Over-preparing to call

W10

D2 — Coaching

Bring the Right MoodPrimary: Q1 — Request: Be CuriousLeaves Q1 early

This session creates the space for your coachee to see how they can connect more effectively with their customers. Your role is to help them observe what is happening — not to tell them what to change.

1. Diagnosis

Agent is going into a call overprepared and is not listening to the customer.

2. Behaviour Observations

What you might see or hear that points to this pattern.

The agent is asking questions that sound prompted by previous company internal conversations.
The agent is jumping to solutions on a first call before the customer has spoken.
The agent is not listening to the customer when their proposed solution is being interrupted.

3. Session Objective

Even when customers write in with their complaint or issue, they will often put a different emphasis or add new information when asked to speak. If an agent does too much research before making the call, they can close off their listening or build a prejudice about the customer. We want the agent to call more quickly with less information — so they listen more closely.

4. Session Tactics

How to prepare for and structure the 45-minute call review.

Find a call where the agent is making their FIRST outbound call to the customer. Discuss what they did before the call — find out what conversations they had with other staff about this customer. Discuss what they discovered before the call and why they believed it was important. Listen to the call — listen for the point at which the customer interrupts to explain what their issue is. Ask the agent why that is happening.

5. GROW Experiments

Experiments the coachee might choose to try. These are offers, not prescriptions — the coachee selects what feels right for them.

Experiment 1

Make the first outbound call after a very short preparation time — enough to understand the customer's name and have some familiarity with their letter/email; 4 or 5 minutes is enough.

Experiment 2

Re-imagine the customer positively before making the call. If the agent has heard negative stories, what can they do to clear their mind to listen with empathy?

Experiment 3

Streamline the call preparation process by removing any elements that take significant effort or have a risk of having to wait for information before making the call.

Behaviour Tags

Doesn't listen to customer's storyOver-prepares and doesn't adapt