Carrying on a great conversation in a service setting is a fine art — and one of the most underestimated disciplines in Customer Service.
Welcome to our Service Series — reflections and lessons on how service is designed, delivered, and experienced, from Frontline conversations to leadership choices.
Conversations Shape Emotion — and Emotion Shapes Perception
As a conversation unfolds, a Customer often moves through multiple emotions — uncertainty, relief, frustration, reassurance.
That’s why the goal isn’t simply resolution — it’s how the Customer feels by the end of the conversation.
We Visited an Appliance Store
This past Christmas, the dishwasher at my mother-in-law’s house in Germany broke down.
So we spent a few days visiting appliance dealers.
To be honest, my expectations of service and sales finesse at a big box appliance store were low.
Once inside the store, a young lady approached us to see if she could help.
While she was speaking, I realized that her competence went well beyond product knowledge. It was marked by her ability to carry on a conversation with us.
Full sentences. Clarity. Thoughtful responses. A calm, unrushed demeanor.
By the time we left, I knew a lot more about dishwashers than I had expected.
And from an emotional standpoint, we knew that the dishwasher we chose was going to be exactly right for my mother-in-law.
That’s reassurance.
And reassurance feels good.
The German Apprenticeship System
That experience raised a broader question for me.
Was her competence one-off (we got lucky) — or systemic (we could have expected this from anyone in the store).
So as we left the store I turned to my partner and asked:
Why does the service feel so consistently competent here in Germany — in retail, restaurants, and hotels?
And the answer was — the German apprenticeship system.
In Germany, before you can work as a hairdresser, waiter, retail clerk (the list goes on and on) you complete a formal apprenticeship program.
This means that you participate in both classroom-style learning and on-the-job training to gain competence.
These apprenticeships typically run for several years. So for most jobs this means that it is not just a job but a profession.
For context, The Atlantic published a useful piece on Germany’s approach to workforce training: Why Germany is So Much Better at Training Its Workers which compares and contrasts the German and U.S. systems for workforce development.
That contrast becomes especially clear when you look at how many service organizations train their people.
Typically, training for new Contact Center Advisors lasts a few weeks. Then they are put on the phones — perhaps with a buddy at the beginning.
And that’s about it with regard to structured development.
The job is just a job.
Competence in the Service Industry
Farmers grow things, tailors make clothes, bakers make bread.
But in service, we make conversations.
Whenever I run courses in quality or service, I remind participants that every day Frontline Team Members produce conversations.
That’s their product, their profession — that’s what they’re paid to do.
So in the same way we expect the tailor to make a nice fitting suit, or the hairstylist to give us a terrific cut, it’s valid and reasonable to expect a high level of conversational ability from any Frontline Team Member.
Once you accept that the conversation is the product, training, coaching, and quality management can’t remain onboarding events or compliance exercises.
How these activities are ingrained in the culture, reveals how the organization has deliberately chosen to invest in conversational competence.
Stop the Scripts
In many Contact Centers, there’s a belief that conversations should be highly scripted.
Or the Advisors are trained to adhere to a strict list of compliance behaviors. In the hope that these behaviors will somehow coalesce into a real conversation.
In practice, that’s not how it works.
As a result, Advisors who fear going off-script — or missing a compliance measure — often retreat into polite silence.
Or they begin talking like a search engine rather than a human being in a conversation.
Times Are Changing
Yes, much of service has gone digital.
Even so, human conversations — through voice, chat, and face-to-face — remain central to Customer perception.
The young lady in the appliance store in Wiesbaden reminded me that competence can be beautiful.
And in service, the conversation is the experience.
Service Series Articles
Together, they take you into reflections on conversations, clarity, and the choices that shape Customer perception in service.
Conversations, Judgment & Perception
Too Sensitive? A Service Lesson from the Princess & the Pea
- A reminder that dealing with difficult Customers is less about judging irritation and more about choosing a mature response.
Rushing to Give an Answer: What About Trust?
- Build trust by listening first and earning the right to offer a solution.
Email Writing Tips for Better Customer Experience: The Ritz Carlton, Santa Barbara
- A case study showing how thoughtful email writing can strengthen service recovery—and how scripted, impersonal replies can erode Customer trust.
I Can Hear Your Voice: Let Your Writing Sound Like You
- A reminder that email writing tone of voice determines whether people hear your best self — or something you didn’t intend — in your words.
Customer Service Email Writing Tips
- Clear email writing improves Customer experience when you design messages to be easy to read, sound human, and respond to both tone and content.
When Clothes Changed the Service
- Clothing influenced how airline staff treated passengers, revealing service bias that scores alone would never surface.
Designing, Leading & Improving Service
The Customer Service Test I’d Give to a Customer Service Trainer
- A practical way to evaluate a Customer Service Trainer by testing how well they analyze real conversations.
Lions, Tigers, and Bears: Navigating Customer Service Challenges
- Explore three common challenges Contact Center leaders face — unclear visions, handling abusive behavior, and over-reliance on industry standards.
How to Be A Better Customer Service Manager
- Better Customer Service Managers prevent repeat issues, inspire their teams beyond compliance, invest in ongoing development, and treat service excellence as a continuous journey.
What Makes a Luxury Conversation in a Contact Center?
- How vision, materials and artisanship combine to create a luxury conversation.
When 100% Still Fails the Customer: A Mystery Shopper Lesson
- Not everything that can be counted counts — an important lesson about how scores can’t tell the whole story.
What If You Did Sentiment Analysis on Your Own Company?
- Apply Customer email standards to internal communications — that’s when people discover for themselves how internal communications need to improve.
Thank You for Reading
I regularly share stories, strategies, and insights from our work across Contact Centers, Customer Service, and Customer Experience. If this resonates, I’d love to stay connected.
You can drop me a line anytime, or subscribe on our site.
Daniel Ord
[email protected]
www.omnitouchinternational.com
