The first scenario you’ll want to teach your new call center agents how to handle is the intake script. That is the most basic part of the call in a contact center. But, it’s also the most difficult for new reps to master because it often requires reps to control the call.
Just stick to the basics in this phase because, honestly, the basics are the hardest part for most reps. The key elements of an intake script are:
So your role-playing scenarios need to include practicing those elements. Let your new reps practice that intake script 50x if necessary. That is often the scariest part of the call because the rep is wondering, “Will I be able to understand what this person is asking about?”
Understand what you will need to practice in your scenario-based training. What type of situations will your agents encounter during the intake portion of the call? What do they need to know how to handle?
Some of those skills include:
The biggest challenge new reps have is identifying the purpose of the call. If they can do that, then they are 90% of the way there (assuming you have procedures to help them once they identify the call).
For this phase, as soon as the rep (1) identifies the user and (2) identifies the purpose of the call, the scenario is over.
Here are five Phase 1 examples that you can copy and paste into your training curriculum. Obviously, you’ll have to make some slight tweaks — changing any specifics for your company — but these examples should get your brain juices flowing.
Remember: these are just situations to role-play. If you want your agents using guides while doing these scenarios, you will need to write out call flows before training.
These examples are listed in order of easiest to a more complex intake script.
If you need more examples, listen to calls that your reps are currently taking and just copy verbatim what callers are saying. If they’re ambiguous, great! Make that a scenario. Your new reps are going to need to learn how to clarify what’s being asked for.
Important: It’s okay if reps struggle a bit with identifying the purpose of the call at first. As you move through the next 4 phases, reps will become more familiar with what callers may be calling about because you will go through procedures, tasks, etc.
Before practicing these scenarios, you’ll need an intake script. Here is a sample intake script in case you need one.
After mastering the intake script, you can start role-playing simple procedures and answering basic questions.
Now, you’re going to begin listing off the things your reps will need to be able to do and respond to. This goes beyond the agent being able to ask clarifying questions.
The scenarios can be related to Phase 1’s questions or unrelated. For example, an agent can practice walking through a procedure for paying a bill.
Depending on how you want your agents to handle calls, there are different skills to master.
If you are expecting your agent to memorize each step in a procedure, you’ll want them to demonstrate they can remember everything.
Ideally, you’ll have documented procedures and answers for agents to follow. If you do, then agents will learn how to locate the correct procedure in the knowledge base, read it, and talk through it during this phase.
Either way, the goal is for your agents to role-play going through the steps of the procedure or answering questions. They need to be able to get through the tasks and provide basic information to the caller.
Note: There is no need for agents to actually perform the procedure in your systems at this point.
These are questions that customers will most likely ask your reps on a day-to-day basis. Some example scenarios to practice basic procedures include:
The next step is to help your reps practice using the systems in your call center.
Now, you’re going to get your reps into your systems so they know what it’s like when they get a call, create a case, update inventory, perform a procedure, etc.
This phase is asking the rep to handle the call while simultaneously filling things out and clicking through screens. It’s a bit of multitasking. You will have agents take action on the requests/answers the caller gives.
At the beginning of this phase, don’t make the trainees go through the entire call from the start to finish (e.g. from intake to finding the procedure to performing the procedure). Just call out some basic procedures and have your reps pull them up and perform them in the systems.
Once they get the hang of navigating through systems, you can start to layer on the other things, like doing an intake and pretending to handle a caller while also clicking through your systems.
Note: Having written procedures that walk reps through all of the steps helps reps as they perform procedures. Even after training, the agents will have these guides for reference and use them daily.
There are many tasks to complete in a call center. Your call center probably has many more, but here are common examples of tasks to practice to get your list started.
If you have written procedures for each task, your reps should be able to follow those instructions step by step.
Now, you’re going to begin throwing some curveballs.
In this phase, it is easy to identify what they want, but the process is a little more difficult. At this point, your reps are getting comfortable doing the intake, handling basic questions/tasks, and using your systems to execute those tasks.
The reps know the straightforward process (e.g. changing a billing address). Now, they need to practice what to do if things aren’t as straightforward (e.g. changing the billing address to another address that already exists in the system and the system is warning them that there’s already an account with that address).
Your reps will also need to begin using soft skills to help the caller when things may not work in the caller’s favor (e.g. can’t get a refund). They will need to practice addressing concerns, delivering bad news, etc.
In these scenarios, you don’t need to worry about entering these into the system yet. Just let callers get used to handling calls that are a bit more difficult.
Note: Your written procedures should help your reps handle the curveballs. In previous examples, your reps did the straightforward version of the procedure. But now they need to pay attention to those notes and decision trees that take reps down those less common paths.
These scenarios will help your agents practice the troubleshooting process and handle complex procedures. Some situations to role-play include:
Now, you have all the pieces of handling a call at your contact center. Take callers through a complete call — intake to resolution — and ask them to use your systems appropriately.
Since you’ve already got dozens of scenarios, repurpose those and ask your reps to go through them from start to finish.
If you are the only trainer, you will likely be the one role-playing with reps. Start with one rep and have them go through the entire call, but ask ALL of the reps in training to go through the procedure and use the systems. By the end of the role-play, each rep should have a ticket or system update that you can review.
You can keep your reps on their feet by having one rep start the call and then you jump to another rep to do the next step.
You should have a call flow script or standard procedures that reps can follow to resolve 95% of the calls they will receive and instructions for what to do when they can’t resolve the call (the other 5%).
When you use scenario-based training as part of your call center training strategy, your agents are better prepared to handle any call that comes their way. As they role-play, they can prepare for the unexpected. They gain skills to manage difficult situations.
With ScreenSteps, we provide a one-stop shop for all of your call center’s documented call flows and procedures. Agents can easily find and follow the step-by-step instructions in just a couple of clicks.
Are you looking for ways to improve your call center training? In this eBook, you will learn about common mistakes call centers make while training their agents. Plus, we provide solutions to each of those pitfalls.
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