TRANSITION FROM A CALL CENTRE TO A CONTACT CENTRE

The historical focus for communication skills in large call centres has been on the spoken voice as this has been the main channel for customer contact. The improvements in technology have driven the introduction of intelligent self-service channels that provide customers with the option to ‘self-serve’ on simple transactions. As IVRs, websites and mobile phone technology increase self-service capability, the requirement for simple transactional interactions between customers and advisers will reduce to that of only those customers who choose to speak to someone over the phone. This choice is important and should not be removed; however, it is expected that this will be a minority of calls into centres. This is expected to reduce all forms of transactional contact and in turn impact on the profile of the customer service adviser. Voice contact will be driven by more complex queries and with an increase in the internet channel, the split between voice and written contact is expected to change. Induction programmes in call centres focus on developing brand identity through voice communication and it is a huge challenge to transfer this identity to the written word, particularly in large organizations.

Basic skills challenge

Contact centres attract a wide range of people, from graduates to school-leavers, with varying ranges of qualifications – in some cases none at all. Most contact centres recruit advisers by attitude and behaviours rather than academic skills or qualifications. Recruitment activities usually assess basic skills in English, maths and computer skills during recruitment, although it is not certain that this provides evidence of someone’s correspondence ability. A recent evaluation of the skills in an established correspondence team in a contact centre demonstrated that basic grammar, spelling and punctuation was poorly applied to e-mails and letters sent to customers. The individuals in these roles were recruited internally as having the ability to write effectively, so this implies that there are even lower standards in the general customer service population.

Differentiation

To address the skills described above and be ahead of changes to the profile of advisers, customer contact organizations should ensure that advisers are multi-skilled to respond to complex calls and written correspondence whilst maintaining the quality of the brand and customer experience. A number of companies now align the written voice to their brand, which is communicated in external marketing material that is easy to read and uses warm, engaging, conversational language. This same approach should be reflected in written communications used by customer service organizations, but this is rarely addressed.

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THE WRITE WAY – 2

Mandy Scott-Hopkins, O2

A large customer service organization recently implemented a written correspondence programme to develop a consistent standard that reflects the brand and positively impacts on the customer experience for people who need to or prefer to make contact through e-mail or letters. Using an external company to provide the expertise to initiate this project, the organization developed an effective programme that has had a substantial impact on setting and improving consistency and standards. With the expected increase in written correspondence the success and further development of this programme is vital to adviser performance.

Approach

A working group was identified with key stakeholders within the organization. The agreed approach was as follows.

1. Design and deliver a bespoke workshop for line managers and champions
   • Identify current skills gaps within pilot team.
   • Identify the correct brand and written voice, working with central brand team.
   • Design a writer’s guide and letter/e-mail template library.
   • Design and deliver a workshop for line managers and champions.
   • Design an assessment template for measuring improvements.
2. Develop and agree an exit strategy
   • Design a correspondence workshop for advisers.
   • Identify current skills gaps and provide individual training programmes for internal trainers with the best grammatical skills to deliver the correspondence workshop.
   • Design and deliver a Train the Trainer course to internal trainers and assess competence to deliver.
   • Review existing training content, identify any conflict and make recommendations to align with the fundamentals of the correspondence course.
   • Deliver post-course evaluation and recommendations for future guardianship.

The course

Masterclass for line managers and champions – two-day workshop

Through identifying the skills gap the criteria for the needs of the correspondence department were identified. This was the flagship course that defined the content requirement for the correspondence workshops for advisers.

Pre-course

An initial health check was conducted to identify the level of competence against set criteria that demonstrated competence in effective writing and understanding of language. This consisted of completing three pieces of writing, which measured:

• clarity;
• accuracy;
• layout;
• language;
• language awareness: verbs, punctuation, grammar, spelling, etc;
• tone: direct, natural, clear, personal, customer-sided.
• Course content

Based on the outcome of the pre-course work, a two-day workshop was developed that focused on the following areas identified for improvement:

• writing in a standardized tone that reflects the image of the company;
• sentence design;
• punctuation;
• letters vs e-mails;
• structuring responses;
• apologizing;
• opening and closing effectively;
• cutting out unnecessary words;
• using everyday English;
• avoiding jargon;
• avoiding passive verbs;
• contractions;
• layout and bullet points;
• saying no;
• softening bad news;
• using standard paragraphs.

Tools

Standardized writing guide. Samples of actual letters from the department to work with in the workshop.

Post-course

Competence test designed and implemented in regular quality checks to maintain standards and identify knowledge gaps for further training.

Evaluation

• End-of-course reaction questionnaire.
• End-of-course test of learning.
• Follow up health check of the team at three months.
• Follow-up return on investment at six months.

Results

Key writers workshop

One course was delivered with six attendees and the assessed level of competence improved from an average level to 90 per cent in an end-of-course evaluation. One hundred per cent of delegates improved as a result of attending the workshop. The delegates returned to their roles as champions of the standard and now use an improved quality check process to ensure consistency is maintained.

End-of-course evaluation indicated that most delegates improved their capabilities as a result of this training and have improved across the board in their letter and e-mail writing skills.

Exit strategy

The trainers believe that they have a higher level of awareness of grammar, punctuation and spelling as well as a good understanding of the ‘brand voice’. By the end of the intensive training programme they felt competent to deliver the workshops. They received a mixture of delivery styles that included remote learning, face-to-face, telephone feedback, group and individual coaching. The trainers’ skills increased to more than the minimum level required and they have all delivered a significant number of sessions following the implementation, which have received very positive end-of-course feedback scores.

The pilot review recommended that the implementation of the following will increase the effectiveness of the programme:

• Guardianship policy to maintain the integrity of the template library and course content.
• Development programme for in-house trainers to maintain quality and competency.
• Bi-annual health checks completed by the external consultancy.

Overall business improvement

Pre-course evaluation

Pre-evaluation of the skills in the pilot groups identified that three-quarters of the team scored five out of seven on a set of criteria provided by the external consultant. The remaining quarter scored six, indicating some common issues.

End-of-course evaluation for correspondence courses

End-of-course evaluation indicated that most delegates found the workshop an excellent experience that challenged them to change the way they constructed their letters and e-mails and increased their confidence in their skills and knowledge as a result. They felt very confident in the trainer’s level of understanding and delivery and thought the overall structure and content of the course was very good.

Post-course evaluation

A review was completed 16 months later to check that the skills were being put into practice and to identify further development areas. On the whole the teams are using the skills well and the collective team rated as an average level 3. Further opportunities to maintain standards and improve to higher levels of competency were identified and recommended.

Table 1: Quality check scores January–August

Quality and observations

The new quality check form has been introduced and the average improvement was 6 per cent during the first three months. Five months later quality had increased by 14.6 per cent in comparison to January’s results. The effect on repeat correspondence has not been as successful and further investigation is required.

WRITTEN COMMUNICATION

During recent years there has been a considerable evolution with call centres becoming contact centres to reflect the increasing use of other channels of communication. Customer contact centres involve additional forms of interaction than solely using the telephone eg, mail, but the main area of growth is in e-mail communication.

Written communication requires complementary skills to those used in verbal communication. Accurate spelling, suitable use of vocabulary and correct grammar are necessary to present the organization in the best light. ‘As more call centres evolve into contact centres, literacy will be a key labour skill’. This development could be an increasing problem because a large number of trainees have limited basic skills, especially spelling.

Below are two case studies that illustrate how an organization has recognized the increasing importance of written communication and the necessity of matching the language used in correspondence with corporate brand.

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THE WRITE WAY – 1

Mandy Scott-Hopkins, O2

Background

With a large customer service function (circa 8,000 FTE) within a contact centre environment, O2 strives to differentiate itself from competitors through brand and reputation. We develop most learning solutions as a result of business change and need to react very quickly, so the challenge is to develop dynamic learning solutions that support this, underpinned by a quality development programme for core skills. The historical focus for communication skills has been on the spoken voice as this has been the main channel of customer contact. With the increased use of written channels it has become necessary to focus on the impact of written communication on our brand.

Challenge

The challenge was to identify, design and deliver a standard of writing within Customer Services in line with O2 brand values, reflecting the personality of the organization and delivering a high standard of modern grammar. The in-house Learning and Development (L&D) team provided generalist development solutions and did not have the expert knowledge to develop the content.

Solution

An external company that specialized in this area was sourced to support the design and implementation of the solution. A steering group was created including representatives from operations, L&D and the external company, with a senior level operations manager as the sponsor. The key success factors were:

1. Identify and define the brand and written voice for CS correspondence.
2. Identify the standard and understand current issues with correspondence.
3. Develop a basic correspondence library and writers’ handbook to support advisers with templates for letters and e-mails.
4. Design and handover a correspondence workshop for advisers.
5. Deliver an exit strategy to ensure the business owns the material and is self-sufficient at maintaining the programme through developing the capability of trainers, coaches and team managers.
6. Identify talent in the business and grow it by delivering an ‘expert’ workshop to key people in the business to ensure that the programme is sustainable.
7. Measure performance improvement to include improved grammar, tone, punctuation and spelling in addition to reducing escalations/repeat correspondence.

Outcomes

The success factors were achieved and O2 owns a bespoke two-day comprehensive writing workshop that delivers results. The continuing challenge is that the development and guardianship of this subject is dependent on external resource at a substantial financial cost. As the trained ‘experts’ move on and develop careers, the number of those competent at this level reduces, therefore the ability to maintain the integrity and benefits from the programme diminishes over time. The challenge is to ensure the ongoing development of new experts is cost-effective. There are clear cost benefits in developing our internal teams with the skills to design, deliver and coach modules to support this area.

Tactics for active listening | COMMUNICATION SKILLS TRAINING

Make notes

In more detailed conversations or when one is tired it may not be possible to remember all the details. In cases such as these it is practical to write brief notes or use the computer system to store key information.

Building rapport

This can o en simply be achieved by mentioning the weather, or saying something like, ‘That happened to me once.’ Connecting like this with the customer personalizes the interaction and moves it away from being a standard mechanized procedure.

Avoid interruptions

Normally, it is much better to let a person complete what he or she is saying rather than interrupt. This not only demonstrates respect it also indicates that what the CSR has to say is not more important than the customer.

Use the customer’s name

Nearly all of us like to hear our name, so careful use of the customer’s name indicates that he or she is receiving attention and is valued as an individual. The fact that the CSR has also given his or her name indicates that he or she is willing to take responsibility for the transaction. The important thing is to use the name in moderation; if it is used too o en the conversation becomes too false and rapport with the customer will be lost. If you are not sure about the name because it is a new one or you couldn’t hear it properly, one strategy is to ask the customer to spell it. This can sometimes be done indirectly when getting the customer details.

Using the customer’s name is a simple way to develop rapport; however, one certain way to lose it is to use the wrong name. This can be very easy to do when dealing with many people during the shift, as the following example illustrates:

CSR: ‘Well, Fiona, we have a great deal for you.’

Customer: ‘That’s good news, but my name is Michaela.’

CSR: ‘Oh, I’m really sorry!’

Much more energy and attention is then required to retrieve the empathy and rapport during the interaction. If in doubt use ‘Sir’ or ‘Madam’.

Don’t become defensive

When customers describe their situation this is o en how they interpret it and, normally, this should be acknowledged by the CSR. It is best to try and understand their situation, even though it may appear unreal (or perhaps even untrue), and find a solution that is satisfactory to the customer and the organization. The important thing to remember is to keep an upbeat conversational tone even when things are not going in the desired direction.

Invite | COMMUNICATION SKILLS TRAINING

The ‘Invite’ stage of the conversation cycle is a very useful means for taking control of the dialogue. This is generally done through asking questions and drawing the other person into the conversation. There are a number of forms of questions, which are described below.

Closed questions

Closed questions are generally used to narrow down the conversation and find out specific answers. They are questions that normally result in one word answers such as ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ or a short phrase. Closed questions normally begin with the following phrases:

Do/did, eg, ‘Did you load the so ware?’

Can/Could

Will/would, eg, ‘Would you confirm your address, please?’

Have

Isn’t it?

Wasn’t it?

Closed questions serve a number of purposes:

• They enable the questioner to keep control of the conversation.
• They provide quick information and facts.
• They allow the conversation to be led in a particular direction.
• They check understanding.

Closed questions may sometimes be used to slow down or halt overly cha y and rambling customers eg, ‘So, you would like your new furniture delivered on Thursday afternoon, is that right?’

Checking questions

These are closed questions that enable the CSR to identify if the customer has understood and is following the discussion. The challenge is to do this without appearing to patronize or imply that the customer is not intelligent enough to understand. The use of tone here is very important and incorrect use may convey the wrong impression. Rather than saying, ‘Did you understand what I just said?’, it is much safer to turn it around with, ‘Have I explained that ok? I would be very happy to go through it again.’

Inform | COMMUNICATION SKILLS TRAINING

The ‘inform’ stage of the conversation cycle sets the stage for the adviser to guide the interaction with the caller. It also allows the conversation to keep momentum and flow naturally.

There are a number of strategies that can be used to encourage the conversation to flow and help achieve a successful outcome. A number of these are described below.

The KISS principle

KISS stands for ‘Keep it short and simple’, or, ‘Keep it simple, stupid!’ The aim is to keep the conversation as simple as possible and get to the heart of the customer’s wants as quickly and politely as possible.

Tell ’em

One of the main principles of communication is to explain what you are going to explain to them; then tell them; then repeat what was said. This can be summed up as:

• Tell them what you are going to tell them.
• Tell them.
• Tell them what you told them.

For example:

• Tell them (’em) what you are going to tell them: ‘I will begin by asking for a few personal details to confirm your status. Then I can take a look at your bank account and arrange payment of the bills.’
• Tell them: ‘Right, let’s begin. Would you give me your date of birth. . .’.
• Tell them what you told them: ‘Well Mr Federer, I have paid your electricity and credit card bills. Is there anything else I can help you with?’

Positive language

Use positive language as much as possible. For example, try not to say, ‘We cannot deliver on Wednesday.’ Instead, use, ‘We can arrange delivery for you on Tuesday or Thursday, which would suit you best?’ In this way the customer feels like they have a choice although in fact they are two options chosen by the CSR.

Keeping the customer informed

The CSR should always keep the customer informed when they are carrying out an action. Phrases that help the customer include:

‘I am just going to check what happened to your shipment. This may take a little time.’

‘Please bear with me while I book the ticket for you.’

‘The computers are running a little slow today. We should have your information soon.’

Silence

The term ‘dead air’ is o en used to describe situations when there is no conversation happening between the CSR and the customer. A span of approximately four seconds silence is unlikely to be noticed by the customer but beyond this we get what can be called a ‘pregnant pause’. When there is no communication this can be unsettling for the customer and it is important that the CSR explains what will happen so that the silence doesn’t become oppressive, eg: ‘I am just going to explore our computer system to see if I can find a solution to your situation. Please hold the line for a moment.’ When there is a space it can also be filled with, ‘Sorry, to keep you waiting’, or, ‘Just looking for you.’ If it is going to be a long time then the offer should be made to call the customer back.

On occasions the CSR may need to use the mute control when he or she wants to sneeze or cough; or ask a colleague or supervisor for information. This is normal use of the technology; however, it should not be used to make fun of or abuse a caller. There have been recorded instances when the mute did not work and the customer heard this ‘private’ conversation. Naturally, this is not good for business and, furthermore, indicates a culture that suggests a lack of respect and professionalism.

The conversation cycle | COMMUNICATION SKILLS TRAINING

The conversation cycle (Figure 1 describes in a simple yet effective way the basic structure of many conversations. In particular, its main value is to allow the customer service representative (CSR) to effectively guide the interaction so that the customer feels valued, and the call achieves a satisfactory outcome in a short period of time. The whole conversation should have a balance between speaking and listening so that the customer feels he or she is being listened to and action is being taken.

 
Figure 1: The conversation cycle

It is especially important that the CSR takes responsibility for the conversation because it is less likely that the caller has the same degree of communication skills. If the CSR feels the other person is talking too much, or they are not making themselves clear, or that they don’t understand properly, then it may be the result of the CSR not using his or her communication skills effectively and he or she should recover the situation as quickly as possible:

• Inform: Provide information/explanation so that the other person knows what you are doing or planning to do.
• Invite: Invite the other person into the conversation or encourage them to make a response.
• Listen: Stop talking and actively listen to the other person.
• Acknowledge: Verbally acknowledge what they are saying by using: I appreciate; I understand; ok; I see, etc.

Once the cycle is completed you continue with ‘Inform’ and so the cycle begins once again, eg:

• Inform: ‘Good morning/afternoon/evening, Home Banking, Jane speaking.’
• Invite: ‘How may I help you today?’
• Listen: ‘May I check my account balance, I need to see if I can pay a large bill?’
• Acknowledge: ‘Yes, of course Mrs Jones. Just let me get you the details.’
• Inform: ‘You have £867 in your account.’
• Invite: ‘Would you like me to make a payment for you?’ etc.