Customer Service Skills Knowledge Base and Frequently Asked Questions
What are "hot words" and "hot phrases", and why should I avoid them with customers?
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Hot words and hot phrases are words and phrases that tend to provoke emotional reactions in other people -- in this case, in your customer. They operate somewhat automatically, and hot words and phrases are not always logical. For example, the phrase "I don't care", is a hot phrase within the customer service environment, no matter the context. You may use it innocently, and logically, but the mere use of the phrase tends to blot out the context, and the customer will react aggressively.
Here's another one. "Whatever". It virtually guarantees offense and annoyance on the part of the customer since it implies a brushoff.
Hot words and phrases are somewhat culturally dependent, so you need to think about the possibility that things you might say that would be acceptable to the people like you may be offensive to people who are not like you.
The point here is to think about what you say, and to avoid hot phrases and words whenever possible and, not to repeat any hot words or phrases the customer might throw at you.
The topic of hot phrases and words is also covered extensively in Conflict Prevention In The Workplace - Using Cooperative Communication, where you can find an extensive list of phrases and words that are considered "hot" and should be avoided.
Robert Bacal is the author of two books on customer service: Perfect Phrases for Customer Service: Hundreds of Tools, Techniques, and Scripts for Handling Any Situation, and Defusing Hostile Customers Workbook. Most of the questions and answers in the Customer Service Knowledgebase (which you are reading now) is based on the material in these books.