The other day I was at a clinic for an eye procedure. You tend to feel fidgety when someone is playing with your eyes, so was I. When the procedure was on, the doctor kept on reassuring me that everything is all right. She keeps on giving me updates on what’s going on and what's coming up. Every step was communicated, “we will fix your eyebrows so that you won’t blink”; “a machine will start and you will hear some noise and that’s perfectly normal”; “you will get some smell, may feel some pain and that’s perfectly normal”. Then suddenly I realized that all my uneasiness vanished. Because I was continuously getting updated and was not just treated like a guinea pig on the operation table. A supposedly complex exercise went so smooth mainly because of continuous reassurances.
Reassure your clients, customers, and other stakeholders. Reassurance creates a conducive environment for peace and when people are at peace they create a facilitative environment for you to operate hence increasing your efficiency. If I’m about to fly I need continuous updates about the status of my flight. Either airline keeps on reassuring me or I will keep barraging their call center or website.
If your customer complains to you about something (say broken gadget) and you know that it will take 3 days to fix, reassure the customer and keep reassuring her till it’s fixed. People might trust your brand but further reassurance strengthens customers’ faith in your brand. People trust that Fedex will reach anywhere on time but still FedEx keeps them updated on the progress of dispatched material.
People say “keep me posted” or “keep me updated” but it’s reassurance they are seeking.
Humans need assurance. Something is wrong, Reassure; everything right, Reassure. Reassurance breeds peace and creates Trust. Reassure.
PS: This post was originally posted on hoodasaurabh.blogspot.com