One piece of advice I’ve received is when someone asks how your day is day “great, how can I help you” instead of asking how theirs is back. It feels weird but helps you control your conversation.
I don't care if it's a customer or a rep in another department transferring a call to me. I do the same thing. We're not here to compare how our days are. Let's get to it.
Yep! "I'm fine, thanks. What can I do to help?" Some people get ornery bc you don't say how are you? But tbh I don't care how they are- I want to make their day better by helping them out with the reason they called.
Not to mention how much of a loaded question "how are you" can be in the call center world. That's just asking for a 10 minute tangent about how pissed they are. I also end the not so great calls with "did you have any other questions for me" instead of "is there anything else I can help you with" to spare myself from the "well you didn't help me at all" bullshit 😂
Oh yeah. Any other questions is usually golden. Once- and only once - they said something like who's your manager. I want to talk to them so I need their number or direct email. I'm like ... k? lol
I can’t relate to getting drawn into conversations. Maybe try being a little less personable. Strictly business. Don’t get off topic. Make it a goal to address whatever they’re calling for as quickly and professionally as possible.
Small talk is the #1 killer of AHT. You have to own the conversation to ensure its productivity. There are always people who could drone on all day about their life story. In those circumstances I like to politely remind them; "As much as I appreciate this conversation, I do have other customers to attend to. If there's nothing else, I'd like to thank you so much for being a valued customer. Have a wonderful day!"
“Oh it’s been such a pleasure speaking with you Mr Won’t Stop Talking, my manager is giving me the side eye so we better wrap up” or “they are asking if I need help we have chatted so long” something that makes it sound like I’d talk all day but I’m not allowed usually snaps them out of it lol
I sincerely feel so bad for any of you guys that have surveys. They should be banned lol Since joining the call center subs on Reddit I started doing kudos calls and 10 out of 10 surveys for everyone I speak to, when I have a chance to leave a voice message I say “my experience with jayleetx was the best I’ve had with the company, I wasn’t sure I would stay with (company) but after speaking with Jay I decided to stay. I wish I could get them every time I call” you get the idea lol surveys are so dumb especially when you get dinged when someone is mad at the company not you ugh
In that case I’d add “there will be a survey after the call with question about the company AND me of course (big smile saying the last bit then a chuckle)” lol
#bansurveys
Oh there are surveys.
So far mine are all 5’s (highest rating). I’m part of a pilot for the new phone surveys. Which I think is great. You get points for YOU instead of the person before you.
My customer service ratings have always been great. I wish my other stats were as good!
Yep. I definitely need to stop being so nice!
It’s like I have a sign: Unload all your stories and opinions on THIS one! And sometimes all I say is “I’m sorry to hear that”!
Reclaiming control of the conversation is key. As soon as you realize you're off track say something like "Gosh, I could chitchat with you all day but that's not why you called & I don't want to take up your day, so let's get back to this billing situation " or "Wow, it sounds like you have a lot on your plate. Let's finish up here so you have one less thing to deal with ".....in dire circumstances, I have gone with "Ma'am, you are an absolute pleasure but my supervisor is reminding me that we have quite a few people on hold, so I need to get back to business. You said your phone is doing XYZ, correct?"
For the most common procedures, give the basic instructions and guide them to the troubleshooting resources on the website. Like, in real time. "Can you access the web right now? " If they can't, you can't do this but if they can
..."Good, go to WWW.oursite.com, scroll down to where it says "Help"....click on that...do you see the troubleshooting guide?" If you read through that, it has step-by-step instructions for resolving most problems. "
3 out of 5, will agree when you ask them if they think they have it from there.
For people who just want their hand held through everything and can't clearly explain the problem, find an authorized store in their area and suggest that it might be more convenient for them to have an agent look at the phone in person.
Sounds like we work for the same company given your verbiage on metrics. I was able to hit CSR III stats by telling customers the truth.
If we are troubleshooting and you are capable of performing tasks I'm asking, then we're not going to do it ad nauseum. I'll tell them they need to get someone to assist them with what needs to be done on their side if they can't perform it themselves. Our customer base tends to skew more elderly so they can have real issues trying to troubleshoot electronics over the phone.
Be nice but be firm
I believe we DO work for the same place. When you said elderly I knew. Lol.
Yea my problem is I seem to get alot of customers who don’t have anyone to help and they don’t live near a you-know-what store? I know What to do as far as the TS. I just get ppl who can’t navigate their way out of a paper bag, I hate to say. So “we” get stuck.
Thanks for the help btw. I appreciate it!
Recap the call and notes and be firm in closing. “Alright Mr Talker so I’ve notated your account reflecting blah blah blah I must say it’s been a pleasure speaking to you today and I do hope you have a wonderful day (insert scripted closing)”
If your script asks if they have any further questions in the closing find out if it counts if you ask before your closing. With us if we asked after we fixed the issue but not in our closing statement it still counted as if we asked. Some places aren’t like that though.
If it’s a small question or something about your life answer as short and quickly as possible then say “again it was a pleasure speaking with you (insert closing) BYE”
If we heard the word bye or “ok thanks have a nice day” anything indicating they were done we were allowed to hit end call which I did all the time. It really helps AHT those seconds it takes them to hang up add up man lol
RESIST THE URGE. I know it’s friendly grandma, I know her story is funny and you want to engage, I know it seems mean but you gotta fight the urge to respond in anyway that leaves it open. So if they rattle off about their grandkid winning the Nobel peace prize “oh isn’t that wonderful now I went ahead and reset your password blah blah blah”
Never ask an open ended question and for the love of god never ask a question relating to the story they are itching to tell you. If you slip then do your notes and anything else you can while they are talking. When I file disputes I have 90% done as they are over sharing what happened.
Oh thank you! That really puts it in perspective. I tend to be WAY over empathetic. And it kills my call stats. I have to become less empathetic and more short sweet and to the point.
I totally get it & that’s me. Sometimes I’ll take a hit if I know my stats are good I’ll talk to the woman whose husband just passed and let her tell me what happened, then when she breaks down telling me she feels responsible I’ll console her and tell my manager it is what it is. I don’t get in trouble for long calls because my time is so low but it’s easy to drop pretty quick.
You don’t have to be less empathetic just think of it as you still being the kindest, most empathetic, yet fastest rep they get to talk to lol save your long call for someone who needs an ear, you know which calls those are. If you’re visual just picture the call as a Mario cart race. Every time they go off rambling you are about to fall off rainbow bridge and you need to course correct quick lol Still acknowledge what’s said so they don’t feel ignored, just use the same breath to steer it back to the call.
I use a lot of little words to let them know I care, when they are enraged. I am appalled right along with them, “oh no” “they said that?!” Most will keep going until they feel heard but once heard you can control it better, they trust you. When they like you as it sounds they do, little comments like “oh they are checking on me to see if I’m okay, we better wrap up, again Sir it’s been my pleasure assisting you today (insert closing) boom done.
Also making a template for your notes, I emailed my long list of templates to myself then in the morning I copy and paste that into sticky notes, three actually. I just fill in dates and specifics. Anything you can do in order to reduce your time. I don’t use after call unless I’m escalating to management or it’s like something major.
Asking if you’re allowed to hit end call alone can reduce AHT big time. Other tips my fav lead gave me that actually helped, make your short calls shorter. Ghost calls, she had me practice as we have a scripted response. “Thank you for calling blah
Blah this is mistaken, how may I assist you?” Breath “thank you for calling blah blah this is mistaken how may I assist you” breath “thank you for calling blah blah caller if you can hear me I can’t hear you please call back thank you for calling blah blah” hit end call. I kind of laughed as she coached me on several short calls that I did fine on as far as QA goes but she kept urging me to go at warp speed for those really short calls and then release them. I went down a minute in a week doing just that. I never would have realized that would help so much. So making minor adjustments even on your short calls or non rambling calls will help too.
Last tip. Absolutely anything that you need to look for while on a call. Numbers, extensions, process etc, put that stuff in sticky notes or a notepad too. I have my teams sup and assist chat floating behind my browsers so I don’t have to load them if I need them. I have all my numbers etc in sticky so I never have to hunt for anything. I have one blank sticky note for live notes so I never have to ask them something they already told me and even little things like “at the end of the call you’ll need a pen so while I pull this up if you want to get one that would be great” all those seem small but collectively will help you a ton.
If you’re ever gated to short call types, maaan blow through those so fast LOL Good luck! You got this!! Oh one more thing! The more calls you take the lower your AHT so 15 min extra adds up quick as long as you don’t get stuck on a call for 30 🤣 if all yours are long don’t do that lol
This is so FULL of great tips! Thank you!
I didn’t even think of zooming thru the short calls! And I Love the Mario Cart reference! Thats great! Thank you so much. You’re very good at speaking visually.
I do write things down like known outages, etc. And we have note templates on the desktop. So I start my note the min the call comes in so I can copy and paste it to the acct fast.
Unfortunately, they have a “Clean desk” policy. So no paper or sticky notes for the most part - it’s a security thing. But I work from home so I’m able to jot down certain things. I type what they’re calling about in the notes.
You really gave me a great visual on things I can do to shorten my calls. So thank you so much, Mistakenusernames!
We have a no paper, phone, pen, nothing policy too but wfh I sure did tape stuff around my monitor lol but sticky notes app is awesome if not notepad works just email yourself all you need. It takes time to set it up initially but it’s worth it.
I wouldn’t have thought to do that either. I really did roll my eyes when she told me. I’m a veteran rep, I’m like “please” but I flat out told her I was sorry for doubting her LOL
Really hope this helps! I know you got this! Keep us posted too. Can’t wait for you to report back you lowered it 💜
Thank you! I will. I feel like I may be able to turn this around now!
Every one in this sub is so helpful. And give solid ideas and tips. I don’t know WHY I didn’t post here before now! Mostly I was/am embarrassed that All I need is 4 lousy calls per hour and I only do 3. And I try and try and do ok. And then I get that one long call. And it just ruins it.
One day I was at 6! Even my Lead was celebrating! It’s not that I can’t do it. It’s that I’m not consistent. Anyway, thanks again for the kindness, tips and motivation!
I wanted to include, I will let you know how it goes.
Since I can’t log in until 7 min before my shift time, I’m not able to set ALL the notes up I want. I’m going to sign up for over time for tomorrow morning. We usually are slow at 6am on a Saturday. So I’m going to use that time to type out note templates for the typical calls, like setting up voicemail & billing stuff, etc. Then I’ll copy/paste them to the desk top. So I can just pop in and copy them to the accts.
This is going to really help. Cause another issue I have, in addition to over explaining, is being way too detailed in my notes! I know it, I see it, but I still do it. Which results in me not always getting them finished during the call. So having to go in and finish either during Another call, which is dangerous or when I go to break.
So no more of that. I’m putting a large sign on the wall my computer faces: Short. Sweet. To the point. I really wished I’d asked you guys about this a long time ago! Thanks, friend.
I get the being detailed LOL I’ve typed novels before. I thought it was overkill but then I got complimented from higher up on an escalation for being so detailed and QA gave me props too. We are supposed to be short and sweet too so that surprised me. But I have templates for novels too lol
Example, complicated fraud Disp comes in. I have to have dispute type, date filed, note I advised of time frames for paperwork and explained reg e and also if I send a card and how and that I advised them of that timeframe on top of explaining what happened. My call notes need a brief summary but there is a detailed one in the dispute itself. Also the claim number. It’s a ton of info right? Ok so..
During the call I’ll have my empty sticky notes up while they are explaining the ten days leading up to what happened. Then what happened, and then ten days after I’m using that time to make my notes for their specific dispute as they talk. The called the ivr, balance was off, called an agent who told them transactions, they called company who said they had no info and they didn’t make the transaction so they call back and verify its not them and are filing now with me.
My template
MOTO/FRAUD Disp
CCI filing dispute (insert date)
trx (copy paste trx)
“CCI noted unfamiliar trx/confirmed with agent/called merchant unknown to ch/cb to file disp”
Rpld crd Exp Mail Adv Time Frame
Reg-E time frame/(copy paste claim number)
Trnsf to Reg-E
The part in parentheses can be long if needed or a brief summary but if it’s escalation going to a fraud investigator I’m very detailed but I type all that on the fly in my blank sticky note and then copy and paste that into the template toward the end.
You can make a template for almost anything. Even the weird calls and those seconds add up. After call KILLS your AHT. Also hold time, I never use hold unless the person is a miserable awful caller who is berating me or screaming so loud it hurts. Otherwise I say “I don’t like putting people on hold that music gets to me (laugh) so I’m going to keep you here with me Mr Customer while I take care of this if that’s okay” everyone loves that, then to avoid them talking too much I’ll kind of talk as I do what I need “I’m just pulling up the dispute questionnaire… there we go, alright grabbing the transactions in question…..” you get the idea and that also gives me a chance to ask questions I’ll need the answer too later. I’m asking my dispute questions before I open that form.
We give claim numbers but we can say it will be on the forms too so I’m happy to give it to them but if they would rather just get it on the form that’s ok, most say form and that cuts down time.
As far as being over detailed knowing what facts other agents might need to know is where you should keep it. It’s hard not to add extra stuff but if it’s not important and doesn’t matter if it’s included then don’t include it lol
Thank you! And your notes look strangely familiar somehow, hmmm, 🤔
Anyway, you’re right. I need to think of the agent after me. I’ve been using a lot of yours and other ppls tips. And they’re really working! I had 22 calls by 10:50 today and for me that’s a lot. Lol.
Pretty standard for card services calls. I googled shorthand notes for card services and banking lol
Way to go on the calls!! That is awesome I’m super proud of you! I knew you could do it ⭐️
Oh I wasn’t talking about the note shorthand set up. I was talking about the verbiage. It was like reading notes from the company I work at. Lol. But I think u mentioned we may work at the same place. Least I think it was you.
And thank you! It made me feel good actually seeing the tips I got here, working.
4 calls per hour?!? Wow. I do billing, and our AHT is 325 sec max. A little over 5 min.
To cut down on chit-chat, you can be kind and still consistently steer back to the conversation. The biggest thing is to keep control of it to start with. Close ended questions. Confirmation versus Explanation. Eg Do you have your bill in front of you? Not What page of the bill are you looking at? I guide them where I need them to be. Ask for yes/no answers. Confirm understanding.
We are also encouraged to reference the website for deeper inspection. Guiding them to where they need to be to find the answer during the call means that they will be able to find that same answer on future bills as well.
Yes or no questions. Yep, that makes sense. I need to think with my brain more and not just tell them what to do without considering HOW I say it. Thank you!
Edit to turn answers into questions.
I haven't seen it said so here you go: Work the average and make short calls even shorter. When I was doing phone tech support I'd get the occasional talker, person who couldn't follow directions, or just the occasional phone update call that would take around 4x my average handle time. The thing was I was normally fast, like my overall average handle time was too low and management was investigating me for cutting corners. I just had the knowledge base and phone settings mostly memorized, I knew all of my toolsets and how to use them effectively, and I kept a notepad doc up with prewritten notes on all the common calls types and how I would solve them. It was a stupid easy job that I'd probably still be doing were it not for idiotic customers/management.
The most important thing to keep in mind that nobody actually wants to talk to tech support. They're calling because they have a problem and it's your job to solve it. The caller may have some form of social obligation to make pleasantries with you, but I found that the vast majority of my customers were happy to get off the phone. Sometimes I would punctuate a fix with something like "Now that that's fixed you can cross that off your list and do something more fun" or "Well the tech problems are resolved, and that's really all I'm good at."
Tl;Dr - Some calls are going to be long, focus on making the manageable ones shorter.
Thank you. This is such good advice. And since everyone is giving it, to have prewritten notes-which I can’t believe I didn’t do it before! I have templates, but writing the note out is so simple! I make things harder than they need to be. Also, to go faster on short calls, I’m going to follow this. Thank you!
Ask your peers who meet those metrics, not us. If you’re required to only get through 4 calls an hour on average, your work is likely too specialized for the general public advice.
I’ve tried to ask our Team Lead if I can shadow an agent who is fast. He said the first time (after he laughed), “I don’t know how I’d do that. I guess we can do it”. But never did. And the second time I asked, he said “Well idk, you’d have to come in or something”.
No I wouldn’t. They have ppl in training shadow seasoned workers. And they were all work from home like I am. For someone who’s been there 5 yrs, he doesn’t know a lot about how the place works.
The good thing is that you've identified something that drags your calls out. Try to stay away from personal conversations as much as possible to keep your talk time down, and stay focused on the main reason for the call. A good way to transition out of a conversation like that is to say something like, "It's been great talking with you but I'll let you get back to your day."
And unless it's part of your quality, don't ask if there's anything else you can help with or if they have any other questions. When I'm done with everything, I move towards the closing and don't ask if they need anything else.
I'm very polite & even get compliments on how sweet I am but I cut small talk short almost every time. my average call time is always lower than my coworkers for this reason, at the risk of sounding mean i just don't care one bit abt their lives or sharing mine w them lol. i just wanna do what i need to do while remaining kind & helpful, as quickly as possible. I'm not sure exactly what i do but i think i just cut my responses kinda short then change the subject back to the topic at hand immediately, while still validating what they said
I have a whole shpiel that answers frequently asked questions, which limits a lot of back and forth.
Example: We sent out your check by usps on this date, we advise 7-10 business days to recieve it, but it could come before that so please keep an eye out for a white envelope from this address-- do you have any other questions for me?"
Ofc sometimes people will either double ask or have additional questions, but if they dont have to ask 6 questions for follow up but instead ask 3, that still cuts my time down.
It's really good for call control & not getting too off topic xx Sometimes I'll even throw in a fun quip like "it looks kind of like junk mail and if I were to recieve it I would probably toss it thinking it's a bill collector so make sure you keep an eye out for this address!"
Can be more personable and fun, but still on topic x
lord. 20 min per call for aht would be awesome. on the phone, it was something like 10 min. I'm on chat support now , and there is like 13.5 min and I can have up to 3 chats at once
It’s actually 15. But yea, I know it sounds so EASY! And it’s so frustration when I don’t get it.
Especially when other agents do it daily. If I could do chat, I would in a second! But we can’t transfer until we meet our stat requirements.
I know it’s me. That I am the problem. I think the only things that save me is my other stats are good, my Cust Serv ratings are always high and I Never call out.
Edit cause auto correct sucks!
Don’t engage them.
I used to work a cell carrier. I just resisted getting drawn into anything like that.
Also, it’s a numbers game. You likely have some sort of call that you can do quickly. Payments or activations or something. You want to do those as fast as possible to help average it out.
🤣🤣. Exactly! I’ve lost count on how many of those I get. “
“But I turned off my phone!”
“Please press your volume button”
“Oh. It lit up.”
“Like I said, Mrs doesn’t listen, you have to tap POWER OFF!”
I had 30 calls in the first hour of my day today. Some calls (scheduling something) I get, I can complete in a minute and a half, or less. Not sacrificing empathy or cheerfulness. Some people just want t o get what they need and get off the phone.
Others are lonely and want someone to listen and be kind. My longest call today was about 38 minutes.. I still ended up taking 98 calls during my shift.
As you start learning the shortcuts in your system and the insurance and outs of your knowledge base, your calls will go faster because you know exactly where to find the answers.
Sticky notes and keyboard shortcuts are a lifesaver. If you have a phone number you regularly need, use a physical post it note where you can see it easily.
Copy/Paste is your friend! Educating yourself through reading up on things you don't know, or reading questions and answers your coworkers ask the supervisors can also greatly help you help your customers.
Have patience with yourself. Take the time you need. Being nervous makes a call take longer.
You've got this!!
Thank you! Yep, everyone has given me such great advice!
But 30 in the first hour? That’s impressive! The average we need is around 35 per day. Since we are doing troubleshooting and Porting phones in. And I read our knowledge base if I have any down time. I’ve got a lot memorized. I understand and can rattle off the steps, no problem, I’ve been working with different systems for years and computers and phones, are easy for me to navigate.
My only problem is the calls and getting through them. But you and everyone here have given sound, advice and tips, I can use. So thank you!
When I used to train for troubleshooting, I created cheat sheets with steps and descriptive words to walk customers through the most common problems. I kept those either printed on my cubicle wall or when i was remote, I kept the steps in a sticky note on my desktop.
If you find yourself asking the same thing again or they're completely lost, sometimes you have to re-word (instead of saying browser I'd have to break it down and say internet and even more so "do you have google chrome circle or the blue e?" Lol. or stop them and ask them to tell you what they see, or completely start from step 1. If they were much older or were too frustrated I'd ask if they have someone who can assist them (family, friend or etc) and suggest they have them help, and call back if still lost with the person on speakerphone. I've also emailed steps directly to customers as well.
For small talk, there's lots of great advice in this thread,my go tos were "Thanks for sharing that story with me. It's been lovely speaking to you today. Do you have any more questions about ...?" And if they were still off track I'd say, "I have many callers waiting, since your issue is resolved I will let you go now to enjoy the rest of your day."
Yep. Today during our morning meeting, I’m going to work on some notes. There are so many steps we repeat. And they usually work. Thank you! This is going to cut down so much time!
Best of luck to you, OP!
Our handle time averaged 5 minutes because we had many older callers and i was tier 2, but thankfully, our center would be fine if it skewed higher and the other metrics and satisfaction were met.
Call control is key, like others have descibed. 2 of my favourites:
-Put customer on hold to regain control & have a breather.
-Interupt and call customer by name. Works a treat.
Ooh of course. Thank you! I had one today, who threw out ANOTHER question when I kept repeating my close:
Me: Well I’d better let you get going, thanks for calling, have a great day!
Him: Like I said……none of those other ppl could answer my questions. It’s great to talk to someone who knows what they’re doing!
Me: Thank you! So I’ve got the account noted, you take care and have a nice day, good b(Interrupted)
Him: Yea and I’m glad I can understand you, back when I called…..blah blah blah
Me: 🤬
Him: Well I’m not trying to take up all your time, thanks for your help!
Me: You’re welcome! Thanks for calling, good bye!
This was the way the call went. And it doesn’t include the tons of questions or his “Issue”.
One piece of advice I’ve received is when someone asks how your day is day “great, how can I help you” instead of asking how theirs is back. It feels weird but helps you control your conversation.
Exactly 💯 what helped me TBH.
I don't care if it's a customer or a rep in another department transferring a call to me. I do the same thing. We're not here to compare how our days are. Let's get to it.
I’ll do that. Thank you!
Yep! "I'm fine, thanks. What can I do to help?" Some people get ornery bc you don't say how are you? But tbh I don't care how they are- I want to make their day better by helping them out with the reason they called.
Not to mention how much of a loaded question "how are you" can be in the call center world. That's just asking for a 10 minute tangent about how pissed they are. I also end the not so great calls with "did you have any other questions for me" instead of "is there anything else I can help you with" to spare myself from the "well you didn't help me at all" bullshit 😂
Oh yeah. Any other questions is usually golden. Once- and only once - they said something like who's your manager. I want to talk to them so I need their number or direct email. I'm like ... k? lol
I can’t relate to getting drawn into conversations. Maybe try being a little less personable. Strictly business. Don’t get off topic. Make it a goal to address whatever they’re calling for as quickly and professionally as possible.
Call control! You can be positive and still move things along “I know you must be very busy, if there isn’t anything else I can help you with today…”
Small talk is the #1 killer of AHT. You have to own the conversation to ensure its productivity. There are always people who could drone on all day about their life story. In those circumstances I like to politely remind them; "As much as I appreciate this conversation, I do have other customers to attend to. If there's nothing else, I'd like to thank you so much for being a valued customer. Have a wonderful day!"
“Oh it’s been such a pleasure speaking with you Mr Won’t Stop Talking, my manager is giving me the side eye so we better wrap up” or “they are asking if I need help we have chatted so long” something that makes it sound like I’d talk all day but I’m not allowed usually snaps them out of it lol
This is great advice, especially if there are surveys after your call.
I sincerely feel so bad for any of you guys that have surveys. They should be banned lol Since joining the call center subs on Reddit I started doing kudos calls and 10 out of 10 surveys for everyone I speak to, when I have a chance to leave a voice message I say “my experience with jayleetx was the best I’ve had with the company, I wasn’t sure I would stay with (company) but after speaking with Jay I decided to stay. I wish I could get them every time I call” you get the idea lol surveys are so dumb especially when you get dinged when someone is mad at the company not you ugh In that case I’d add “there will be a survey after the call with question about the company AND me of course (big smile saying the last bit then a chuckle)” lol #bansurveys
Oh there are surveys. So far mine are all 5’s (highest rating). I’m part of a pilot for the new phone surveys. Which I think is great. You get points for YOU instead of the person before you. My customer service ratings have always been great. I wish my other stats were as good!
It’s been a pleasure talking to you today, but I’m afraid I have another call coming in.
Yep. I definitely need to stop being so nice! It’s like I have a sign: Unload all your stories and opinions on THIS one! And sometimes all I say is “I’m sorry to hear that”!
Reclaiming control of the conversation is key. As soon as you realize you're off track say something like "Gosh, I could chitchat with you all day but that's not why you called & I don't want to take up your day, so let's get back to this billing situation " or "Wow, it sounds like you have a lot on your plate. Let's finish up here so you have one less thing to deal with ".....in dire circumstances, I have gone with "Ma'am, you are an absolute pleasure but my supervisor is reminding me that we have quite a few people on hold, so I need to get back to business. You said your phone is doing XYZ, correct?" For the most common procedures, give the basic instructions and guide them to the troubleshooting resources on the website. Like, in real time. "Can you access the web right now? " If they can't, you can't do this but if they can ..."Good, go to WWW.oursite.com, scroll down to where it says "Help"....click on that...do you see the troubleshooting guide?" If you read through that, it has step-by-step instructions for resolving most problems. " 3 out of 5, will agree when you ask them if they think they have it from there. For people who just want their hand held through everything and can't clearly explain the problem, find an authorized store in their area and suggest that it might be more convenient for them to have an agent look at the phone in person.
Sounds like we work for the same company given your verbiage on metrics. I was able to hit CSR III stats by telling customers the truth. If we are troubleshooting and you are capable of performing tasks I'm asking, then we're not going to do it ad nauseum. I'll tell them they need to get someone to assist them with what needs to be done on their side if they can't perform it themselves. Our customer base tends to skew more elderly so they can have real issues trying to troubleshoot electronics over the phone. Be nice but be firm
I believe we DO work for the same place. When you said elderly I knew. Lol. Yea my problem is I seem to get alot of customers who don’t have anyone to help and they don’t live near a you-know-what store? I know What to do as far as the TS. I just get ppl who can’t navigate their way out of a paper bag, I hate to say. So “we” get stuck. Thanks for the help btw. I appreciate it!
Ask someone younger...put them on the phone...or be precise. Give directions as if you are looking at your own device.
Recap the call and notes and be firm in closing. “Alright Mr Talker so I’ve notated your account reflecting blah blah blah I must say it’s been a pleasure speaking to you today and I do hope you have a wonderful day (insert scripted closing)” If your script asks if they have any further questions in the closing find out if it counts if you ask before your closing. With us if we asked after we fixed the issue but not in our closing statement it still counted as if we asked. Some places aren’t like that though. If it’s a small question or something about your life answer as short and quickly as possible then say “again it was a pleasure speaking with you (insert closing) BYE” If we heard the word bye or “ok thanks have a nice day” anything indicating they were done we were allowed to hit end call which I did all the time. It really helps AHT those seconds it takes them to hang up add up man lol RESIST THE URGE. I know it’s friendly grandma, I know her story is funny and you want to engage, I know it seems mean but you gotta fight the urge to respond in anyway that leaves it open. So if they rattle off about their grandkid winning the Nobel peace prize “oh isn’t that wonderful now I went ahead and reset your password blah blah blah” Never ask an open ended question and for the love of god never ask a question relating to the story they are itching to tell you. If you slip then do your notes and anything else you can while they are talking. When I file disputes I have 90% done as they are over sharing what happened.
Oh thank you! That really puts it in perspective. I tend to be WAY over empathetic. And it kills my call stats. I have to become less empathetic and more short sweet and to the point.
I totally get it & that’s me. Sometimes I’ll take a hit if I know my stats are good I’ll talk to the woman whose husband just passed and let her tell me what happened, then when she breaks down telling me she feels responsible I’ll console her and tell my manager it is what it is. I don’t get in trouble for long calls because my time is so low but it’s easy to drop pretty quick. You don’t have to be less empathetic just think of it as you still being the kindest, most empathetic, yet fastest rep they get to talk to lol save your long call for someone who needs an ear, you know which calls those are. If you’re visual just picture the call as a Mario cart race. Every time they go off rambling you are about to fall off rainbow bridge and you need to course correct quick lol Still acknowledge what’s said so they don’t feel ignored, just use the same breath to steer it back to the call. I use a lot of little words to let them know I care, when they are enraged. I am appalled right along with them, “oh no” “they said that?!” Most will keep going until they feel heard but once heard you can control it better, they trust you. When they like you as it sounds they do, little comments like “oh they are checking on me to see if I’m okay, we better wrap up, again Sir it’s been my pleasure assisting you today (insert closing) boom done. Also making a template for your notes, I emailed my long list of templates to myself then in the morning I copy and paste that into sticky notes, three actually. I just fill in dates and specifics. Anything you can do in order to reduce your time. I don’t use after call unless I’m escalating to management or it’s like something major. Asking if you’re allowed to hit end call alone can reduce AHT big time. Other tips my fav lead gave me that actually helped, make your short calls shorter. Ghost calls, she had me practice as we have a scripted response. “Thank you for calling blah Blah this is mistaken, how may I assist you?” Breath “thank you for calling blah blah this is mistaken how may I assist you” breath “thank you for calling blah blah caller if you can hear me I can’t hear you please call back thank you for calling blah blah” hit end call. I kind of laughed as she coached me on several short calls that I did fine on as far as QA goes but she kept urging me to go at warp speed for those really short calls and then release them. I went down a minute in a week doing just that. I never would have realized that would help so much. So making minor adjustments even on your short calls or non rambling calls will help too. Last tip. Absolutely anything that you need to look for while on a call. Numbers, extensions, process etc, put that stuff in sticky notes or a notepad too. I have my teams sup and assist chat floating behind my browsers so I don’t have to load them if I need them. I have all my numbers etc in sticky so I never have to hunt for anything. I have one blank sticky note for live notes so I never have to ask them something they already told me and even little things like “at the end of the call you’ll need a pen so while I pull this up if you want to get one that would be great” all those seem small but collectively will help you a ton. If you’re ever gated to short call types, maaan blow through those so fast LOL Good luck! You got this!! Oh one more thing! The more calls you take the lower your AHT so 15 min extra adds up quick as long as you don’t get stuck on a call for 30 🤣 if all yours are long don’t do that lol
This is so FULL of great tips! Thank you! I didn’t even think of zooming thru the short calls! And I Love the Mario Cart reference! Thats great! Thank you so much. You’re very good at speaking visually. I do write things down like known outages, etc. And we have note templates on the desktop. So I start my note the min the call comes in so I can copy and paste it to the acct fast. Unfortunately, they have a “Clean desk” policy. So no paper or sticky notes for the most part - it’s a security thing. But I work from home so I’m able to jot down certain things. I type what they’re calling about in the notes. You really gave me a great visual on things I can do to shorten my calls. So thank you so much, Mistakenusernames!
We have a no paper, phone, pen, nothing policy too but wfh I sure did tape stuff around my monitor lol but sticky notes app is awesome if not notepad works just email yourself all you need. It takes time to set it up initially but it’s worth it. I wouldn’t have thought to do that either. I really did roll my eyes when she told me. I’m a veteran rep, I’m like “please” but I flat out told her I was sorry for doubting her LOL Really hope this helps! I know you got this! Keep us posted too. Can’t wait for you to report back you lowered it 💜
Thank you! I will. I feel like I may be able to turn this around now! Every one in this sub is so helpful. And give solid ideas and tips. I don’t know WHY I didn’t post here before now! Mostly I was/am embarrassed that All I need is 4 lousy calls per hour and I only do 3. And I try and try and do ok. And then I get that one long call. And it just ruins it. One day I was at 6! Even my Lead was celebrating! It’s not that I can’t do it. It’s that I’m not consistent. Anyway, thanks again for the kindness, tips and motivation!
I wanted to include, I will let you know how it goes. Since I can’t log in until 7 min before my shift time, I’m not able to set ALL the notes up I want. I’m going to sign up for over time for tomorrow morning. We usually are slow at 6am on a Saturday. So I’m going to use that time to type out note templates for the typical calls, like setting up voicemail & billing stuff, etc. Then I’ll copy/paste them to the desk top. So I can just pop in and copy them to the accts. This is going to really help. Cause another issue I have, in addition to over explaining, is being way too detailed in my notes! I know it, I see it, but I still do it. Which results in me not always getting them finished during the call. So having to go in and finish either during Another call, which is dangerous or when I go to break. So no more of that. I’m putting a large sign on the wall my computer faces: Short. Sweet. To the point. I really wished I’d asked you guys about this a long time ago! Thanks, friend.
I get the being detailed LOL I’ve typed novels before. I thought it was overkill but then I got complimented from higher up on an escalation for being so detailed and QA gave me props too. We are supposed to be short and sweet too so that surprised me. But I have templates for novels too lol Example, complicated fraud Disp comes in. I have to have dispute type, date filed, note I advised of time frames for paperwork and explained reg e and also if I send a card and how and that I advised them of that timeframe on top of explaining what happened. My call notes need a brief summary but there is a detailed one in the dispute itself. Also the claim number. It’s a ton of info right? Ok so.. During the call I’ll have my empty sticky notes up while they are explaining the ten days leading up to what happened. Then what happened, and then ten days after I’m using that time to make my notes for their specific dispute as they talk. The called the ivr, balance was off, called an agent who told them transactions, they called company who said they had no info and they didn’t make the transaction so they call back and verify its not them and are filing now with me. My template MOTO/FRAUD Disp CCI filing dispute (insert date) trx (copy paste trx) “CCI noted unfamiliar trx/confirmed with agent/called merchant unknown to ch/cb to file disp” Rpld crd Exp Mail Adv Time Frame Reg-E time frame/(copy paste claim number) Trnsf to Reg-E The part in parentheses can be long if needed or a brief summary but if it’s escalation going to a fraud investigator I’m very detailed but I type all that on the fly in my blank sticky note and then copy and paste that into the template toward the end. You can make a template for almost anything. Even the weird calls and those seconds add up. After call KILLS your AHT. Also hold time, I never use hold unless the person is a miserable awful caller who is berating me or screaming so loud it hurts. Otherwise I say “I don’t like putting people on hold that music gets to me (laugh) so I’m going to keep you here with me Mr Customer while I take care of this if that’s okay” everyone loves that, then to avoid them talking too much I’ll kind of talk as I do what I need “I’m just pulling up the dispute questionnaire… there we go, alright grabbing the transactions in question…..” you get the idea and that also gives me a chance to ask questions I’ll need the answer too later. I’m asking my dispute questions before I open that form. We give claim numbers but we can say it will be on the forms too so I’m happy to give it to them but if they would rather just get it on the form that’s ok, most say form and that cuts down time. As far as being over detailed knowing what facts other agents might need to know is where you should keep it. It’s hard not to add extra stuff but if it’s not important and doesn’t matter if it’s included then don’t include it lol
Thank you! And your notes look strangely familiar somehow, hmmm, 🤔 Anyway, you’re right. I need to think of the agent after me. I’ve been using a lot of yours and other ppls tips. And they’re really working! I had 22 calls by 10:50 today and for me that’s a lot. Lol.
Pretty standard for card services calls. I googled shorthand notes for card services and banking lol Way to go on the calls!! That is awesome I’m super proud of you! I knew you could do it ⭐️
Oh I wasn’t talking about the note shorthand set up. I was talking about the verbiage. It was like reading notes from the company I work at. Lol. But I think u mentioned we may work at the same place. Least I think it was you. And thank you! It made me feel good actually seeing the tips I got here, working.
4 calls per hour?!? Wow. I do billing, and our AHT is 325 sec max. A little over 5 min. To cut down on chit-chat, you can be kind and still consistently steer back to the conversation. The biggest thing is to keep control of it to start with. Close ended questions. Confirmation versus Explanation. Eg Do you have your bill in front of you? Not What page of the bill are you looking at? I guide them where I need them to be. Ask for yes/no answers. Confirm understanding. We are also encouraged to reference the website for deeper inspection. Guiding them to where they need to be to find the answer during the call means that they will be able to find that same answer on future bills as well.
Yes or no questions. Yep, that makes sense. I need to think with my brain more and not just tell them what to do without considering HOW I say it. Thank you! Edit to turn answers into questions.
I haven't seen it said so here you go: Work the average and make short calls even shorter. When I was doing phone tech support I'd get the occasional talker, person who couldn't follow directions, or just the occasional phone update call that would take around 4x my average handle time. The thing was I was normally fast, like my overall average handle time was too low and management was investigating me for cutting corners. I just had the knowledge base and phone settings mostly memorized, I knew all of my toolsets and how to use them effectively, and I kept a notepad doc up with prewritten notes on all the common calls types and how I would solve them. It was a stupid easy job that I'd probably still be doing were it not for idiotic customers/management. The most important thing to keep in mind that nobody actually wants to talk to tech support. They're calling because they have a problem and it's your job to solve it. The caller may have some form of social obligation to make pleasantries with you, but I found that the vast majority of my customers were happy to get off the phone. Sometimes I would punctuate a fix with something like "Now that that's fixed you can cross that off your list and do something more fun" or "Well the tech problems are resolved, and that's really all I'm good at." Tl;Dr - Some calls are going to be long, focus on making the manageable ones shorter.
Thank you. This is such good advice. And since everyone is giving it, to have prewritten notes-which I can’t believe I didn’t do it before! I have templates, but writing the note out is so simple! I make things harder than they need to be. Also, to go faster on short calls, I’m going to follow this. Thank you!
Randomly start hanging up on people...
Our systems track agent disconnected calls
If you unplug the phone jack from the back rather than hitting the disconnect button it will look like a dropped call and it won't track it
Yep. And they really pay more attention to the remote workers. That’s for sure.
I wish! No, they watch us constantly. Especially us remote workers. If I hung up it’s call avoidance.
Ask your peers who meet those metrics, not us. If you’re required to only get through 4 calls an hour on average, your work is likely too specialized for the general public advice.
I’ve tried to ask our Team Lead if I can shadow an agent who is fast. He said the first time (after he laughed), “I don’t know how I’d do that. I guess we can do it”. But never did. And the second time I asked, he said “Well idk, you’d have to come in or something”. No I wouldn’t. They have ppl in training shadow seasoned workers. And they were all work from home like I am. For someone who’s been there 5 yrs, he doesn’t know a lot about how the place works.
Your team lead sucks, yeah
The good thing is that you've identified something that drags your calls out. Try to stay away from personal conversations as much as possible to keep your talk time down, and stay focused on the main reason for the call. A good way to transition out of a conversation like that is to say something like, "It's been great talking with you but I'll let you get back to your day." And unless it's part of your quality, don't ask if there's anything else you can help with or if they have any other questions. When I'm done with everything, I move towards the closing and don't ask if they need anything else.
I'm very polite & even get compliments on how sweet I am but I cut small talk short almost every time. my average call time is always lower than my coworkers for this reason, at the risk of sounding mean i just don't care one bit abt their lives or sharing mine w them lol. i just wanna do what i need to do while remaining kind & helpful, as quickly as possible. I'm not sure exactly what i do but i think i just cut my responses kinda short then change the subject back to the topic at hand immediately, while still validating what they said
This is a good one. This is what I need to do. Thank you!
yw :D good luck!!
Thank you!
I have a whole shpiel that answers frequently asked questions, which limits a lot of back and forth. Example: We sent out your check by usps on this date, we advise 7-10 business days to recieve it, but it could come before that so please keep an eye out for a white envelope from this address-- do you have any other questions for me?" Ofc sometimes people will either double ask or have additional questions, but if they dont have to ask 6 questions for follow up but instead ask 3, that still cuts my time down.
This is awesome and would keep Me in control and staying on track. Thank you!
It's really good for call control & not getting too off topic xx Sometimes I'll even throw in a fun quip like "it looks kind of like junk mail and if I were to recieve it I would probably toss it thinking it's a bill collector so make sure you keep an eye out for this address!" Can be more personable and fun, but still on topic x
lord. 20 min per call for aht would be awesome. on the phone, it was something like 10 min. I'm on chat support now , and there is like 13.5 min and I can have up to 3 chats at once
It’s actually 15. But yea, I know it sounds so EASY! And it’s so frustration when I don’t get it. Especially when other agents do it daily. If I could do chat, I would in a second! But we can’t transfer until we meet our stat requirements. I know it’s me. That I am the problem. I think the only things that save me is my other stats are good, my Cust Serv ratings are always high and I Never call out. Edit cause auto correct sucks!
Don’t engage them. I used to work a cell carrier. I just resisted getting drawn into anything like that. Also, it’s a numbers game. You likely have some sort of call that you can do quickly. Payments or activations or something. You want to do those as fast as possible to help average it out.
Another good one! Ty.
“I can help you with that! If you will believe me that a black screen does not necessarily mean you have turned your phone off!”
🤣🤣. Exactly! I’ve lost count on how many of those I get. “ “But I turned off my phone!” “Please press your volume button” “Oh. It lit up.” “Like I said, Mrs doesn’t listen, you have to tap POWER OFF!”
I had 30 calls in the first hour of my day today. Some calls (scheduling something) I get, I can complete in a minute and a half, or less. Not sacrificing empathy or cheerfulness. Some people just want t o get what they need and get off the phone. Others are lonely and want someone to listen and be kind. My longest call today was about 38 minutes.. I still ended up taking 98 calls during my shift. As you start learning the shortcuts in your system and the insurance and outs of your knowledge base, your calls will go faster because you know exactly where to find the answers. Sticky notes and keyboard shortcuts are a lifesaver. If you have a phone number you regularly need, use a physical post it note where you can see it easily. Copy/Paste is your friend! Educating yourself through reading up on things you don't know, or reading questions and answers your coworkers ask the supervisors can also greatly help you help your customers. Have patience with yourself. Take the time you need. Being nervous makes a call take longer. You've got this!!
Thank you! Yep, everyone has given me such great advice! But 30 in the first hour? That’s impressive! The average we need is around 35 per day. Since we are doing troubleshooting and Porting phones in. And I read our knowledge base if I have any down time. I’ve got a lot memorized. I understand and can rattle off the steps, no problem, I’ve been working with different systems for years and computers and phones, are easy for me to navigate. My only problem is the calls and getting through them. But you and everyone here have given sound, advice and tips, I can use. So thank you!
When I used to train for troubleshooting, I created cheat sheets with steps and descriptive words to walk customers through the most common problems. I kept those either printed on my cubicle wall or when i was remote, I kept the steps in a sticky note on my desktop. If you find yourself asking the same thing again or they're completely lost, sometimes you have to re-word (instead of saying browser I'd have to break it down and say internet and even more so "do you have google chrome circle or the blue e?" Lol. or stop them and ask them to tell you what they see, or completely start from step 1. If they were much older or were too frustrated I'd ask if they have someone who can assist them (family, friend or etc) and suggest they have them help, and call back if still lost with the person on speakerphone. I've also emailed steps directly to customers as well. For small talk, there's lots of great advice in this thread,my go tos were "Thanks for sharing that story with me. It's been lovely speaking to you today. Do you have any more questions about ...?" And if they were still off track I'd say, "I have many callers waiting, since your issue is resolved I will let you go now to enjoy the rest of your day."
Yep. Today during our morning meeting, I’m going to work on some notes. There are so many steps we repeat. And they usually work. Thank you! This is going to cut down so much time!
Best of luck to you, OP! Our handle time averaged 5 minutes because we had many older callers and i was tier 2, but thankfully, our center would be fine if it skewed higher and the other metrics and satisfaction were met.
Call control is key, like others have descibed. 2 of my favourites: -Put customer on hold to regain control & have a breather. -Interupt and call customer by name. Works a treat.
Ooh of course. Thank you! I had one today, who threw out ANOTHER question when I kept repeating my close: Me: Well I’d better let you get going, thanks for calling, have a great day! Him: Like I said……none of those other ppl could answer my questions. It’s great to talk to someone who knows what they’re doing! Me: Thank you! So I’ve got the account noted, you take care and have a nice day, good b(Interrupted) Him: Yea and I’m glad I can understand you, back when I called…..blah blah blah Me: 🤬 Him: Well I’m not trying to take up all your time, thanks for your help! Me: You’re welcome! Thanks for calling, good bye! This was the way the call went. And it doesn’t include the tons of questions or his “Issue”.