Best practices in crafting an excellent call center script

As companies strive to improve customer experience, most still utilize live agents to their advantage. Indeed, customers still prefer interacting with an agent for complex concerns that a bot can’t address.

You can take advantage of this move as a growing business. By hiring an in-house or outsourced customer service team, you can establish a better connection with and satisfy your clients.

Aside from your agents, a call center script can improve customer service. The right script can make a difference in providing the level of care your clients deserve.

Learn how to craft an excellent call center script for your team through this article.

What is a call center script?

A call center script is a document that serves as a guide in customer interactions. It showcases spiels and common answers to everyday customer conversations throughout the call.

One of the reasons for creating a call center script is to provide customers with the most accurate and consistent information possible. With this, agents will know how to help customers solve their problems and know more about the company.

Responses indicated in a call center script may vary depending on the situation and channel.

Call center script vs call flow

A call center script includes fixed dialogues and answers in a customer call. Commonly used in call centers and BPOs, these scripts are updated to accommodate complaints, inquiries, and even outbound sales.

Meanwhile, a call flow provides a set of procedures on the entire call, from answering to after-call work. It does not indicate exact spiels and answers to deliver. However, it allows agents to maneuver a call using suggested language, making it sound natural.

More organizations either use call flows as a substitute for a script or a combination of the two.

In connection, call center scripts are used in many industries that provide products and services to customers.

Some of the industries that use them include:

• Business process outsourcing (BPO)
• Telecommunications
• Travel and tourism
• E-commerce
• Real estate

When should you use a call center script?

One key scenario in which customer service scripts are paramount is when the contact center aims for consistency. Customer service scripts become vital to maintain uniformity and ensure that essential information is consistently conveyed.

This uniformity helps present a cohesive brand image and ensures that customers receive accurate and standardized responses regardless of the agent handling their query.

In scenarios where accuracy is critical, relying on a carefully crafted script helps customer service agents convey complex details precisely and in a structured manner.

This is particularly crucial when addressing technical issues or providing specific instructions, ensuring customers receive clear and reliable information.

Positive scripting is another instance where call center scripts prove invaluable.

When aiming to cultivate positive customer interactions, scripts guide customer service agents in using courteous language that aligns with the brand’s tone.

By incorporating positive scripting into call center interactions, companies can enhance customer satisfaction and create a more engaging and pleasant experience for their clientele.

Elements of a call center script

Effective call center scripts contain the following elements.

• Introduction – Greet the caller and identify yourself, but do not prolong the introduction.
• Purpose statement – Clearly state the reason for your call.
• Empathy statements – Express understanding and empathy for the customer’s situation.
• Information gathering – Collect relevant details about the customer’s issue.
• Solutions or responses – Provide scripted solutions or responses based on common scenarios.
• Upsell/cross-sell opportunities – Integrate prompts for promoting additional products or services.
• Follow-up questions – Summarize key points, express gratitude, and invite further questions or feedback.
• Compliance language – Include legal or compliance-related statements as necessary.
• Escalation protocol – Outline steps for transferring to higher-level support if needed.
• Farewell – End the call politely and thank the customer for their time.

Best practices in crafting a call center script

As much as possible, you would not want your call center agents to sound robotic during customer interaction. Your call center script should sound as natural and conversational as possible.

Here are some of the best practices to achieve that.

Get to know your customers

Understanding your customers and their common concerns is best before drafting your call center script. While you cannot always address all types of customers in your business, you can at least address their needs and expectations in calling.

Use some of your previous call recordings and live chat logs to list common concerns and what your script needs to improve.

Integrate best practices from previous calls

Aside from knowing your customers, your call recordings are a good way to examine best practices from your customer service reps.

Take a call from a satisfied customer and note the best practices done by the agent, from their tone and wording to the actual responses.

Draft an impressive introduction

Your call opening leaves an impression about your branding and reputation.

Creating an impressive introduction shows you’re willing and ready to help your customers solve their issues. This even helps start your interaction on the right note.

Establish your agent’s name and the company early on to create a connection with your customers. If you’re dealing with returning customers, personalize their greetings as a warm welcome. You can then ask for their concerns after greeting them.

Make use of positive reinforcements

Positive reinforcements are a great way to encourage customers to interact with your call center reps. It shows them that they made the right decision to call and ask for help with their purchases and inquiries.

Start with a simple “Can I help you?” or “How can I help you today?” to build your first interaction. During the call, verify your gathered information and ask questions that prompt them to answer “yes” when needed.

Reword negative responses

Find a way to turn negative responses into positive ones. Especially when writing a telemarketing script, there are times when you will receive a “no” from a client.

You can still turn these negative responses into positive actions. This is a good way to show empathy and understanding about your customer’s situation. A sincere “I understand” as a response goes a long way.

Be mindful of your language

Always use conversational language when talking to your clients. Be mindful of your tone, and avoid using too much jargon as much as possible.

Remember that your goal is to solve their concerns quickly and efficiently. With this, keep your responses straightforward and short. Always review your script to check your responses and make sure detailed information is included.

Apologize sincerely

You will sometimes encounter an irate customer in an actual call. When canned upbeat responses don’t work, try to win back their trust by apologizing first.

Offer sincere apologies and understanding regarding their situation. Make sure to follow this with the assurance of helping them with their concerns. Nothing will satisfy them more than ensuring you act on their issues quickly.

Leave room for flexibility

Flexibility keeps your call center script from sounding too canned and robotic. While you can write what your agents should say in a call, it’s best to leave room for improvisation and the agent’s creativity.

Flexible scripts even encourage better conversations with customers. With this, agents can easily act on additional questions, redirects, and client interruptions.

End the call on a high note

Before ending a call, make sure that you’ve reached their expectations and solved their issues. You can ask them about other concerns they have in mind and if they’re satisfied with the interaction.

You can also offer an upsell to your existing clients when needed. Lastly, wrap up your script with a simple “thank you” and wish them a great day.

Review and edit your script regularly

Once you’ve drafted your call center script, make sure to review and edit it even when it’s used in calls. Check recordings that use the current script and see what needs to improve in every aspect.

Keep in mind to consider customer needs, policy changes, and new channels when improving your call center scripts.

Call center script templates

Crafting a script is not as difficult as everyone thinks. Aside from your actual recordings, tons of resources and examples online can be used as a guide for your first call center script.

Most customer service software in the market has call center templates for scripts you can use and edit for your team. These call scripts contain basic outlines and spiels for different situations and channels, whether inbound or outbound communications.

For outsourced teams, meanwhile, you can coordinate with your service provider on the call script to use and how you will improve it. All in all, you won’t need an extravagant script as long as it can help increase your customer satisfaction.