Many call center managers can agree with us that the greeting in a call is extremely important in customer experience. It could sound as something simple, but it’s the first thing your agents are going to say in every call, the first impression, and the moment they present themselves and the company to a customer.
It should be memorable, reinforce valuable brand awareness and create relevant rapport with the customer to make them feel welcome to talk about their issue. For this reason, it’s important to think about how and what your call center greeting should be. Are we saying a lot of information in our greeting or are we missing something important? Is it the correct tone or way to say it? Well, it depends on the type of company, but we can give you some tips that can help you evaluate your greeting and create a better impact in every call.
What should be addressed in the call center greeting
The first thing we ask is what should we say in a greeting. There are some essential elements in the greeting of a call. None of them are mandatory, but the majority of call center managers agree with following elements:
The salutation
What would be of a greeting without a salutation? It should welcome the caller to the company. Be careful with using good morning or good evening. In these cases, always take in consideration the time zone of your customers. Otherwise, this is a good opportunity to thank for the call.
Introduction of the representative talking
This is very important for several reasons. But most important, it humanizes the call. When you can put a name to a voice, it lets you realize you are talking to a real person that cares about what you are going to say.
Name of the company or department
You need to let your customers or colleges where they are calling to. This way, they know if they have dialed to the correct phone number and if that is where they can solve their matter. It also reinforces the company’s brand awareness and identifies the service they are providing.
An offer for assistance
Let your customers know that the representative is there to help, listen, and assist them. This a good way to end the greeting and start a conversation with the customer.
However, there is no secret recipe for all companies. What each business needs to consider is their culture, the type of service they are providing, and the characteristics of their customers.
If your business transmits a friendlier culture, the greeting should be friendly too, with a more casual vocabulary and more familiar salute, just to mention an example. Your culture will define the tone of the conversation.
The second is the type of service you are providing. If it is a department that can assist with sort of urgent matters, the greeting should be short. You do not need to mention all the above elements, it could be as simple as just saying the name of the representative and let the customer talk. You also need to consider if the customers will be calling several times in a day or a short period of time. It can be frustrating for them to always listen to the same long greeting they already heard before. Another essential thing to consider is the script of the IVR. Maybe your customers already heard the name of the company and your representatives do not need to repeat it.
It is not only about your customers, however. Your agents can feel frustrated too if they are saying the same greeting all day. Try to keep it short and let them have the freedom to adjust it. A good practice is to only give them the mandatory points they should cover and let them do it their own way. With proper training, they will easily transmit the culture of the company, adapt to each customer, and make it more natural. This will avoid sounding scripted. Customers don’t really like scripts. Even if you are using one, try to make it sound natural.
Lastly, the characteristics of your customers. Are they in a hurry? Do they prefer a more professional service? Where are they located? Have they called before? Are they angry or worried? Knowing your customers’ insights will help you define a better greeting for them and create a better impression.
To summarize, we want to mention the things you should keep in mind for the greeting: Make it concise, demonstrate the culture of your company, use a language that is familiar for your customers, be flexible, make it fresh and natural, and kick off the conversation.
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