By Amtelco
One of the first person-to-person connections a customer makes with an organization is often through a phone call. Whether the caller’s intent is to schedule an appointment, ask a question, or another reason, the way an agent handles that call plays a key role in customer service and satisfaction. Every phone call is an opportunity for the agent to uphold an organization’s values and provide excellent service.
Call center scripting helps agents guide customers through phone calls by asking the right questions and providing the right answers. Once the scripts have been programmed into the call center software, agents simply read the prompts and follow the script. Call centers that implement scripting benefit from reduced errors, increased productivity, decreased training time, consistency, and improved customer and agent satisfaction.
1. Reduce Errors
Scripting removes the guesswork by providing agents with the right answers to caller questions. Scripting ensures the agent collects the right data from the caller, the caller receives the most updated information, and the correct action occurs at the end of the call.
For example, a Midwest company has a call center that uses scripting to manage 850,000 calls per year. The call center supports multiple departments that have departments within departments, so their scripting needs can be quite complex. However, their staff, who may have limited or no IS experience, can easily build customized scripts for any type of call for any department in as little as twenty minutes.
2. Increase Productivity
Call centers typically receive hundreds if not thousands of calls every day. Instead of putting the caller on hold and searching for answers, agents whose call centers use scripting have the information they need in just a couple of clicks. This allows call processing in a matter of seconds.
“Two-thirds of consumers report that the most frustrating aspect of getting customer service is waiting on hold or having to explain the same information to multiple representatives.” HubSpot Research Consumer Customer Support Survey, 2018.
Scripts help ensure the call center agent gets the right data from the caller, reducing the need to make a return call to request more information or to make a correction in the information provided.
3. Decrease Training Time
Agent training progresses more quickly when scripts are involved. With decision making programmed into the script, new agents can be trained to handle any kind of call in less time. After programming, the system easily guides agents through each call, and provides them with a custom script with the exact information they need, at the time they need it.
4. Promote Consistency
When the call center agent is the front line of an organization’s customer service, what they say matters because they could be creating the customer’s first impression of the organization. Scripting can use language that adheres to the organization’s policy. For example, an organization can include an empathy statement the agent reads before ending or transferring a call.
Scripts also keep the agents from violating any regulations because they know the next thing to say. And it ensures the agent always keeps the customer’s needs first.
5. Increase Customer and Agent Satisfaction
Efficient and accurate call handling makes everyone happier. Callers no longer need to wait on hold for agents to track down answers to their questions. The agent instills confidence in callers through a series of logical questions to provide clear, succinct answers. Customers can trust the correct entry of their details when the agent is able to read the information back to them without errors.
Because scripting helps reduce call times and the need to put callers on hold, agents are more likely to meet their goals for number of calls answered per day, length of call, length of hold times, and other metrics deemed significant by their organization. Teams who meet and even exceed their goals report greater job satisfaction and reduced stress.
Scripting also simplifies the agent’s job, however complicated it may be.
Summary
When it’s time to choose a scripting program for your call center, look for software that is easy to edit and integrates with your other systems for further efficiency and accuracy gains.
Amtelco and Telescan have a strong history in the telemessaging industry and were founded in 1976 to provide communication solutions to the answering service and medical messaging industry. In operation in all fifty of the United States and more than twenty countries, Amtelco and Telescan focus on providing call center solutions that meet or exceed customer expectations and are backed by top notch service and support. Amtelco and Telescan systems and software process millions of calls every day. By working closely with customers, Amtelco and Telescan continue to develop innovative features and products.