Digital tools, artificial intelligence (AI), and call center scripts streamline tasks and improve efficiency in call centers, but the human touch in customer service is the secret to success. While technology offers new and exciting options for enhancing the customer experience, an authentic connection can only be achieved through personalized communication.
For many companies, working with a nearshore customer support BPO call center is the best way to access experienced agents who practice active listening to create authentic customer connections. Learning more about the importance of humanizing calls and the role of emotional intelligence in call centers can elevate customer service in your business.
The Art of Humanizing Calls: Why is There a Need for Personal Touch?
Digital tools and AI responses are ideal for providing simple information and answers to frequently asked questions. Many consumers even embrace the ability to self-serve using these tools. However, when customers reach out to an agent, they expect to interact with an empathetic human who will listen and provide unique solutions to their problems.
Human agents can actively listen and understand customer pain points, creating a genuine customer connection. They can recognize context and nuance, helping them respond appropriately to customers’ requests and their underlying emotions.
These simple actions that show agents care about how the customer feels can humanize any customer service call.
- Listen actively: Listen as the customer explains the reason for the call, repeating phrases and asking questions as necessary to understand the scope of the issue.
- Show empathy: Let the customer know you understand what they’re feeling and that you want to help resolve the issue.
- Be informative: Explain your actions during the call so the customer will know what to expect.
- Ensure satisfaction: Ask the customer if the interaction was helpful and if you can offer any other services.
What are the Limitations of Strict Adherence to Scripts?
There’s a reason BPOs take the rules of how to write a call center script seriously. A good call center script can place essential information at the agent’s fingertips to provide product information and solve specific issues. Yet, over-dependence on a script can make them sound stiff and robotic.
Positive scripting examples can guide agents in their interactions with customers. However, some situations require an agent to go off-script and put themselves in the customer’s shoes.
Reciting from a script takes an agent’s focus off what the customer is saying, causing them to miss cues and fail to identify the problem. This is where the human touch in customer service comes into play. When agents prioritize active listening and empathy, a good script can help them offer a prompt solution.
Elevating the Role of Emotional Intelligence
Highly effective call centers are more than just transactional spaces. They are dynamic platforms for personalized customer interactions that improve customer satisfaction and loyalty. To go beyond simply providing information from a script, agents must be empathetic, offering support and understanding to customers navigating complex issues.
Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize, manage, and use emotions for positive communication during an interaction. It includes awareness of one’s feelings as well as others. Emotional self-awareness is critical for maintaining self-control when interacting with frustrated customers.
A skilled agent knows their triggers and how to avoid reacting to them. They have social awareness that enables them to empathize with the customer’s feelings. Combined, these skills allow agents to interact openly with customers to overcome challenges and diffuse conflict.
When a distraught customer seeks information about disputing an expensive transaction, adding a human touch to customer service interactions through an empathetic response can provide much-needed reassurance.
The agent might say, “I know how stressful it can be to see unauthorized transactions on your account. Let’s find out what happened and see what we can do to resolve it as soon as possible.” Simply knowing the agent understands the urgency of the situation can ease the customer’s panic and make them feel heard.
How Does Tailoring Conversations Result in Exceptional Service?
Excellent customer service is important to meeting customer expectations. Consumers want brands to treat them like a person instead of just a number. While AI-powered tools can fill in a name or ID, they don’t provide the same level of personalization and customer connection as human agents.
Call center representatives can create positive scripting examples by tailoring interactions based on a customer’s communication preferences and the context of the conversation. An agent who listens to the caller can pick up contextual clues about the source of their frustration and tailor solutions to meet specific needs.
Offering to follow up through email the following day can be a reassurance that the issue is being handled as discussed. Small touches of personalized services can go a long way toward delighting customers and maintaining their loyalty.
Learn More About How Confie BPO Goes Beyond the Script
Beyond mastering the dos and don’ts of how to write a call center script, highly effective customer service BPO call centers strive to bridge the gap between companies and their customers. While digital resources and AI tools can help streamline manual tasks, they fail to offer the human touch in customer service.
To provide consistent, prompt service that authentically represents their brand, many companies partner with a business process outsourcing (BPO) organization to handle external communications. The role of a customer service BPO can range from classic call center services to a full omnichannel experience.
Confie BPO can help you cultivate better relationships with your target audience through skilled customer service professionals who go beyond scripted responses to achieve that genuine human connection. Learn more by calling us at 800-684-2276, contacting us online, or connecting with us by email at contact@confieBPO.com.
