Every contact center has KPIs defined for productivity. Here, the productivity parameters generally include average handle time (AHT) and the number of calls resolved (FCR), CSAT score and occupancy rate. These parameters impact the exceptional customer experience (CX) delivered at the contact center. So, does productivity and CX depend on the contact center software? Or is that your agents should have years of experience? Undoubtedly, these things do matter, but quality largely depends on the type of agent scripts followed at the contact center.
Let’s understand the importance of contact center agent scripts and the best practices for assured results.
4 reasons why you need agent script
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Reduce errors – “to err is human,” but of course, you can reduce the count of mistakes by following a refined script. A clear and well-framed script constitutes of easy to remember points for the agent. With a nice structured script, the errors can be avoided and the customer can be educated on the query in the least possible time.
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Increase confidence – One of the major factors affecting call quality is the agent’s confidence. With an apt script in front, the agent does not fumble or miss any information. This even increases the productivity of agents and saves them from sounding inexperienced in front of the VIP clients.
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Higher consistency – This series of dynamic guided script offers consistency across the contact center with adherence to compliance. Customers can experience consistency in revert from any agent available to take the call. This grows the trust of the customer in the business and saves significant time on call of both agent and caller.
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Saves on training time – With rightly created agent scripts, even the newbies can handle calls like a pro without the need for rigorous training. The guided script series will make them aware of the flow, business processes, customer issues, expectation and more. This makes the agent feel empowered and saves the business’s time and effort consumed on training new agents/existing ones.
Here are a few best practices that can make your agents’ script much more worthy of having.
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Easy flow – Script must have an easy to understand flow so that an agent can catch a script during any stage of an on-going conversation. Else, the agent will need to hold the conversation and look for the apt revert, thereby increasing the AHT.
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Revisit the script – Nothing is constant, neither are the scripts. According to the process, new product/feature launch, offers, customer journey or keywords often used by customers, you need to revisit scripts and modify it regularly. Always be flexible enough to add customers’ recommendations and make them feel special.
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Listen to your customers – A customer calling in your contact center is there to make you hear his concerns and get a proper revert. So, don’t just mug up your script; rather listen to what the customer says and reply accordingly. Value customers’ time and pitch the solutions to make him feel important.
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Rephrase the script when needed – Script is required for handholding of the new agents or the ones stuck somewhere. These guides are created to make the customer understand the product/service and address the concern. In any scenario, you can go beyond the scripted language to address customers’ issues in the best possible way.
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Never sound robotic – Customer on the call is already in frustration, and in such a scenario sounding robotic or taking too long to reach the solution might put the customer on fire. This makes it imperative to keep your scripts short and conversational. Also, make sure your agents learn the script to save themselves form sounding too formal and new.
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Listen to real calls – Hear the real calls when creating a script, and after completing, make people role play it. This back and forth will help you understand all perspectives of customers and have a clear, simple and informative script.
To wrap up, to make your call center agents sound more informed, confident and trustworthy, make sure you have an excellent script in place for them with the help of an agent scripting tool. And, for customer satisfaction, trust your agents and allow manipulation with the script. Regular monitoring is a must in every case to make your contact center perform exceptionally well in creating memorable CX.