Anticipating the Customer’s Questions is Key to One-call Resolution

Anticipating the Customer’s Questions is Key to One-call Resolution

Great chess players are always anticipating their opponents moves. Great Customer Service Represenatives are always anticipating their customers needs.

One of my team members and I are conducting group call coaching this morning. We have 6-8 associates together and listen to an example of each person's phone call. The associates get to receive positive feedback from their peers and hear how others on their team approach very common calls. For this client, it works very well and has been an efficient way to call coach. The client has been doing QA for many years and the associates are, for the most part, mature in their attitude towards call monitoring and quality service.

In one call this morning, the associate provided the customer with the answer to the stated request, then proceeded to offer the caller additional information that he would need. The customer was taken by surprise by the offer, but clearly acknowledged that the additional information was necessary. By anticipating the customer's question, the associate not only provided extra-mile service, but also saved himself from having to take another call when the customer eventually realized he would need it.

One great way to identify anticipated questions is to carefully pay attention to the calls you receive. This can also be done by the supervisor or QA analyst as a part of their monitoring duties as a way of gleaning more than just a measurement of quality on a given call. If a customer is calling back after an earlier conversation a red flag should go up. Ask yourself "what information could I, or should I, have provided in the earlier call which would have eliminated the need for that follow up phone call?"

Anticipating related questions is a win-win for customer and company. Customers receive information they may not even know they need and the company eliminates unecessary phone calls in the future!

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and frankblacknoir