• Internal noise – thoughts, self-talk, worry, boredom,
emotions, and planning are examples of internal
distractions that limit full attention on what the speaker is

14. Barriers to Effective Communication
Continued
• Closed mindedness – preconceived notions about the
speaker and/or content of message can impair ability to
receive message. Ask yourself if are you trying to PROVE
your point or IMPROVE your understanding of the situation.
Challenge yourself to become aware of biases you may
have about the speaker, situation, and/or outcome of the
communication.
• Cultural norms and language – different cultures express
themselves (verbally and non-verbally) in distinct ways that
are not always familiar to the listener. Language differences
including accents are common sources of
misunderstanding. Effective use of questioning and
feedback can help mitigate this barrier.

15. CUSTOMER COMMUNICATION EXERCISE
Setting the Scene: The conversation takes place at a full service car wash. A new customer approaches a busy
employee near the end of his shift. The customer, being new, needs guidance and direction in addition to an
interior cleaning service. As you read the interaction, remember the definition of communication and notice what is
going right and what could be improved upon to foster a common understanding and good will?
Customer: (Approaching employee who is working on a vehicle) “Umm…hello….excuse me, Sir.”
Employee: “Hang on a second, Mam, I will be right with you.” (said without looking at customer,
walking quickly towards office)
Customer:
(Following employee into office) “Sir, what am I supposed to do with my car? I just
finished going through the tunnel, here is my receipt.”
Employee: (Rushing out of the office, customer keys in hand) “I need to give another customer his
keys, then I can help you.”

16. Customer
(Waiting awkwardly in office) “Finally, please tell me what to do now, I need someone
to clean the inside of my car.”
Employee “Let me see your receipt.” (said while reaching for customer’s receipt) “Okay, I’ll get
started on your car right away…it’s the blue Honda, right?”
Customer “Yes, how long will this take? I have to be at work at 6:00.”
Employee “Shouldn’t take long.” (said while walking quickly towards customer’s car)
Customer “Do I wait here? In the office?” (feeling confused and frustrated)
Employee “No, wait in the lobby or outside.” (said while gathering cleaning supplies)
Customer Communication Exercise Continued

17. Customer (Wondering where lobby is) “Okay, thanks?”
Employee (30 minutes later) “Your car is ready, Mam. Does everything look okay?”
Customer (Irritated) “I thought you were supposed to clean the tires and wheels?”
Employee (Defensively) “No Mam….tires and wheels are not included in the package you
bought.”
Customer “Well, I want the tires and wheels cleaned, how much does that cost?”
Employee (Clocking out, preparing to leave work) “I don’t know, you’ll have to ask my manager….or
here is a menu, you will have to buy a package that includes tires and wheels.”
Customer Communication Exercise Continued