Call Scripting Is Essential to Ensure Smoother Customer Conversations and Exceptional Customer Experiences

How often have you been lost while driving to an unknown location?

Very rarely, right?

This is because of the GPS technology your maps use to guide you to your location. The days of getting lost while driving have come down drastically. That’s the power of technology.

When it comes to contact center agents, call scripting acts as the GPS for conversations. It provides them with a structured approach to handling customer conversations without putting the customers on hold for long or providing automated messaging.

Call scripting helps agents with helpful phrases, questions, and responses they can use while handling customer needs.

Imagine you are manning the call center of the bank’s credit card division. You receive a call from a customer who says that his card has been overcharged.

How do you respond to this?

You can use a standard phrase like, “I am sorry for the inconvenience,” which will make the customer feel worse than when he called you about the overcharge.

Alternatively, you can use a friendly tone and say, “Thanks for bringing this to our attention. I know overcharging can be frustrating. Let’s look into this together.”

This is a small tweak, which the call scripting will guide the agent in doing.

Do you know that using an empathetic tone like this can improve the customer experience by up to 12%?

Now, think of industries like healthcare and payments, where the rules are strict about how you interact with your customers.

Here, call scripts have to go beyond being just friendly; they have to ensure that you are compliant with regulations and standards.

You have to be very careful about what you say and how you handle patient and customer information.

A good call script includes prompts for agents to verify a caller’s identity before sharing any information.

How Often Have Agents Asked You These Questions?

• For your security, could I ask you to verify your recent transaction? Or can you provide me with your mother’s maiden name? or the last mode of payment you made?
• For privacy reasons, I’ll need to confirm your identity before we discuss any personal information. Could you verify your date of birth?

These are regulatory requirements, but the phrasing keeps it customer-friendly.

All these are prompts from a good call script, which helps protect you, your organization, and, most importantly, the customer.

Here Are Some Impressive Statistics That Showcase the Importance of Call Scripting:

• A McKinsey study found that contact centers that implement call scripts report a 15-20% reduction in Average Handling Time (AHT).
• According to Zendesk, contact centers using empathy-driven call scripts see an 8-10% boost in customer satisfaction (CSAT) scores.
• A Forrester study reveals that in regulated industries like finance and healthcare, scripted calls see a 30% reduction in compliance violations.

Steps to Effective Call Scripting

I am going to explain this with a fictional bank example for better understanding. Let us call the fictional bank as SafeBank.

Here is the step-by-step process.

Step 1: Objectives

The script should help agents handle common enquiries like accounts, loans, and transactions while following compliance standards to ensure customer data.

Step 2: Defining the Script Per the Call Flow

SafeBank divides the script into specific sections to create a smooth flow, which will help the agents stay consistent and focused.

Opening: Thank you for calling SafeBank. My name is ‘So and So.’ For your security, may I have your name and account number so I can get started?

Listening: How can I assist you today? Could you tell me more about your issue so I can better help?

Solution: It looks like you’re currently enrolled in overdraft protection. Would you like me to go over how this works or discuss any additional options?

Closure: Thank you for banking with us. Is there anything else I can assist you with today?

These are only samples to explain how to create the call scripts. These can be changed per the needs of the organization and customer expectations.

Step 3: Natural, Conversational, and Empathetic Language

SafeBank script uses a friendly and conversational tone to avoid sounding robotic.

Instead of “I apologize for the inconvenience you have experienced,” SafeBank uses conversational phrases like: “I understand this can be frustrating, and I’m here to help get it sorted out for you.”

Here is an example:

If a customer calls about account balances, the SafeBank agent would say, “Let’s check the balance together,’ instead of “I will now access your account information.”

Step 4: Include Customer-Centric Prompts

SafeBank script prompts agents to ask clarifying questions and check for understanding throughout the call.

Clarifying questions: Could you tell me more about the transaction? I want to ensure that I understand it fully.

Check for understanding: Does that sound good so far, or would you like me to clarify any part?

Step 5: Close the Feedback Loops

SafeBank regularly reviews the feedback from both agents and customers and acts on them.

Assume that the agents report that most customers want information on loan repayment options. SafeBank would take this feedback and update the script to include this information, making it easier for agents to provide accurate information.

Through surveys, SafeBank learns that customers feel more valued when agents acknowledge their financial concerns.

Now, SafeBank will adjust the script to add empathetic phrases like:

I understand that managing finances can be stressful. Let us take a closer look at what we can do to support you.

By following these steps, SafeBank creates an experience that feels safe, personal, and genuinely helpful.

This level of detail in call scripting makes a world of difference in the customer experience space.

How Does SafeBank’s Script Support Compliance?

In the banking industry, compliance is critical, so I wanted to address this separately as part of this article.

Security prompts: Every SafeBank script includes prompts for agents to verify a customer’s identity before discussing account details.

For example, after asking for the customer’s account number, the script will prompt the agent to ask for a secondary identifier, like the mother’s maiden name, last transaction, the previous mode of payment, and the like.

This helps protect customer data.

Disclosure requirements: Suppose a customer opts for a home loan, and SafeBank’s script ensures that agents provide the required disclosures.

The script would say:

As a part of our terms, I’m required to let you know that this loan option includes a variable interest rate. Would you like more details?

Banking is a heavily regulated industry where compliance is non-negotiable.

Imagine if an agent fails to verify the customer’s identity and private information accidentally goes to the wrong person.

That’s a huge security breach with potential legal consequences. With security prompts, this can be easily handled.

Forrester reports that businesses using compliance-driven call scripts report 30% fewer legal issues than those that don’t.

Benefits of Call Scripting

In the previous sections, we have covered some of the benefits, like reducing Average Handling Time (AHT) and ensuring emotional connection through empathy. I want to include a couple more tangible benefits of effective call scripting here:

Training and Onboarding

Contact centers are a place where you see a lot of attrition. So, you are constantly onboarding agents onto your customer service and support function.

Due to this constant inflow of agents, training becomes a huge overhead.

With call scripting, new agents can become effective quickly with its clear and structured guidance. This helps reduce the learning curve and builds agent confidence, resulting in smoother customer interactions.

Quality Assurance

With effective call scripting, quality control becomes simpler. Call recordings can be evaluated against the script, allowing managers to ensure agents follow prescribed standards and identify areas where they need improvement.

Call scripting can be a game changer when done effectively. Most customers remember how you made them feel, and call scripting can help create those moments.

It empowers your agents to offer exceptional customer experiences.

Effective call scripting makes it a win-win for everyone: Customers enjoy smoother interactions, and organizations build stronger and more loyal relationships.