Call centers that greatly focus on the customer experience are the ones that succeed in the long-term. Standing out against other competitors in the customer journey can drive lots of sales and revenue.
Your customers interact with your company primarily through your agents. Your agents are at the forefront of the customer experience journey, which means training them on how to speak to customers should be highly prioritized.
According to 2016 research from Temkin Group, emotions shown during customer interactions increase the number of loyal customers.
This values emotional intelligence in both supervisors and agents on a high scale, meaning that all of your employees need to know how to utilize emotional intelligence in their daily conversations. Continue reading to learn how to teach and create those emotional connections that keep customers coming back for your services.
Smile on the Phone
Even though agents are often bombarded with a high volume of calls, you should emphasize smiling on the phone when taking a call. Smiling can easily create a positive attitude. Customers can tell when an agent on the other end is miserable and doesn’t want to speak with them.
According to a New Voice Media, 86% of customers claim that a positive emotional connection with an agent would make them likely to do business with you again. So, tell your employees to smile and spread the positivity to your customers.
Do Not Use Call Scripts Word-for-Word
A monotone voice is a big turn-off for creating an emotional connection with customers. When training your agents, teach them how to use call scripts effectively.
Call scripts are there as a digital form of written instructions for resolving any type of customer request, issue, or concern. Agents should be following the directions on call scripts, however, they should not be reading off the scripts to speak with customers.
A key element to creating an emotional connection is natural conversation.
Empathize with Rough Callers
When trying to develop an emotional connection with an irate customer, agents can feel overwhelmed. In those cases when agents cannot handle a customer’s concern effectively, have a supervisor speak to the caller.
For both agents and supervisors, empathy should be shown openly to customers. Some callers simply call to rant about their issue and feel listened to.
Empathy gives an opportunity for callers to feel valuable and listened to, which can keep your company from losing customer loyalty.
Tone and Language
The most important part of conversing with a customer is the tone of voice that you use. Agents and supervisors should try to match the tone of voice of their callers.
When matching the tone of voice and deciding on the language to use, keep in mind that the tone should also match the message you are trying to transmit. If a customer calls on the phone yelling, yelling back should not be the response of an agent as this contradicts the message that the agent is willing to help and resolve the caller’s issue.
To establish a deeper emotional connection, repeat what your caller says to show attentiveness. Customers want to be listened to, even if what they are saying does not relate to the issue at hand. Train agents and supervisors to have personal conversations if customers want them, such as discussing a recent move or upcoming vacation.
Stay Honest and Consistent
If a caller is told that they will be receiving an email confirmation or a callback, make sure that your agents and supervisors follow up. Nothing is worse than lying to a customer about the services you say you will provide.
Always stay honest with your customers, which will prevent the loss of loyal customers.