How to improve customer satisfaction with concrete language

Imagine two customers call a contact center at the same time.

They're both experiencing the same issue—a promised discount wasn't applied to their last order. The two reps taking their respective calls follow the same routine:

  1. Listen to the customer

  2. Apologize for the issue

  3. Solve the problem

The only difference is how each rep communicates.

Alton uses general language. "I'm sorry for the error. Your account will be credited within 3-5 business days."

Laura uses more concrete language. "I'm sorry the promotional discount wasn't applied to your order. You'll receive a $25.37 credit back to your card by Wednesday."

That small change in language can have a huge impact. Research shows Laura’s customer is more likely to be happy with the solution and spend more in the future.

In this post, I'll show you:

What is concrete language?

Concrete language is clear and direct. It involves using specific details to remove ambiguity.

Let's go back to Alton and Laura.

Both reps apologized to the customer. Alton used vague language while Laura used concrete language to give specific details.

  • Alton: “I'm sorry for the error."

  • Laura: "I'm sorry the promotional discount wasn't applied to your order."

The way the two reps communicated the resolution also highlighted the difference between vague and concrete language.

  • Alton: "Your account will be credited in 3-5 business days."

  • Laura: "You'll receive a $25.37 credit back to your card by Wednesday."

Here's one more.

It's common for restaurant servers to suggest an appetizer when greeting guests. Notice the difference between vague and concrete offers.

  • Vague: "Would you like to start with an appetizer?"

  • Concrete: "Would you like to start with our signature table-side guacamole."

Okay, that last example might be personal. I rarely want to start with an appetizer, but I’m almost always down for table-side guacamole. Delicious food and a show?! Yes, please!

How does concrete language impact service?

Concrete language improves customer satisfaction and increases revenue.

Grant Packard and Jonah Berger did two field studies on the effect of concrete language in customer service.

The first study analyzed 200 customer service calls placed to an online apparel retailer. It found that customer satisfaction was 8.9 percent higher when customer service reps used concrete language.

The second study analyzed 941 customer email interactions with a consumer durables company. That study found customer spent an average of 13 percent more over the next 90 days when reps responded to customer emails using concrete language.

These results back up many anecdotes I’ve seen in the field.

When I managed a contact center, repeat contacts were also significantly reduced when reps used concrete language. If a rep said, “You’ll get a refund in 5-7 business days,” customers often called back five days later to ask about their refund.

We avoided this by being more concrete.

For example, “I’ll process the refund today, but you might not see it on your credit card account until the 29th.” That was much more specific and fewer customers called a second time to check on their refund.

Why do customers prefer concrete language?

There are two reasons why concrete language is so effective when serving customers.

The first is it demonstrates listening.

Listening is one of the three essential customer service skills. A big part of listening is making customers feel confident they’ve been heard.

Concrete language does that well. It demonstrates that you are attuned to your customers’ needs and understand what they are communicating.

Let’s go back to Alton and Laura again. Imagine you are their customer. Which of these approaches is the strongest signal that you’ve been heard?

  • Alton: “I'm sorry for the error."

  • Laura: "I'm sorry the promotional discount wasn't applied to your order."

The second advantage of concrete language is it helps avoid confusion.

Vague language is often unclear. For instance, if you tell a customer a credit will appear on their account in 3-5 business days, when will the customer expect to receive it?

“Business days” is a vague concept. Is today a business day? What if your company is closed on Customer Experience Day, but your customer doesn’t even know that’s a holiday?!

Nobody likes to stop and work out the math.

Date ranges are also a problem. Customers tend to hear the best-case scenario. They'll often hear "three days" if you tell them 3-5 business days.

Concrete language avoids all that.

There's much less room for confusion if you tell a customer, "You'll receive a $25.37 credit back to your card by Wednesday."

You can learn more about using clear language to set expectations from this guide.

Take Action

Here's an exercise to help you or your team develop concrete language skills.

  1. Identify a list of specific situations where concrete language is useful.

  2. Brainstorm examples of concrete language to use in each situation.

  3. Practice using those examples for one week.

Regroup at the end of the week to review what worked, what didn't, and make adjustments.

Bonus: This short video will show you how concrete language can help avoid service failures.