FirstLineCoach
Making better promises
D2 — Coaching1. Diagnosis
Agent is not making effective promises to the customer and the customer is continually looking for clarification.
2. Behaviour Observations
What you might see or hear that points to this pattern.
- Agent only asks questions about their own objectives, not about the customer's requests or story.
- Agent is offering solutions very early in the call — before customer has outlined the problem.
- Customer is interrupting more than average.
3. Session Objective
Sometimes an agent can be so focussed on getting the call completed that they fail to take time to listen to the customer's concern. Another reason for not listening can be fear of lack of knowledge. This session is about helping the agent stay in Q1 until they can articulate the customer's concerns and giving them confidence to do this.
4. Session Tactics
How to prepare for and structure the 45-minute call review.
Firstly establish the reason for not getting to the detail: is it fear of being found out (lack of knowledge) or desire to get through a lot of calls. Fear: play a call where the agent is stuck, discuss options to move forward. Call pressure: discuss why, and identify the number of times the customer jumps back to Q1 — this is wasted time because the agent did not listen well at the beginning.
5. GROW Experiments
Experiments the coachee might choose to try. These are offers, not prescriptions — the coachee selects what feels right for them.
Use micro-reflections: stop the customer as they describe their problem to clarify some aspect of their story. Start with small aspects to get used to doing this.
Reflect the full customer concern before moving on to take any action.
For experienced agents: clarify up to 3 times with a complex story. Customer is likely to elaborate each time — each will get more deeply into the problem.