Difficult conversations are never anyone’s favourite way to start the week, are they?
Yet if you are leading a busy customer facing operation, you know these difficult situations come with the territory – whether they happen F2F, on the ‘phone, through Webchat or tucked away in a carefully worded email or letter.
Why difficult conversations feel tougher in the age of AI
On paper, our lives should be getting easier, right?
AI, bots and clever self-service tools are dealing with the simple stuff, which means our Brand Ambassadors are left to focus on the moments that really matter.
Yet in practice, something else seems to be happening…
By the time a customer reaches a human being, they are often:
- Already frustrated that the bot could not solve the issue
- Tired of going round in circles
- Worried about the impact on their life or business
AI is now woven into most organisations. One recent study found that 72% of organisations had integrated AI into at least one business function by 2024, up from 55% the year before – and the lightning speed of this having increased already in 2025 is quite remarkable.
However, customer trust in AI, when it comes to dealing with emotionally loaded, difficult conversations is still very low. A UK survey carried out by TechRadar found that 69% of people feel AI chatbots fail to recognise emotional cues, like tone and frustration, and 68% feel AI has under delivered over the past 5 years.
So, when difficult conversations arrive in to your Customer Service Centre – by phone, in your inbox or online, they are often already charged with emotion. This is where finely tuned human skills become your real competitive advantage.
People still want people when it really matters
Despite the growth of automation, customers are very clear about one thing – they still want the option to talk to a real person.
Recent research from Five9 shows that 75% of consumers prefer talking to a human for customer support, especially when something is complex or sensitive.
Pair that with the now famous PwC statistic that 1 in 3 customers will leave a brand they love after just one bad experience and the stakes start to look very real indeed.
In other words:
- When the conversation turns difficult, the human is now the brand
- The way your people handle that single moment can either plug the leaky bucket or blow a hole in it
- Your Brand Ambassadors hold the real key to Service Excellence – they can make or break a customer relationship with your brand.
This is why ‘human skills’ (like Emotional Intelligence) are being called the key capabilities to thrive in an AI driven workplace. Experts are clear that empathy, trust and the ability to connect on an emotional level are qualities no machine can fully replicate right now.
What Humans can do that AI can’t
Your frontline Brand Ambassadors have 3 powerful channels that AI still struggles to mirror in a truly human way:
- Visually
- Face to face, humans can mirror posture, eye contact and facial expression
- Even on video calls humans can use nods, smiles and open body language to put people at ease
- Vocally
- On the phone, humans can adjust tone, pace and volume to match the customer’s emotional state
- A calm, steady voice can dial down anger, while warm energy can lift someone who feels deflated
- Verbally
- Humans can choose language that shows empathy, ownership and reassurance
- They can move away from script speak and talk in real world, human terms
Caveat: Assuming that is, that our Brand Ambassadors have been equipped with those vital human skills to ensure they maximise the advantage they have over their AI counterparts.
When automation and AI have done what they can, yet the problem is still not resolved (or maybe, has been created by the tech in the first place!) then your people need to flex their EI muscles and use all 3 communication channels to turn that tricky moment into a Moment of Truth.
The Tape Technique – Your 1% game changer for tough conversations
One of the most loved CX tools inside our CPD Accredited Ultimate Customer Service Training Programme is The Tape Technique.
The Tape Technique is designed for those moments when you have a bit of bad news to share with a customer or colleague:
- A delivery is going to be late
- A complaint outcome is not what they hoped for
- You cannot say yes to the full request
Many people instinctively address difficult conversations by leading with the bad news, then try to patch things up at the end. The Tape Technique flips this on its head, using a little reverse psychology – and it works like this:
- Start with the good news
Lead with what you can do, what is possible or what is already in hand. This immediately lowers the customer’s defence system, as it starts their ‘positive tape’ playing first. - Then share the bad news as clearly and briefly as possible
No flannel, no over explanation. Just a clear, honest statement of the constraint or issue. Because the ‘bad news’ is delivered onto the customer’s ‘positive tape’ (as that’s the one you set to play first), it is diluted and feels less impactful.
The beauty of The Tape Technique is that it works across every channel:
- Face to face – using eye contact, calm tone and open body language
- On the phone – through confident vocal tone and pacing
- In writing – by structuring your written responses carefully and avoiding over apologising
Your free training module: The Tape Technique in action
To help bring this to life for you and your team, we have opened up one of our most popular modules from the Ultimate Customer Service Training Programme.
You can access your FREE Tape Technique training video here.
Why not make this your next team huddle focus?
- Watch the Tape Technique video together
- Ask your Brand Ambassadors to bring one of their difficult conversations or tricky scenarios to the huddle
- Practise real-playing those difficult conversations using The Tape Technique structure
If you’d like to explore how FIT can help your brand ambassadors enhance those critical human skills, to ensure you are showing up & standing out from others in your busy field, then book a no-obligation call and let’s get talking – human to human!
Here’s to more confident conversations, calmer customers and many more Purple Cow WOW moments in the week ahead.
Until next time – take care and keep FIT!
