Clarity Creates Confidence: The Cost of Overexplaining to Customers

This article answers the question: Why can overexplaining hurt the customer experience?

Answer: Overexplaining can overwhelm customers and create unnecessary mental friction, while clear, concise answers give customers what they need to understand the situation and feel confident.

Customers want information. But that doesn’t mean they want all the information. There’s a difference. 

Salespeople and customer support reps sometimes believe that more explanation creates a better customer experience. So, they overexplain, thinking that this will reassure the customer. They may go into detail about a company policy, why it exists, what they can’t do, why they can’t do it, and more. While their intentions may be good, the result may not be. 

Let me explain using an example from the 1950s TV crime show Dragnet, starring Jack Webb as Sergeant Joe Friday, who is often quoted as saying, “Just the facts, ma’am.” 

Even though the line has been quoted for decades, Sergeant Joe Friday never said those exact words. The closest to it was, “All we want are the facts, ma’am.” Over time, it was simplified. 

Did you see what I just did? I gave you the quote, which makes the point of keeping it simple, and then added three sentences of unnecessary and trivial information that did nothing but destroy the simplicity of the message.  

“Just the facts” means the important information and nothing else.  

Too much information can get in the way of clarity, and anything that gets in the way of clarity creates friction. Think about a customer who asks a simple question. They don’t necessarily want the history behind the answer. And they don’t need to hear all the details about company policies. They just want the answer, and ideally, it will be one that makes them happy. 

In other words, they want, in the (simplified) words of Sergeant Joe Friday, “Just the facts.”  

This also applies to other forms of communication, such as emails, instructions, website copy, and more.  

Complexity creates mental friction. Clarity creates confidence. More information doesn’t always make the customer feel better. That doesn’t mean you should leave out important information. It means you should determine what the customer needs to know versus everything you could tell them.  

Here’s a simple test. After you explain something to a customer, can they explain it back to you in one or two simple sentences? If they can’t, you’ve given them too much information, or the information you gave them is too complicated.  

No doubt, there will be times when you need to give more details, and in some cases, certain customers may want those details. But know when to do so. 

So, the next time a customer asks a question, resist the urge to tell them everything you know. Give them what they need to understand the answer and feel confident about it. If they want more information, they’ll ask. Until then, keep it simple. Or, as Sergeant Joe Friday might say, “Just the facts.”

Shep Hyken is a customer service/CX expert, award-winning keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. Learn more about Shep’s customer service and customer experience keynote speeches and his customer service training workshops at www.Hyken.com. Connect with Shep on LinkedIn.