Is It Possible to Have Too Much Customer Service?

TLDR: Key Points on Customer Communication in IT

• Too much communication can be as damaging as too little.
• Be aware of how your words and actions affect others and be intentional in creating positive outcomes.
• Choose one primary communication channel and let customers decide their preferred method.
• Over-communicating can turn good service into customer annoyance.
• Apply the Five Principles of IT Customer Service: technical competence, compassion, empathy, good listening, and dignity and respect.
• Thoughtful, intentional communication builds trust and long-term relationships.

Read the full article just below the video.

Is It Possible to Have Too Much Customer Service?

I needed an electrician for some work on my house. The very friendly person on the phone said they could send someone later that day. She gave me an eight-hour arrival window, which was annoying but common. She also told me the electrician would call about 45 minutes before arriving. Fair enough. Not ideal, but workable.

Then things got weird.

Before I even hung up, I received both an email and a text message thanking me for my business and confirming the eight-hour window. Fine. A little redundant, but okay. Then, an hour later, I got another phone call from the company saying they’d let me know when the electrician was coming. That was followed by yet another text and email saying the same thing.

By the time the electrician called 45 minutes before arriving, I’d received eight contacts from the company in one day for a single appointment. Eight!

I’m a pretty patient guy, but that’s not customer service. That’s customer harassment.

Now, the electrician himself was terrific: friendly, professional, and efficient. He did great work and thanked me for my business. But the overall experience? It left me feeling like I was being chased by a pack of overzealous marketers instead of helped by a service company.

I also understand that it was probably all automated, but that doesn’t matter. It was still too much. And, it’s not limited to electricians. I’ve seen similar over-communication with plumbers, dentists, and hair stylists, too.

That experience made me think about the line between good communication and overcommunication. It’s a fine line, and one some IT teams cross without realizing it.

The IT Version of “Too Much Communication”

In IT, we often hear that communication is the key to good customer service. That’s true, but like any key, it can open the door or jam the lock.

I’ve seen IT technicians send multiple follow-up emails for the same issue, CC half the organization, and then ping the customer on Teams “just to confirm they got the email.” I’ve seen managers set up so many automated status notifications that users tune them out. And I’ve seen well-meaning support staff write long, detailed updates that nobody reads.

These people are trying to do the right thing. They want to keep customers informed. But too much communication, or communication that isn’t intentional, can have the opposite effect. It can make you look disorganized or tone-deaf.

The goal isn’t to communicate more; it’s to communicate better.

Awareness and Intentionality

Awareness and intentionality are two words I come back to again and again in my coaching work and in my book The Compassionate Geek: How Engineers, IT Pros, and Other Tech Specialists Can Master Human Relations Skills to Deliver Outstanding Customer Service.

Awareness means being tuned in to how your words, tone, and actions affect others. It’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it, when you say it, and how often. Intentionality means making deliberate choices about your communication. It’s not about being reactive or relying on scripts. It’s about choosing words and actions that create a positive outcome for everyone involved.

When I talk about intentionality with IT managers, I often ask them to pause and think before they send a message or make a call. Ask yourself:

• Is this message necessary?
• Am I adding value for the customer or just checking a box?
• Is this the best channel for this communication?
• How would I feel receiving this if I were the customer?

That last question is the most important. When you put yourself in the customer’s shoes, you shift from transactional communication to relational communication. That’s where real connection happens.

The Five Principles in Action

If you’ve read The Compassionate Geek, you already know the Five Principles of IT Customer Service:

1. Technical competence
2. Compassion
3. Empathy
4. Good listening skills
5. Treating others with dignity and respect

These principles apply directly to communication.

Technical competence means knowing not just your systems, but also how to communicate technical information clearly. If your customer can’t understand what you’re saying, your expertise doesn’t matter.

Compassion is caring about the customer’s experience. It’s what stops you from sending that third unnecessary update or that after-hours message.

Empathy means recognizing the customer’s perspective. Maybe they’re stressed, maybe they’re busy, maybe they just don’t want another alert.

Good listening skills help you understand what customers actually need instead of what you assume they need. That includes listening for communication preferences.

And treating others with dignity and respect means not wasting their time with redundant messages or condescending explanations.

These aren’t just nice ideas, they’re practical tools that help you communicate in a way that builds trust and confidence.

Let the Customer Drive the Communication

If you want to know how to communicate effectively with your customers, here’s a radical idea: ask them.

Ask what channel they prefer for updates: email, text, phone, chat, or Teams. Some customers like email for documentation. Others prefer a quick message they can read on their phone.

According to a LeadFerno survey of 2,000 consumers, 37.6 percent said text messaging is their preferred communication channel with businesses. About 30 percent prefer phone calls, 19.6 percent email, and 12.6 percent direct messaging apps like WhatsApp or Messenger.

That means more than a third of your customers want texts, but a significant number still prefer something else. The point isn’t which channel is “best.” The point is to let your customer decide and then stick with that choice.

If you have to pick one channel for everyone, go with text. But make sure your CRM or ticketing system doesn’t spam people with redundant messages. Confirmation, update, resolution, that’s usually enough. Anything more starts to feel like noise.

The Cost of Overcommunication

There’s a hidden cost to overcommunication, and it’s not just customer annoyance. It’s time, efficiency, and reputation.

Every unnecessary message takes time to write, read, and process. Every redundant notification adds digital clutter. And every frustrated customer becomes a little less trusting.

Overcommunication also undermines your credibility. When people see a flood of messages, they stop paying attention. That’s dangerous in IT, where some messages really matter. You want your communications to stand out as clear, relevant, and valuable.

Imagine your own inbox. If you get a dozen alerts from the same system, do you read them all carefully? Or do you skim and delete? Now imagine your customers doing the same.

Intentional communication means sending fewer, more meaningful messages. It’s about quality, not quantity.

The Power of Simplicity

There’s another lesson here: simplicity wins.

The electrician’s company had all the right intentions. They wanted to be helpful and keep me informed. But the result was chaos.

In IT, we can fall into the same trap. We think more documentation, more updates, and more meetings will make things clearer. Often, they just make things noisier.

Instead, aim for clarity. Communicate once, clearly, through the right channel. Make your messages easy to read. Use plain language. Be direct and respectful of the customer’s time.

Simplicity builds confidence. It tells your customer, “We’ve got this handled.”

Awareness in Every Interaction

Every interaction with a customer is an opportunity to build trust, or to chip away at it. That’s why awareness and intentionality matter so much.

Before you send that next message, take a breath. Think about how it will land. Will it make the customer’s life easier or harder? Will it calm them or confuse them?

Being aware of how your words and actions affect others doesn’t mean overthinking everything. It just means being present. It means remembering that communication isn’t about you, it’s about the other person’s experience.

Intentional communication doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when you care enough to pause and make good choices.

Final Thoughts

When I think back to that electrician story, I can’t help but smile. They were so eager to serve that they forgot to step back and see the experience through the customer’s eyes.

IT pros make that mistake, too. We’re great at solving technical problems, but sometimes we forget that communication is also a system, one that can become overloaded.

The goal isn’t to send more messages. The goal is to send the right messages, at the right time, through the right channel.

That’s how you turn communication from a chore into a competitive advantage. That’s how you move from being a technician to being a trusted partner.

Top Takeaways

1. Too much communication can be just as bad as too little.
2. Be aware of how your words and actions affect others.
3. Be intentional about creating positive outcomes for everyone involved.
4. Choose one communication channel and let customers guide the process.
5. Use the Five Principles of IT Customer Service as your guide: technical competence, compassion, empathy, good listening, and treating others with dignity and respect.

When you communicate with awareness and intention, you show customers and coworkers that you’re not just a skilled IT professional, you’re a compassionate geek.

Next Level IT Customer Service Training

Enroll your team now in Compassionate Geek IT online customer service training so they can work together, get things done, and take care of customers.