You might be running a large call centre, or just have one or two
people. Phone service skills are always worth developing. Whether
you're in a customer- focused, retail-style business or an
organization that handles a lot of internal calls, phone manner
skills are very important to both develop and to regularly train
people in.
Here's a way to evaluate if your team's skills are effective and how
to retrain them.
!! Steps !!
What annoys you, may also annoy your customers. Start by using
insight. When you make a call yourself, what are the things that
really annoy you? It might be people who have little product or
technical knowledge when that's precisely what you're calling for.
You may be annoyed by people who use particular terms, slang or
sounds (such as a drawn out "ummmm" noise), sounds that tend to imply
they're not that interested in talking to you.
* Consider these "annoyances" and write them all down.
* Evaluate yourself in a training context; if you have phone
handling issues, it is not recommended that you train others, but
that, instead, you attend the training yourself and then test the
improvements.
Start by training your team member from the beginning of a call.
The greeting and the speed that the phone is picked up can
determine the customer's overall impression of the experience.
* In many cases, if the phone rings more than three times, it is too
long; for the caller, boredom starts to set in. On the other hand,
people who pick up almost instantly may startle the caller. Try
and find a middle ground such as picking up after the first ring,
but before the second.
* Consider the greeting. Many people find a greeting such as "Hi,
this is Jack speaking" subtly annoying, as they assume the
person's name is really "Jack Speaking", or that such an
automated, informal response is suggestive of someone who is not
able to help them sort out a problem. A simple improvement is "Hi,
this is Jack, how can I help you?"
How you feel always comes across on the phone. Consider the tone and
speed of your voice. Again, consider what things really annoy you-it
might be speaking too fast, too slowly, in a very loud or quiet
voice, or someone who places too much emphasis on certain tones (such
voices that may be described as too "bubbly" or "bouncy"), or tones
that are very flat, which suggest disinterest in the caller (always a
risky thing in a service center). Find out if your staff members
exhibit any of these traits by listening to their calls. You might
also find almost-automated responses infuriating, as though you're
talking to someone who is clearly reading from a prompt screen, like
a zombie. Consider the middle and end of the call-both the middle
and end are crucial. Many perfectly good calls have been ruined by a
bad ending, much like an excellent meal ruined by poor service at the
cashier's desk when leaving-just one small thing that is wrong
anywhere along the course of the meal can cause disappointment with
regards to the whole event.
* A near-automated "Have a nice day" finale can turn people off with
regards to having anything to do with your company, because if the
words lack sincerity it implies the customer service contact
likewise has no sincerity.
* Also, consider the overall length of the call. If your office
usually has in-depth and complex queries that take a while on the
phone to sort out, then adequate time should be given to the
client. At the other end of the spectrum, rushing a call or
limiting call time can make the other person feel like they aren't
important, whereas making the call much longer than necessary can
also become an issue. Train for quality over quantity. Employee
knowledge of their industry and product is important in the role
your office plays as a consultant.
Role play can be fun if it's done well, but also quite
enlightening how people interact. Look into using DVD
or video training programs. Another alternative is to
use similar one-to-one or group courses. It's actually
useful to pair people up and role play for the purpose
of letting people develop their own insight. As they
review the manner in which they make the role-play
calls, they may become more aware of their own phone
mannerisms and how to self-improve.
* Avoid the "training recordings" as a learning method. It's quite
an old fashioned method to record and replay phone calls for
training sessions, while everyone listens to a coworker on a call.
This can backfire as no one knows if their calls are being
listened to "Big Brother" style and it may put them on edge,
especially when a caller is being particularly confrontational, or
the phone handler is having a bad day that may be unusual.
Drama classes are a much underused method to help people speak, think
and interact with others and have fun. Send your staff members for
elocution or drama/theatrical lessons if they're working in a
high-profile office. This is also an excellent trick for smaller
companies as well. The caller can be encouraged to imagine a person
at the other end as someone who is likely wearing a suit in a huge
office, but who in reality is sitting in an informal small-business
office, or at the opposite end of the spectrum, operating from a
large, busy corporate call center. Stage techniques are surprisingly
influential and can help a person express themselves more clearly and
confidently.
* A good example is the frequently suggested technique of smiling
when you pick up the phone, but it works the other way, too; it's
detectable to clients when the person at the other end is trying
to sound happy and helpful, but isn't really-it's like grinning
through your teeth, or hiding your misery, it still comes through.
It's best to relax the face and throat (something that is taught
in drama classes) to be able to speak more naturally and
pleasantly. A gentle smile is fine, especially when it is sincere
and reaches not just your face, but also your eyes.
Consider the cultural influences of your customers. What is
appropriate for some is not always appropriate for other people,
and this can cause a fair amount of problems when
misunderstandings arise.
* For example, many customers prefer to get straight down to
business and value speed and efficiency; however, some clients
prefer to essentially "chat" for a short time to build a brief
personal connection,trust before moving on to the main purpose of
the call.
* Another major consideration is in regard to time zone differences.
In many parts of the world, phone workers call during their
daytime, but it may not be daytime on the other side of the world
where the client is. Many people, when interrupted during their
sleep, or during meal time or family time when outside of work,
may find such intrusions intolerable.
* Avoid mimicking the person's accent, or using slang that is local
to your client's area or culture on the other end of the phone. In
some cases it can be acceptable and make the person receiving the
call feel more at ease, but this is actually a very small and rare
demographic. Many people find a false accent to be insincere and
fraudulent, or copying an accent as a sign of disrespect.
"Is this the technical department?..." Ensure that the people who
are on the phone actually know what they're talking about. This may
mean that additional product or technical knowledge training is
required, or making it clear when it is appropriate to recommend
referral of the caller to someone who can help as soon as possible.
* For individual cases, actually call the employee you want to talk
to. Quite often you can find out very quickly what could be a
cause for concern, as this person may have a wonderful social
manner face to face, but be rather unpleasant on the phone.
Continue to monitor the changes. Interestingly, it gets easier
when people know how to handle a call well. For sincere, customer
service focused people, you can expect to see them bloom and
possibly become customer service managers in their own right in
the near future.
* For people who struggle, or who quickly revert back to their old
ways, it may be the result of other conditions such as personal or
office relationship issues, and/or hardware, system or procedural
issues. Or, maybe they just aren't a customer service person.
These people should at best be given non-phone work, but also
should be encouraged to seek improvement on their own, skills as
it is not just the company who can benefit from increased skills.
!! Tips !!
* Do not rely on scripts or mandated call flow. If a customer wanted
an automated response they would have used the internet to find
their answer. The person answering the phone should be loose and
the words should sound like their own. Your job is to train them
how to work on the phone not to tell them exactly what to say.
!! Warnings !!
What works for one person will not always work for another. When
someone answering the phone sounds like they are saying what they are
supposed to say as opposed to something they would normally say
themselves it sounds forced. Some people rely on knowledge and
confidence and are able to get down to business quickly, others rely
on apologies and being friendly to control the conversion. This to to
be expected and you should not try to control it.
* Example: In a technical call center there will be a mix of
stereotypical "computer nerds" and more customer service oriented
individuals. The "computer nerd" likely wouldn't sound sincere
saying something like "I am so sorry for your issue and we will do
whatever we can to fix it" but would sound perfectly confident
saying "Don't worry, I promise we will fix this for you right now,
I know exactly what's wrong". The less technical would not have
the same confidence in the later statement but would probably
sound more sincere in their apologies.
!! Things You'll Need !!
* Role-playing opportunities
* Training DVDs/videos
* Drama or elocution classes
!! Related WikiHows !!
* How to Cope in a High Pressure Customer Service Role
* How to Give Great Customer Service Using E Mail
* How to Speed up a Customer Service Call
* How to Get Good Customer Service when Talking to a Customer
Service Representative
* How to Make Customers Service Your Priority
!! Article Tools !!
* Read on wikiHow
*
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