How NOT to Use Scripts for Customer Services
Using scripts can equally detract from the customers experience as it can enhance it …
Yesterday I got an excellent smack in the face business lesson in customer service. I walked into the bank, a nearly obsolete experience these days, nonetheless something I had to do. I must say the interior fit out of this particular bank in Mayfair London was well above average, so the environment was adding to a better experience immediately when I walked in. However, someone approached me and what I was greeted with made me cringe;
“Good afternoon, welcome to ABCD deluxe, how can I help you today?”
Now, if you read this greeting script on paper to yourself at first it seems perfectly normal and reasonable opening greeting, right? But clearly the mastermind behind the corporate script had not used this time and time again on a daily basis in branch. You see, change ‘welcome to’ for ‘thanks for calling’ and this is perfect for inbound phone calls… that is because on the phone you are not staring someone in the eyes, you can simply deliver the line in one quick string of words. In person, we don’t deliver a line like this in one quick string of words, we pause and talk a little slower. So, read the line again, this time imagine someone is in front of you.
The problem with this line is it is simply just a little too long. It has 3 parts to it, where it would be better with 2. As the customer I found myself wanting to join the conversation, but she was still talking and delivering this clearly scripted line. Now, perhaps I am just a little more acutely aware of… well… anything business like, perhaps this was just me…. No no no. You see, once I advised how she could help I was politely and professionally show to a nice leather armchair to wait briefly, I was offered a water, tea or coffee and found ample up to date business and lifestyle reading material in front of me. Ok, very good. But in my wait I overheard that line delivered twice more as the next two customers walked in, and on both occasions each customer tripped over words as they too found themselves trying to join the conversation and say want they wanted.
Each time I heard that line I felt a little less special, and thought to myself anyone sitting in this chair would hear that and think the same thing. I mean, HELLO… we are not stupid… we are humans and we look for two way natural communication.
How the script could improve my customer experience
Any of the following would of delivered a better experience;
“Good afternoon, how can I help you today?”
“Good afternoon, how can I help you?”
“Welcome to ABCD deluxe, how can I help you today?”
“Welcome to ABCD deluxe, how can I help you?”
Conclusion
Scripts can help businesses deliver a consistent customer experience, but without letting the whole team use their brains, and providing feedback about what works and what doesn’t, you can risk detracting from that experience and not enhancing it. I’m a massive fan of business automation and systemisation, in small business this is the only way to scale beyond the business owner doing everything, but come on … remember to keep your teams brains turned ON, don’t turn them into stupid mindless robots!
Action Points
Scripts can help businesses! Empower your team to at least provide feedback to enhance the scripts you have, if not create them in the first place.
Go for it!
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