There is a tale of a medieval monk who persistently spoke aphrase in Latin Eucharist wrongly -- the correct word was"sumpsimus"; the monk's version was "mumpsimus." As a result, theword came to be applied to someone who sticks obstinately to his orher old ways, in spite of the clearest evidence that this behavioris stodgy and antiquated.

In the business world, some customer servicerepresentatives make blind choices to continue to operate withstale, dated attitudes and behaviors, such as "customers don'treally count" and not really listening when dealing with customersconcerns. The danger of clinging to an obstinate behavior is thatit blocks the development of customer loyalty; destroys long-termcustomer relationships, and prevents businesses from achievingtheir full potential.

In my experience, "mumpsimus," is rooted in fear. At birth,everyone is born with two fears: the fear of loud noises and thefear of being dropped or falling. All other fears are learned andthen developed over our lifetime. Fear can be the most negativeforce in our lives, creating unintended consequences. Its manyforms can include situational fear (such as fear of failure) oremotional fear (such as fear of being judged). Over time, thissense of dread is hotwired to our brain as an automaticdisconnect.

Fear: No One Will Listen

How many times have you started to share an experience of adifficult time with someone only to be interrupted, even before youfinished your explanation? One of the most significant fears yourcustomers have when filing a claim with your company is that youwill interrupt them without allowing them to express the concernsand issues relating to their experience. If this does occur, thentheir fear of having their claims rejected will escalate. They maybe reminded of other uncaring people in their lives or of apreviously rejected claim.

The consequences of an old mumpsimus behavior are thatdisgruntled customers stop doing business with your company withoutever conveying their disappointment. It's also true that claimadjusters have their own set of fears: of a hostile customer or onewho may be unwilling to listen or respond to attempts to helpresolve a stressful situation.

Claim Adjuster Attributes

To answer this question, I cite the example of a company withwhich I have had personal experience: Allstate Insurance. I havepurchased six different kinds of policies over the years fromAllstate. It is the nation's largest publicly held personal linesinsurer and a Fortune 100 company with $133 billion in totalassets, so I feel I am with doing business with a quality company.Of the company's 70,000 professionals, 7,500 are claimadjusters.

For this article, I spoke with Jose Cornejo, an Allstate marketclaim manager who lives in Albuquerque. Jose saidhe had been with Allstate in New Mexico for 25 years and wasclearly enthusiastic about his opportunity to serve customers. Hereare some of the questions I asked him:

Q: What has kept you motivated for all theseyears?

Cornejo replied that a claim adjuster's day spikes when there isa hail storm, snow storm, wind storm, automobile accident or deathof a loved one. "My customers at the time of a claim are tuned tothe radio station WIIFM (What's In It for Me)," he said. "But Iknow that my focus and message need to be tuned to WIIFT (What's InIt For Them)."

Q: How do you accomplish staying tuned to theirneeds?

"I listen," said Cornejo, who believes thatpaying close attention and understanding the power of words enablehim to put his customers at ease.

Cornejo is in good company.Psychologists from Freud to Jung have observedthat people who listen past the words to uncover hidden messagesgain greater insight and understanding of not only the self butalso others. Cornejo also makes use of what I refer to as "powerphrases." This entails framing a request in a way that makes iteasy for others to give you permission to get what you want.

Would You Object?

In the Allstate family, power phrases are used to enhancerelationships with customers and co-workers, provide superiorservice, and even coach new claim adjusters todevelop the skills to elevate the level of their customers'experience. Cornejo uses power phrases to demonstrate his empathyto customers, and asserts that "it is a privilege" to do so becauseit puts him in the position of being a helpful advocate. Herecounts a recent car incident with one of his customers:

"I know how frightened you must have felt with a brick hurtlingtoward you on the freeway as your car was going 60 miles per hour,"he said to the customer. "I 'm really happy you weren't hurt, andthat the damage to the bottom of your car wasn't serious. Would youhave any objection to sharing exactly what happened, in your ownwords?

Cornejo then listens; his "would you have an objection"power phrase question allows the customer to relay his or herexperience of the accident, with the fear, relief, and all of theother emotions attached with such a distressing occurrence. Onlyafter actively listening is a claim adjuster able to assist thecustomer through the claim process. The expression of appropriateempathy instills customer confidence.

The "objection" phrase provides the claim adjuster with acommunication tool that builds a bridge of connection and a bond ofloyalty that can last a lifetime.

You may say that a power phrase such as this one is not for you.However, it's important to remember that mumpsimus feels likebeing-stuck in an obstinate, antiquated behavior. When we insteadset out to learn and implement a new skill set, we start to move inthe direction of long-term, loyal, and committed customers.

Mary Lou Dobbs is owner of Executive BenefitStrategies. This article is adapted from her book,"Repotting Yourself, Financial-Emotional-Spiritual Flow" (London: OBooks, 2010). Before establishing Executive Benefit Strategies,Dobbs spent eight years working for Wells Fargo,coaching and training bankers on customer service. She may bereached at 505-688-6703; www.repottingyourself.com;www.maryloudobbs.com.