>>How
do we get long-winded callers to get to the point?
The
average call talk time in our call center is over four
minutes and I truly believe we can realistically get
that down to just over 3 minutes without compromising
quality. The extra time is due to idle talk. How do we
get long-winded callers to get to the point?
Additionally, we have
discovered that if we can
g
et our average call time down 33 seconds, we can save
more than $52,000 annually. How can we shorten talk time
without compromising service delivery?
Myra's
answer to How
do we get long-winded callers to get to the point?
Research
shows the average business call lasts two minutes longer
than it needs to. The bitter truth is most of us spend
far too much time on the phone with customers and
co-workers in idle small talk or listening to the
whiner, rambler, or storyteller. So how do you politely
end a call when you know it’s no longer productive?
I’ll
give you six of my favorite strategies for politely
bringing a long winded caller back to focus.
One.
Apprise of a time limit early
- This doesn’t mean you state that you only have a couple
of minutes. It’s
the reverse of that and it works like this:
“I don’t want to take up too much of your
time.” Or “I’ve taken up enough of your
time” (even when they’ve called you.) “I’m
sure you’re busy, so I’ll make this quick.”
“One final thing
I need to cover...”
Statements
like these setup time parameters for you and help you
end the call quickly and politely.
-
“The
first thing
we need to do is...”
-
“The
reason I’m calling is ...”
-
“Listen,
I need to get some information from you.”
-
“Real
quick, I just need a couple of numbers from
you…”
Three.
Use the point question technique – Point questions help you bring the
conversation back to focus…back to the point of
the call after a few seconds of small talk (or rambling).
Examples of point questions include:
-
“How
can I help you?”
-
”What
can I do for you?”
Four.
Give a minimal response
When
your customer asks you an open-ended question like, “How
are your children?” you can
give a minimal response this way: “My children are
great What can I do for you today?”
Five.
Ask closed-ended questions
Avoid
asking a talkative caller an open-ended question because
they will
g
o on and on in their response. Ask closed-ended
questions that require only a one-word response like,
“Will tomorrow at 10:00am work for you?”
Generally speaking, asking two to three
closed-ended questions back to back will put you back in
control of the call.
Six.
Use closing statements
– You’ll use closing statements to signify the
ending of the call. Closing statements help you
g
et out of a conversation with a rambler or long-winded
caller. Here are two simple closing statements:
-
“Before
we hang up, I need to make sure I tell you…”
Informs the caller that the call is ending
-
“One
final question for you…”
Don’t let calls
get out of your (agents) control. The call should last
just long enough to be productive. Rambling, storytelling
or any idle talk is wasting your time and the
customer’s time and it negatively impacts service with
callers who are waiting Use these call control
techniques and you’ll
get the storytellers and ramblers to cut to the chase and
you’ll be polite in your approach.
Free
Customer Service Newsletter
Sign-up
Now and Get a Free Dealing with Difficult Customers
Video
I
was very pleased with Myra' presentation, but even more
so, I was left with a sense of new energy and desire to
put her recommendations to use. I
can't wait for Monday!
Tim
O'Laughlin
The
Coca-Cola Company
You're invited to
subscribe to Myra Golden's weekly customer
service newsletter, designed for those who oversee
customer service operations and frontline service
professionals who want to build loyal relationships with
customers and restore customer confidence in the company
after service failures.
Sign up now and get 6
free videos from Myra's Dealing with Difficult Customers
series. We'll send you a link to view your free
downloads the moment you sign up. These videos can be
viewed as many times as you like and even shared with
your team!
Sign-Up
Now
I
just want to take a moment to "thank you" for
your very valuable Tuesday Morning e-mail newsletter.
Our Customer Satisfaction Department finds it extremely
valuable and helpful in our mission to satisfy customers
every day. We also share the many great ideas and tips
for handling customer complaints with our franchise
owners. Thank you again... we hope we can continue to
look forward to Tuesday Morning for a long time to come.
Beth
Vickers
Director
Customer
Satisfaction Department
McDonald's
Corporation
Customer
service speaker Customer
service newsletter Online
seminars for call centers Customer
Service Free Articles Myra
Golden
Free Customer Service Tip of the Month Video
Contact Us
Back to homepage
Contact Us
Totalcustomerservicetraining.com
is a public service site sponsored by Myra
Golden Seminars.
