Developing an Answering Service Script

Developing an answering service script is an essential part of making the most of your call center relationship.

One of the most frequent concerns expressed by users of answering services is how natural the operators will sound when answering their calls. Although most callers do not mind speaking to an answering service operator, it is important they are well prepared and trained. Nothing is worse than for an operator to come off as unknowledgeable or unorganized to a caller. Although this is usually a factor of how well-trained and experienced a call center staff is; the script being used plays a major role in how credible an operator sounds representing a company when speaking with its customers.

When developing an answering service script, it is important to decide on the scope of services you require from the call center. Many of the problems that companies eventually run into with their service can be traced back to the setup process. In particular, when call center users don’t completely address what they want the operator to do in certain situations can easily cause hang-ups, both literally and metaphorically. Of course, it would be impossible to cover every situation, so this is where limiting the scope of your account comes into play. Although most call centers can do most things you would think to ask of it, a simple and straightforward approach is usually best.

For example, many companies look to capture as much information as possible from sales leads. They might ask the call center to ask for everything from the caller’s name to the company’s corporate address to the amount of revenue it did last year. This approach is usually a bad idea because it tests the caller’s patience and a company seriously risks making a bad first impression. Most call center managers suggest simplifying data gathering to only include what a salesperson would need to contact the caller again. Their name, company name, phone number, and maybe a short note about what they are looking for will usually suffice.

Live operator call centers can provide myriad services to businesses, on an as-needed basis, around the clock. Organizations of all sizes and functions can benefit from a professional call center. It is important to note, however, that spending enough time crafting a great script for the call center operators as well as call answering protocol will allow you to get the most out of the service. A reliable, experienced, and professional answering service will be more than willing to assist you with this.