Smile in a Call center phone interaction

Smile in a Call center phone interaction

A smile in a Call center phone interaction is a key step to improving customer service and CSAT scores.

Why am I so confident that by simply smiling there is an improvement in call quality? It’s proven. At GuateCall, our nearshore call center located in Guatemala City, Central America, we have listened to thousands of calls of customer service agents that are smiling and those customer service agents that are not smiling. We’ve even tested the same agents and could clearly hear when they were smiling and when they were not.

What is the major difference? It’s the tone on the call. There is a clear difference in the customer service representatives’ tone when he or she is smiling as compared to when not. What is even more interesting is that there is a marked difference in the reaction of the customer which has a direct relationship to the agent’s tone. Customers seem to be more willing to listen and are more open to engage with customer service representatives that are smiling.

Joy breaks all physical and spiritual boundaries. That is a powerful concept. When applied to day to day life, joy gives the sense of control and knowledge that we can overcome any perceived difficulty we may encounter.

We all want to be joyful and happy, but for many people it doesn’t come naturally. Even those happy go lucky people have moments that they are just not inclined to be happy. So how do we maintain our cheery disposition when providing customer service to our clients? The fastest and easiest thing to do is smile! Even a not so genuine smile is better than nothing. A call center colleague advises trainees to look at your face and ask if you would want to talk to yourself if you weren’t smiling.  The most common thought process of new trainees is, we’re on calls, the customers can’t see us so why does it matter? An agent needs to be recorded and hear themselves speak while smiling and also when they are not smiling. Play the recording to the other trainees and ask them to decide which recording sounds friendlier, more confident and which has a nicer tone. This process ends all debates.

The next step is to consistently keep agents smiling throughout the day, so keep the call center floor loose, send funny messages to keep agents happy (an unexpected message at an unexpected time is usually best), create a seating arrangement that allows agents to help each other, create competition and excitement on the call center floor and make sure supervisors are there for their team members at all time.

Every company wants to improve their customer’s experience. Before creating elaborate plans and making major investments, make sure your team is smiling & happy. It’s the number one way to make the biggest and fastest impact on the customer experience, oh and it’s the least expensive as well, so try it!

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