How Do Call Flows Work: Benefits, ROI & Use Cases

One approach to understanding the call flow process is to think of it as a sort of route map that shows how your company’s phone system moves or travels. When a call is received, the call flows through the call chart and routes calls from the first menu to the conclusion of your call. 

Call flows not only plot what consumers encounter during initial contact but also illustrate what happens when lines are busy, unanswered, or rerouted.

The call flow chart shows how a network delivers a telephone call to a mobile device (voice call/data call). It also outlines how a data or voice call session is formed via the network by use of end-to-end signaling.

Why Calls Flows Are Important To Effective Call Centers

Everyone has been on the consumer side of a business phone call, so the annoyance of being on hold for unusually long periods of time, getting diverted, or just dropping out is self-explanatory.

A terrible first impression may make a lasting impact, and regaining a client lost to poor call flows is nearly impossible. 

Consider what it would be like if your new agents could be productive in half the time it takes to train them now. Interactive call flows allow agents to learn what to say, ask, and do without needing to memorize anything.

While calls might travel in a variety of directions, call flows assist your agents in dealing with each one. This translates to reduced training time, fewer mistakes, and improved metrics (i.e.: QA scores, average handle time, average hold time, first call resolution).

Efficiency

Without a doubt, cloud-based technologies are the way of the future. To improve productivity, call centers are adopting contemporary technologies and abandoning cumbersome, inefficient conventional on-site PBX systems.

You can reduce errors in the support process by providing your agents with an arsenal of best practices and subject matter expertise. 

Furthermore, you can ensure that each agent receives the necessary training at the correct time by designing a continuous training program. When each session focuses on new customer service skills, best practice procedures, or unique contact center challenges, the entire operation will soon become more skilled and informed. Your workers will be happier and more confident, too.

If anybody has any issues or challenges, having adequate procedures in place will assist them in communicating with their superiors to resolve the problems. Always keep in mind that a contented agent is a productive agent.

Consistent Caller Experience

A successful business always recognizes the critical role outstanding customer service plays in its success. It is essential to recognize that gaining customers and establishing loyalty takes time and that to maintain your customers’ hard-won loyalty, you must provide continuous high-quality service. 

End-to-end customer service automation is one method for doing this. Your call center employees have the tools they need to interact with customers in the way they desire, and the demands of the consumers are addressed fast.

Keep in mind that customers seek consistency from their service providers since their expectations are based on prior favorable experiences. 

As a result, it is critical to not only provide good customer service when asked but to continue to provide it at the same, if not a higher, level with every interaction if you are to maintain client satisfaction.

Better Customer Experience

The most important best practice for every successful contact center is an unwavering emphasis on the customer experience. Brands that distinguish themselves by providing outstanding client experiences outperform the competition. Every single time.

The importance of the consumer experience has never been greater. The current pandemic offers a once-in-a-lifetime chance to provide client encounters that inspire unwavering devotion.

Monitor interactions to see where experienced agents are providing excellent service to determine in what areas call center training and coaching are needed. Customer experience indicators such as decreased average handling time and increased first call resolution will lead to stronger customer loyalty and repeat business.

Proactive Call Monitoring & Training

Accurately measuring call center agent performance necessitates a two-pronged approach that includes both call records and scoring. 

Managers may obtain a more thorough knowledge of an agent’s performance deficiencies and proficiencies by arming themselves with qualitative data from client interactions as well as quantitative performance metrics from call scoring.

For example, it is useful to know that a call-center agent has problems when interacting with customers seeking a refund because calls are always below the expected threshold.  Understanding why an agent struggles with this type of call is essential to gain a complete understanding of where the agent is heading. 

Analysis of call-center records from these interactions provides a good basis for training. This method of assessing agent performance improves the accuracy of identifying agent strengths and shortcomings. After developing an action plan, management must analyze the agent’s progress using both call monitoring and call scoring. 

To achieve this, listen to live or recorded calls relevant to the action plan. During call monitoring, evaluate whether or not the agent has made the required modifications and if their interactions are in greater accordance with expectations.

If not, it is critical to fix the issue as quickly as possible through continued training and feedback to the agent so that the agent may change approaches to problem areas accordingly.

Differences Between Call Flows and a Call Center Script

A call center script is sometimes compared to outbound telemarketing scripts from the 1980s and 1990s – strict, set speech with limited leeway to vary or maneuver in response to a customer’s responses. 

Scripts have developed in today’s customer service industry. They capture best practice language for presenting information that requires little or no adjustment, as well as compliance/regulatory assertions that must be true when correctly employed.

A call center call flow, on the other hand, gives a flexible set of rules concerning the overall flow of the encounter as well as some best-practice language suggestions. Call flows are commonly thought to have greater freedom to diverge and move. 

Most businesses use a combination of the two: a best-practice call flow to guide the broad direction of the discussion, with more detailed scripting for product explanations, compliance declarations, step-by-step processes, and so on.

Having Better Customer Interactions Through Call Flows

1. Branding 

A call flow instructs agents on how to engage with consumers in a way that correctly and professionally portrays your brand. 

As part of your branding communications, every marketing message you put out must represent your company’s beliefs and mission. This allows you to increase brand recognition, helping you to attract the ideal individuals who will support your goals. 

As an outcome, you can be more sure that the individual you employ wants to develop with your company over time.

Building an employer brand is a never-ending effort. After you’ve hired your ideal candidates, your next duty is to offer them an ideal work environment and keep them pleased while they’re with you. 

This is especially important in call centers, which frequently have significant turnover rates. The goal is to provide people the opportunity to evolve, take on new tasks, and use their entire spectrum of knowledge.

2. New Hire Ramp-Up

It’s amazing how much a new agent remembers once they have gone through their customer service training, which includes systems, rules, procedures, and ultimately soft skills training. 

A guide that focuses on the most logical approach and best-practice terminology will ensure that an agent is not left hanging and at a loss for words. Most importantly, it will aid in developing confidence.

3. Consistency

It makes little sense for agents to spend time and energy attempting to invent a unique strategy when most centers best have an abundance of practice examples.

After all, we now live in an omnichannel setting and it is critical to ensure that each customer receives the same service quality regardless of the channel used.

The more the variety in their experiences, the less likely the client will be satisfied with the service obtained – variability being the polar opposite of consistency.  It is imperative that customers consistently receive the same experience with each call. 

4. Compliance

Scripts are essential tools when particular phrases matter the most. Scripts can guarantee that consumers receive a precise and accurate description of essential medical, legal, regulatory, safety/security, or compliance information.

5. Efficiency

Call flows and scripts also assist agents in presenting information in the most succinct and logical manner.

Employees across the business, from salesmen to customer service representatives, must gather on a regular basis to exchange concerns and potential solutions to customer service-related issues. 

Breaking down barriers across departments is a crucial component of consistency. You may also run online surveys and encourage consumers to offer feedback on their interactions with your company to understand what is most important to them. 

Once you have identified the major concerns, you can immediately address them. In addition, watch consumers’ social media channels for praise or discontent;  you will learn something from each of them.

How To Implement A Call Flow That Works

Call flow planning is one of the most time-consuming aspects of phone system setup and support. When you’re prepared to replace your old phone system with a new VoIP solution, think carefully about the best ways to deliver calls, because this is a critical part of the customer experience.

Customer Greetings

Because it is the first thing a client hears from a live person, the greeting is an important part of the conversation. Moreover, depending on the time of day the client is calling, they may have already had a long wait time and maybe frustrated. 

A warm and inviting greeting is a fantastic approach to put the consumer at ease and let them know they’re in good hands. This opening or greeting often includes thanking the caller for calling, introducing oneself, and asking how they can assist the caller.

Problem Definition

During this step of the call, the agent discovers why the consumer has called. This is also the point at which the call may go in a variety of directions, therefore it is important that the agent locates the proper driver. 

It’s critical that agents quickly identify the problem because many contact centers grade their agents based on how soon they can determine the driver of the call.

Figure Out Root Cause

When the driver has been identified, the agent is supposed to convey genuine sympathy to the caller: “I’m so sorry you’re experiencing this difficulty today; I’m going to do all I can to address this.” This has proven to be such a critical stage in the Call Flow, that agents who skip this step may earn a 0 on their call.

Decide How to Proceed

During the transition step of the Call Flow, the agent has established the cause for the call and will begin fixing the issue the client is experiencing.

This part of the call will change considerably based on the firm and industry, and there may be one or multiple tasks to complete. It can also take numerous various courses depending on the call’s driver.

Get a Resolution

When the problem has been fixed, the agent must provide the customer with a call summary. This contains a description of why the customer phoned, what the issue was, and how the agent addressed it. Finally, the agent will say something like, “Have I answered all of your questions today?” to ensure the customer’s pleasure.

Post-call survey

Post-call surveys are a common tool used by businesses to inquire about a caller’s contact or transaction with a customer care employee. 

The IVR post-call survey is a simple, low-cost method for gathering data that may be quite valuable.

It’s tough to convince consumers to start, let alone finish, surveys. Make them more inclined to begin the survey by saying how long it should take or specifying the number of questions at the beginning.

Before transferring callers, encourage them to stay on the line and complete a post-call survey, or follow up with a second call immediately afterward. If you wait too long, the customer is unlikely to remember the sort of service they received, lowering their motivation to interact and the usefulness of the data they provide.

Summary

When a Call Flow is poorly designed, it makes agents’ jobs much more difficult. Agents will feel self-conscious and lacking in confidence, making it difficult for them to perform to their maximum ability. Morale suffers when confidence and performance scores are poor, and centers will then have a greater turnover rate. 

When all of these aspects are considered together, the impact on the bottom line is considerable. You must also consider the impact on your customers. When agents are having difficulty, the client experience suffers dramatically. Customers may never get their problem fixed, may be unsatisfied with the service, and, in the worst-case situation, may go to a rival.

A good call flow, on the other hand, may turn a team of underperforming agents into top performers with satisfied clients. These call flows are straightforward, with fewer stages, a clear conclusion, and a response for every sort of call. 

A good call flow does not require workarounds, which means that the agent will not have to devise their own repeatable solution for certain sorts of calls. Finally, a proper call flow eliminates the need for agents to consult a team lead or supervisor to make judgment decisions for call circumstances that were not addressed in training.