Telephone handling

[chetna]

Hi,
I am a supervisor working in a call center and have a team of trained officers working for the company. I need some help on improving the performance of the customer support officers. While handling a call what techniques can one adopt in the opening of a call to grab the customer's attention and how would one handle the objections of a credit card number and the social security number.

If you have any innovative ways of handling objections from the customer's please post a reply at the earliest!

Can you also suggest different ways of coping with stress?
Thanks,
Chetna.

[Lori Kapala]

I believe the best way to greet the customer is by using the 3 part greeting. Buffer (hello, good morning), The company name and/or dept and your name. By providing your name last the customer is automatically prompted to give his name, then you can ask for social security number etc. If you answer the phone and immediately ask for this informaiton, your call sounds clininical and unpersonal. Remeber you only have 4 seconds to make a good first impression on the phone and it is key to make your callers feel welcome so they want to return.

[Lori Kapala]

Looking closer at your question, it appears some of your callers do not feel comfortable providing credit card and social security information over the phone. You operators will need a script to inform the caller why the information is needed, assure them that it is confidential and will not be provided to any other sources. If you have a web site, brochures, catalogs or other customer documentation/advertisement you should set the customers expectations clearly in the literature that when they call they will be required to provide the information and that the information is private. My guess is that if you are asking for this type of information your business systems are secure and in meet privacy regulations etc. Make sure your customers and potential customer understand this up front. If your callers are return customres you can also implement an authorization code, some type of information that the customer provides your company (ie the color of their wedding party)or one that you assigne, that your operators ask to verify that they are speaking with the card holder.

As for stress in the call center. Make sure folks are getting breaks regularly and that breaks are taken away from the work area. Ensure that operators have a forum to "vent" when necessary. Supervisors should be able to recognize stress and know when to pull someone from the phones before the stress level reaches its peak.

[kylohre]

Lori has great ideas there. One tactic I used in the call center was to have the agents act as if the customer can actually see them when they first answer the call. If they put a smile on their faces when first answering the call, it is reflected in their manner and voice, therefore impressioning the guest with the positive environment from the very first word on.

[Hussain]

Hi chetna,
I just read your thread, and i think i can shed some light on the problem, well to have a catchy call opening, the most simple thing for an agent and the customer would be..
Call Opening
Thankyou for calling Company Name, This is CSR's Name, How may i help you?

To Obtain confidential info from the customer to process the order.the agent can paraphrase the sentence as follows.

Mr/Mrs Customer' Name, In order to protect your rights as a consumer,and avoid any unauthorised use of your account, May i have your/Can you please Re-Confrim your SSN# or DOB.

I can bet, no customer would object after this.(It depends on how confident the CSR is while asking the above question to the customer).
Remember! Do not reconfrim the confidential info with cust,its the agents responsibiltiy to listen carefully, because if you re confirm, the cust might feel insecure,thinking that the info is being noted on a hard copy.
Hope this would help you.
All the best
Regards
Hussain.

[csteven]

Chetna,

You don't give them an opportunity to object to the credit card. The agents have to make it sound like it's no big deal. Like it's biz as normal. "Mr. Smith, now watch major credit card would you like to use to make your purchase? We take AMEX, Visa, or Mastercard."

Say it semi-fast & extremely confidently.

If they still object, "I understand you may feel uncomfortable paying by credit card, however we are a Fortune 500 company, and we would like to
- ship your product today
- reconnect your phone now
- confirm you seats now
- etc.

If they still object, then give them alternative payment options. "Sir, you can also pay via....., however please allow X days/weeks to receive your......"

Good luck,

Steve