Customize call scripts to improve employee performance and customer satisfaction

By Jeff Valentine, CEO, Callfinity. As published in the July 2009 issue of Call Center Times, page 15.

Many businesses underestimate the importance of a solid sales script.

On the other hand, a rigid sales script can often confine call center operators and make them sound bland and uninspired. Picture a movie with a solid plot but cringe-worthy acting. Even though the content is solid, the lackluster performances of the stars can turn a powerful concept into a snoozefest. In the call center world, the concept is no different. The key to running a successful call center lies in understanding your cast and developing a script that brings out each representative’s best performance.

Not all employees and customers are built the same

This isn’t exactly ground-breaking news, but many businesses still try to cut corners by developing a script template and forcing employees and customers to digest the same material over and over. What these managers fail to realize is that a script’s success is based on several criteria including the employee’s skill set and the customer’s needs.

When we were younger, most of us were taught that repetition was the key to success.

Even though repetition does facilitate learning, it doesn’t necessarily result in tremendous achievements. Many individuals get bored with repetition.

In fact, force feeding the same script to employees and customers may decrease employee motivation and leave customers dissatisfied.

Lost Desire and Boredom

Your customers don’t want to hear a rep reciting the same information every time they call. They want to feel significant, important, and special. At the same time, your employees want to learn new things and develop their skills. Forcing a rep to rattle off the same information on a regular basis may result in lost desire and boredom, which can only further derail your sales and retention objectives.

As a result, Callfinity offers a variety of flexible, responsive, and customizable products that provide administrators with the tools they need to execute flawless scripts. Callfinity’s solutions provide extensive feedback and clear statistical analysis, making it easy for you to track employee performance and determine which scripts are receiving the best results.

This flexibility allows administrators to develop scripts suitable for each department and determine which scripts have been proven successful with previous customers. If a particular script isn’t performing at acceptable standards, it can be edited or deleted in order to achieve the desired results.

Unprecedented Customization

Since Callfinity’s call center solutions allow unprecedented customization and extensive monitoring capabilities, administrators can also set up different call scripts based on employee skill sets. By monitoring each representative, the administrator can determine what kind of script will work best for each employee.

If an employee tends to make more sales without following a script, the administrator can cater to that representative’s proficiency by creating a minimal script outline that leaves room for improvisation. On the other hand, an administrator may want new employees to follow a standard script or create an extensive outline for an employee who performs better with a designated script in place.

Scripts can be further modified based on call routing, which is particularly helpful for businesses with several departments. When a customer calls in to the ACD, the menu options they select determine where the call is transferred. If the customer is connecting to sales, a sales script is displayed. If the caller is contacting a member of the marketing department, a completely different script appears.

All of these features make developing, editing, and applying scripts a seamless process.

Don’t just assume that a standard script is acceptable. By tweaking certain elements, adjusting content for specific customers, and analyzing employee performance, you can improve customer satisfaction and maintain a solid work environment for your call center employees.