BPO

• Probing skills


  Asking a series of questions to fully understand the customer's concern
• One of the worst things a customer service representative could do is to resolve an issue without knowing and fully understanding the customer's concern
• Probing questions


  1. Intended to help the presenter think more deeply about the issue at hand

  2. If a probing question does not have that effect, it is either a clarifying question or a recommendation with an upward inflection at the end
• Suggestions to help formulate good probing questions


  • Make the probing question brief
  • Facilitate thinking from reaction to reflection
  • Allow multiple responses
  • Do not place the blame on anyone
  • Avoid yes or no responses
  • Make it brief
  • Encourage taking another party's perspective
  • Require the person to solve his/her own problem
  • Elicit a slow response
  • Make it general and widely useful
• Quotes


  • Exact phrase/s
  • Direct passage of a sentence or more
  • Quotation Marks (" ") are needed as well as the parenthetical documentation or intext citation
• Paraphrasing


  • Your own version of what the customer told you
  • An effective way of checking if you and the customer are on the same page
  • Assures the customer that you listened to their concerns and have understood them
• Steps to paraphrase effectively


  1. Re-read or listen to the original passage or statement until you understand its full meaning

  2. Probe if necessary and if possible to fully grasp the meaning of the original passage or statement

  3. Record or develop your paraphrased message/idea

  4. Repeat paraphrased idea to your customer to check if your understanding of his/her idea is correct

  5. Use quotation marks (" ") when writing to identify any term or phrase you have borrowed exactly from the source
• Paraphrasing examples


  • Proper Paraphrasing: "If I understood you correctly, Mrs. Wilson, you want to cancel your subscriptions because you are having difficulties in coping with the monthly fees, is that correct?"
  • Improper Paraphrasing: "So you want to cancel your account because you can't pay the fee?"
• Summarizing


  • Taking the main idea from a source
  • Often focuses on several paragraphs or an entire article
  • Requires parenthetical documentation or intext citation of source
• Paraphrasing and summarizing have something in common: you would still need to credit your source (TV Program) by including parenthetical documentation (intext citations) with a complete work cited page
• Clarifying


  • Lets you address the customer's practical needs immediately
  • Clarify the customer's single and easy to understand inquiry by explaining a piece of information about it
  • Paraphrase several concerns as explained by the customer
  • Clarify further by probing when you do not understand the customer's concerns
• Clarifying questions


  • Simple questions of fact
  • Clarify the dilemma and provide the nuts and bolts so that the participants can ask good probing questions and provide useful feedback later
  • Brief, factual answers, and does not provide any new food for thought from the customer service representative
• Phone etiquette


  • Exhibiting good telephone etiquette on a call
  • Different people may have different definitions about what constitutes good telephone manners
• Sample competencies associated with providing quality service over the telephone


  • Adapt the call to the customer's tone and pace
  • Project a positive and professional corporate image
  • Demonstrate a supportive approach when dealing with callers
  • Maintain control of the conversation to balance service with efficiency
• Opening a call


  1. Start with a greeting

  2. Identify yourself

  3. Ask how you can be of help

  4. Respond to the customer appropriately
• Responses based on the reason of a call


  • Inquiring about a service from our client: "I'd be glad to assist you."

  Interested in inquiring more service from our clients: "That's great to hear. I'd be happy to assist you."

  Unhappy with a particular service outcome or product: "I'm sorry to hear that. I'll be glad to take care of this for you."
• Adapting call to the customer's tone and pace


  • Adjust to the mood and pace of the caller
  • Refrain from imposing your own style or rate of speech on the caller
  • Relate to callers as individuals and adapt presentation style and content to fit their needs
• Positive and negative behaviors for adapting to the customer's tone and pace


  • Positive: Slow pace for inexperienced caller, Behaviors adapt to slower pace for different language or accent

  Negative: Raise your voice to a caller who is yelling, Offer detailed, complicated explanations when caller has indicated he is in a hurry
• Projecting a positive and professional corporate image


  • Speak clearly and keep conversation focused on the caller's needs
  • Use the agency name in the greeting and/or closing
  • Avoid slang and technical terms unfamiliar to the caller
  • Use "we" instead of "they" to project cohesion
• Positive and negative behaviors for projecting a positive and professional corporate image


  • Positive: Offer assistance - "I'll be happy to help you with that question", Offer positive statements about the company - "Our success rate is excellent with this program", Use "we" when referring to company - "We have a wide range of services to offer"

  Negative: Use can't, don't, or won't - "I can't find that in your record", Disclose undesirable things about company - "Delays have been really long all day", Use "they" when referring to company - "They don't give out that number to callers"
• Standard hold procedure


  1. Explain why the customer will be put on hold

  2. Provide an exact duration of the hold

  3. Thank the customer for agreeing

  4. Thank the customer for holding
• Transferring a call


  • Letting the customer know the reason why you need to transfer the call
  • Educating the customer that you are transferring them to help resolve their concern, not because they are being "passed around"
• Warm transfer


  You need to introduce the customer to the agent of the department you are transferring the call to
• Cold transfer


  Let the customer know that you are no longer going to stay on the line with them. The customer needs to wait for the other department to answer the call
• Dry transfer


  Transferring without introducing the customer to the department who will take the next call
• Taking notes during a call


  1. Documenting the details of the call

  2. Encoding the details of the call on the computer as you conduct the conversation
• Purpose of taking notes


  • Good documentation of what transpired during the call
  • Assist other call center agents on how they will deal with the matter based on the last resolution
• Closing a call


  1. Recap the reason for the call

  2. Summarize the action to be taken

  3. Advise processing time frame

  4. Offer additional assistance

  5. Thank the customer
• Professional telephone greeting


  • Thank the customer for calling
  • Brand the call using the company's name
  • Include your first name
• Talking on the telephone


  • Add a smile to your voice
  • Enunciate words clearly
  • Avoid using slang and words like "yeah" and "naw"
• Reasons for call holding


  • To give time to pull out a customer's details
  • Verify some information from your supervisor
  • Run some web based troubleshooting tips
  • Verify information or call someone from another department
• Placing customers on hold


  1. Ask for permission

  2. Make the hold brief, no longer than two minutes

  3. Refresh the customer if the hold is longer than two minutes
• Hold estimates


  • Call estimates vary, some provide longer estimates than the actual hold time
  • Factors considered in the hold time: call queue, average call length, number of agents, estimate of how long a customer is willing to wait
• Returning the call


  1. Maintain honest service by returning calls as promised

  2. Set an estimated time to address the issue and return the call
• Acknowledging the customer


  • Positively acknowledge the customer by using their name
  • Use in moderation to avoid sounding scripted
  • Effective ways to build rapport and provide a great caller experience