In a contact centre environment, your agents are faced with balancing speed and efficiency with the best possible sales and customer service. The success of your campaigns depends on agents making calls quickly and to the highest quality at the same time.
As well as a hosted dialler that can dramatically increase talk time, many call centre managers understand the importance of good call centre scripting. According to Forbes, as many as four out of five managers say getting agents to follow a script is a primary focus – but what do the best dialler scripts actually look like?
To help you optimise performance and maximise your results, here are a few traits of the most successful scripts.
Effective call centre scripts leverage dialler data
Above all else, the call centre scripts that work take advantage of data to make conversations more specific and personal.
Within your hosted dialler, fundamental customer data including names and locations can be turned into a field for your agent script. Instead of impersonal, generic phrases, your agents can immediately build closer relationships with customers using this specific information.
With customer relationship management (CRM) system integration, this can go even further. A capable hosted dialler service provider can help you make your scripting truly intelligent, drawing on CRM data including previous interactions, customer segments, and an endless number of variables.
All of this context and customer-specific information means your agents aren’t just equipped with a roadmap for calls, but also the precise information they need.
Effective call centre scripts are a guide, not a restriction
In part, the popularity of agent scripting comes from call centres, not customers. While some industries like finance make agents’ choice of words an issue of compliance, other businesses use scripting to reduce time and money spent on agent training.
In fact, 69% of people say their contact centre improves when an agent doesn’t sound like they’re reading from a script (according to Software Advice). However, the real issue isn’t the existence of scripts. It’s how agents use them as a crutch or feel like they’re unable to use their own talents as salespeople.
At their best, agent call scripts don’t make people sound like they’re reading from a script. They offer a tested, proven framework for the key stages of a call, but also give agents space to have genuine conversations with your customers.
As you develop your script, remember that less is sometimes more – and evaluate your agents by their performance, not how closely they have followed your outline. After all, if your agents don’t want to use your script, it probably doesn’t work.
Effective call centre scripts are always evolving
Finally, the best call centre scripts don’t stand still. They change, evolve and improve based on a never-ending cycle of feedback.
In part, this will come from your agents. Regular discussions and surveys can help you understand where your script can be improved and your agents should play a key role in any changes that you make.
In addition, the right hosted dialler will give you a wealth of data that you can use to assess the performance of your script. If call lengths are absurdly long or campaign performance is poor, changing your script could be a good idea. Similarly, as you alter the way your script works, be sure to measure its impact on performance and campaign outcomes.
Crucially, check that your hosted dialler makes it easy for you to make your own small tweaks to your script. While your service provider can get involved in making bespoke, complex scripts and surveys, minor changes should be easy to implement in-house.
Get a hosted dialler that’s ready to support intelligent call scripting.
Find out more at https://www.hostcomm.co.uk/solutions/hosted-predictive-dialler
