Diagnosis

The agent launches into a prepared explanation before fully answering the customer's prior question, losing the customer's willingness to listen.

Session objective

The objective of the session is to help the agent understand that a customer will not receive a prepared explanation until their own outstanding question has been answered first. Help the agent see that giving explanations in smaller chunks, with deliberate checks for understanding, keeps the customer engaged. This session is also about helping the agent take ownership of any confusion by framing unclear explanations as the agent's responsibility rather than the customer's failure to follow.

Session tactics

Play the call up to the point where the customer responds to the agent's question by raising a completely different concern. Pause the recording and ask the agent why they think the customer has gone back to a separate issue instead of engaging with what was just said. When the agent has reflected on that, discuss the principle that a customer will not give permission to move forward until their own question is answered first. Point out that the person handling any follow-up call will be carrying the customer's original concern, so the agent should be prepared to address that concern before moving to the core explanation. Discuss two specific techniques for giving complex explanations: breaking the explanation into smaller pieces and checking understanding after each piece, and framing any check-for-understanding in a way that places responsibility for clarity on the agent rather than the customer. When the agent is cautious about exposing vulnerability, acknowledge that this is difficult and work with them on how to frame it naturally.

Behaviour observations

• The agent delivers a prepared explanation without first fully answering a separate question the customer has raised.
• When checking whether the customer has understood, the agent uses phrasing that can imply the customer is responsible for not following the explanation.
• The agent moves on before confirming the customer's initial concern has been resolved, resulting in the customer disengaging and requesting someone else.

Experiments

• The agent will identify the customer's outstanding question at the start of any complex explanation call and answer it fully before moving to their prepared explanation.
• The agent will break complex explanations into smaller sections and check for understanding after each section, framing any check by saying something like 'it took me a while to work this out myself, so please stop me if I'm not explaining it well.'