Six tips for call center agents to deal with emotional callers

Anger is not the only emotion which Call Center Agents have to face. You might have trained your Agents to handle aggressive irate callers, but what about the callers in a different emotional state.

If a Call Center in India has insurance process, then it will receive calls from people who have experienced a tragedy like a death, or an accident, and are claiming insurance. If a Call Center has a medical process, then it will receive calls by people who might be suffering themselves or whose close ones are critical. There can be, and have been instances when callers cry over the phone. Given below are some easy tips for Agents to handle emotional outbursts by callers:

1. Be composed – When the caller is talking in an animated manner, you also might be tempted to also respond similarly. The tone of your voice is prone to change according to that of the caller. But you have to make an effort to not get disturbed and stay calm.

2. Empathize – There is a slight difference in sympathizing and empathizing. You don’t have to pity your callers or express sorrow. You just have to acknowledge their feelings and give them a patient hearing. You may frequently use the phrase ‘yes, I understand’.

3. Do not ask unnecessary details – A person who is so sad might have a tendency to narrate their story. This can make them even more emotional. You must not engage them in questions which are not relevant. You must not go beyond procuring of the necessary information.

4. Don’t promise more than you can do – We have a tendency to console by saying the phrase ‘Everything will be alight’. But you should never even falsely say that you will make everything alright. Simply because you can’t. A better phrase to use is ‘I’ll do my best. I will see what can be done’

5. Be prompt in action – The only thing that you can do to really help an aggrieved caller is, address their grievance. So make sure that you do their work without any delay. This is the best way to bring a smile to their face.

6. Be patient in explaining – As the caller is emotionally stressed so their grasping power is affected. You might have to explain repeatedly, and in really simple words, to the customer. If you are an agent in an offshore technical support services, then you have to especially be very patient as technical issues are the most difficult to comprehend.

Call Centers in India are adept at handling various operations and offer various services like offshore inbound phone answering services, chat support Services, etc. But the mastery over this soft skill of dealing with emotional callers is what sets them apart!