In the call center Customer Service world, the Seven Key Elements of Positive Customer Interactions are:
1. Tone of voice
2. Listening attentively
3. Speaking professionally
4. Language
5. Effective questioning
6. Rapport building
7. Closing the call
Understandability, which is the ability to understand and be understood, affects 6 of these key elements immediately. Actually the 7 th element, which is “Closing the Call,” could also be affected, if due to customer frustration or dissatisfaction, the call results in a hangup or transfer to a manager!
The agent may listen attentively, but if they don’t understand what is being asked of them, their lack of listening comprehension greatly affects the conversation, and it starts to fall apart right away!
Caller: “I am calling because I am checking on the status of my order and what credit card was charged for the transaction. It is a glass vase for my friend’s wedding, and it should have arrived 2 days ago. Can you tell me when it is arriving and what credit card was used?”
From this initial interaction, does your agent have the skills to understand what was being asked of them or do they lack understandability?
Will they have a professional response, even if they need clarification or will they add to the confusion?
Good Agent: “I am happy to help you with that! If I understand you correctly you would like the shipping status of your order for the vase and which credit card was charged. Is that correct?”
The ability to be understood starts with the usage of words; are the words being used professional and mature or simplistic or childlike?
Does their grammar make them sound knowledgeable or uneducated? Some of the most common grammar mistakes are using the wrong verb tense and subject-verb agreement. “I look computer and seen the order.” “Your Visa and Mastercard credit cards is on your file”
Is their fluency or flow of speech too slow or too fast? Too slow can make them sound unconfident or unsure, while too fast can make them sound uncaring or uninterested.
Fast fluency can lead to mispronunciations as words are run together and cause more understandability issues for the customer.
Suddenly the tone of voice is affected as both the customer and agent lose patience and frustrations multiply.
If they cannot be understood, they cannot effectively ask questions to reduce confusion and save the call.
All of these key components of understandability can greatly derail the conversation and cause a total loss of rapport with the customer.
The customer’s frustrations turn into escalations and the call is transferred to a manager to de-escalate and try to save the customer.
The ability to understand and be understood is the difference between customer satisfaction and customer dissatisfaction.
LanguaTest™ measures Understandability to ensure only the best English-speaking agents service your customers!
The cost of measuring understandability is small, compared to the price of losing customers!
Go to Languatest to learn more and get started stopping escalations before they start!
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