In the realm of customer service, a knee-jerk "no" response can shut a conversation down cold — and damage the relationship between a business and its customers. This is why it's essential to train all employees to adopt a positive approach, what I call "default of yes," a simple change (though hard to enact and sustain) that is absolutely certain, I've found, to significantly improve customer service and the customer experience.

The goal is to never say a blunt "no" (other than to the dangerous requests I delineate at the very bottom of this article), but, instead, make every effort to arrive at a "yes" for each customer interaction.

What you're looking to achieve is a company culture where every team member is poised to respond affirmatively to customer requests, even before understanding what the question or request might be. This approach requires dedication and commitment from everyone involved in the company, from top-level management to frontline........

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