MODULE 3

THE CALL FLOW

The Call Flow

Why do we need a call flow?
It provides a structured guide to the
consultants for dealing with customers.
Amongst many things, a call flow does the
following:
Introduces the consultant to the customer.
Allows the consultant to ask for the customers
information.

The Call Flow

Why do we need a call flow?
Helps the consultant identify the issue through
effective probing.
Helps the consultant resolve the customers issue
directly or by referring to another department.
Summarizes the issue and resolution to minimize
callbacks.

Basic Bigpond Call flow

Opening Spiel
Hi, my name is ________. How may I help you?
Authentication (Level 1)
No worries, I can help you with that. Before I continue, Ill
need to open your account. Can I have your ______?
Get the customers username (Cable/Wireless) or phone
number (ADSL) .
Get the full name of the caller.
Can I have your name, please?

Basic Bigpond Call flow

Confirm the Issue
Probe for more details on the issue. If the customer
is not familiar, follow the troubleshooting steps in
RightNow.

Resolve the Issue

Identify the extent of troubleshooting and proper
resolution (support boundaries).
Test resolution (bigpond.com)

Basic Bigpond Call flow

Close the Call
So you can now get to bigpond.com? What about
another website? Thats great! Is there anything else
that youd like help with? Youre welcome, I was
happy to help. Have a great day (name)!
Is your email working now? It looks like weve fixed
it then. Can I help you with anything else?. No
worries at all. Thank you (name) and have a good
evening.

Opening Spiel
Objectives:
Focus on the customer and engage in active
listening.
Avoid multi-tasking during the customers
initial description of the issue (first 10
seconds).
A positive opening voice is important as the
customer will make a judgment in the first 15
seconds.

Opening Spiel
Objectives:
The greeting should occur within the first 5
seconds of the call.
You may ask for clarification, but do not start
probing yet!
Proceed to giving a willingness to help
statement (empathy).

Authentication
Objectives:
Put customers at ease; assurance that you can assist
No worries, I can help you with that
Dont worry, Ill have a look at your account here

Set the customers expectations/Prepare the

customer for account information and probing
To continue, Ill need to open your account. Can I have
your ______?
Let me check the call notes left by the previous
consultant. May I have your _______?

Examples of Positive Transitions

Thank you for that information; let me take care of this.

I'm glad that you called because I can help.
Don't worry; I'll get this fixed.
Here is what I will do for you.
I would be frustrated too; I'm going to handle this for you.
Let me assure you that I will help you.
Absolutely, What I'm going to do...
I'm sorry for the confusion let me help you.
Great; lets get started right away.
How confusing! Well don't worry I know what we can do.
Dont worry its our job to take care of things of like this.
I know what to do with this.
I have the tools and resources to handle this.
Rest assured Im going to resolve this issue before the end of the call.
Certainly I can help you with that; I have the resources to help you right away.
I have handled issues like this before so I know I can help you.
I assure you; you are calling the right person regarding this issue.

Remember:
Saying " Let me help you with that " is not a
reassurance statement. Let us use a
personalized reassurance statement so that
customer would feel that we are listening
and we are eager to resolve issue the best
way we could.
Let me help you with your internet
connection. ( be specific )

Addressing the Customer

Thank the customer and address appropriately.
By default, address the customer by their first name.
Thank you for the information, ______. ( do not overuse)

Only use the customers name exactly 3 times

DO NOT ask if its ok to call the customer by their
first name. WHY?
How would you respond if the customer answered:
No. I prefer to be called Mr. Venkataramana.
-- or -Yes I do mind. Please call me Ms. Davis.

Authentication
When not speaking to the Account Holder:
Account Name:
May I please have the name on the account?
Under whose name is this account?

Callers Name:
And who am I speaking with today?
May I have your first and last name please?

Activity
If youre unable to pull up the account with
the supplied information, how would you
address this to the customer?
What other piece of information can you ask
for?
How would you ask for each one?

Activity
I apologize for this ( customers name ), but I seem
to have difficulty looking up your account. Ill need
more information so we can start troubleshooting.
Lets try something else okay?
Can you please
verify the spelling of your username?
provide me with your phone number including
the area code?
take a look at the bottom of your modem and
read to me the series of numbers labeled as

Confirm the Issue

Objectives:
To be proactive in the use of effective probing
questions (general to specific) to allow the caller to
further describe the nature of the issue at hand
To ensure the caller was able to follow and
understand the consultants manner of probing

Probing
Probing is drilling down for more information to help
in exploring the possible causes of the problem and
to provide a starting point for diagnosing and
resolving the issue.

Probing and paraphrasing gives the customer the

impression that you know what youre doing & you
understand what the customer is saying.

Probing
CLOSE-ENDED vs OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS
Close-ended questions are answerable by yes or no
Open-ended questions cannot be answered with a
specific piece of information such as yes or no;
usually begin with how, what, where, when & why
Depending on the information you need, you will
need to know how to ask both kinds of questions.

LETS PLAY DETECTIVE!

Activity
Rules:
You are a detective assigned to solve a case.
You will be given hints to solve the case.
Each of you will be given a chance to ask 1 closeended question.
When everyone has asked their question, you will
now be allowed to ask 1 open-ended question.
When all your questions have been asked, you can
now start guessing the answer.

GAME???

Activity

A woman was found dead and naked on a

beach holding a small stick the size of a
match stick on her right hand.

Activity
HINT # 1:
According to the Forensic Examiner, the woman was
not raped but alcohol was found in her system.
There were no scratches or wounds on her body.

Activity
HINT # 1:
According to the Forensic Examiner, the woman was
not raped but alcohol was found in her system.
There were no scratches or wounds on her body.
HINT # 2:
The beach is in an area where no car can pass.

Activity
HINT # 1:
According to the Forensic Examiner, the woman was
not raped but alcohol was found in her system.
There were no scratches or wounds on her body.
HINT # 2:
The beach is in an area where no car can pass.
HINT # 3:
It was stormy the night before.

Activity
HINT # 1:
According to the Forensic Examiner, the woman was
not raped but alcohol was found in her system.
There were no scratches or wounds on her body.
HINT # 2:
The beach is in an area where no car can pass.
HINT # 3:
It was stormy the night before.
HINT # 4:
Not a piece of her clothes was found lying in the area
or any other thing.

Activity
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WOMAN?
HOW DID SHE GET THERE?
WHY WAS SHE NAKED?

Activity

YOU MAY START ASKING QUESTIONS

NOW.

Activity

YOU MAY START ASKING QUESTIONS

NOW.

One night there was a party. 5 girls decided to

go hot air ballooning. They were up and in the
middle of the ocean when the tragedy took
place. It began to get really windy then the
storm came in. Their burner stopped working
and they were going to crash so they they had
to make the balloon lighter. They threw the
sandbags but they were still going down. They
took off their clothes (these are gowns &
heavy party dresses) and threw it away. But
they were still going down and getting closer
to the ocean.

Activity
They decided to rip 5 sticks out of the wicker
basket and each person would get one. The
one with the shortest stick would jump off the
balloon. This would make them lighter and
that person would try to get to shore to get
help. The victim unfortunately was the one
who got the shortest stick. She jumped off
and tried to swim to land. Due to the storm,
however; the waves were really strong so she
drowned
and got washed to shore.

Probing
PARAPHRASING THE PROBLEM STATEMENT
Make sure you understand correctly what the
customer is talking about.
Avoid making assumptions verify.
DO NOT parrot what the customer said.
Reiterate key words, error messages and computer
activities.
Get the customer to give you more information about
whats happening.
Ask points for clarification.

Probing
PARAPHRASING THE PROBLEM STATEMENT
Let me see if I got you right. You mentioned that

Let me see if I understand you correctly

As you mentioned earlier
Just to verify, you said that

Activity
Paraphrase the following customer problem
statements:
I havent been able to access the Internet
since this morning.
My Internet is not working and all I get is
Page Cannot be Displayed.
take a look at the bottom of your modem
and read to me the series of numbers
labeled as

Activity
I seem to be having difficulty accessing my
email. I cannot send messages nor receive
any.
Your service has not been working for me
since your technician came out here and set
this up.
Your internet seems to be down. I cant
get online.

Probing
ASKING FOR ERROR MESSAGES
Error messages help you determine connectivity,
browser, email and PC issues as well as the
appropriate troubleshooting steps to resolve them.
Page cannot be displayed; Internet Explorer cannot display
the webpage
HTTP 404: Forbidden
Working Offline; Dialup window keeps coming up
The connection to the server has failed
Your username/password is incorrect or incomplete.

Probing
ASKING FOR ERROR MESSAGES
How do you ask if theres an error message?
Did you get an error message that says Page Cannot be
Displayed?
Did a window with an error message show up on the
screen?
Can you please try going to bigpond.com and see what
happens?
Please click on the Send/Receive button and tell me if an
error comes up.

Probing
WHAT DO YOU PROBE FOR?
When the problem started
If any changes were made to the system
What version of Windows is being used
What modem is the customer using
If the customer tried troubleshooting

Probing
Probing Questions for When the Problem Started:
Since when have you been experiencing this issue?
(Avoid using the word problem)
Is this the first time youre encountering this issue?
How long has this been going on?
These can help you determine if the customers problem has
been recurring or is a persistent issue that has been resolved
before.

Probing
Probing Questions for Changes Made to the System
Were there any changes made to the computer?
Have you recently changed or upgraded your
system?
At the time the connection stopped working, were
there any changes made to your setup?
Do not use words such as Did you & Have you so as not to
imply that we are blaming the customer.

Probing
Probing Questions for Version of Windows
What version of Windows are you using?
Do you have a Start button or a round button with a
Windows logo on the bottom left corner of your
screen?
Are you using Windows XP or Windows Vista?
Do not use jargon such as Operating System. We only
support Windows and walk the customer through finding out
if they dont know the version.

Probing
Probing Questions for Modem Type
What is the color of your modem?
Does your modem have an antenna on it?
Was your modem supplied by Bigpond?
What is the brand (Netgear, 2wire, Motorola, etc) of
your modem?
You will be trained for the different modems that we support
so you can tell the customer what to look for to help identify
the modem they have.

Probing
Probing Questions for Troubleshooting Done by the
Customer
Have you tried restarting your modem/computer?
Did you try unplugging your modem?
Have you pressed the reset button on the unit?
Have you used a different cable?
We dont always need to tell the customer what to do as they
may have already performed some of the basic
troubleshooting steps.

The Exploring Process

Exploring with the customer during a call is the only
way to determine the correct solution for the
customer, resulting in a one and done call and
leaving the customer feeling valued and satisfied.

Proper Hold Procedure

Bigpond Guidelines for Hold Procedure
All holds are deemed valid when the need is
necessary
Hold time is no longer than 90 seconds
Consultants are required to return to the caller
before the end of 90 seconds
Use the hold button rather than mute when putting
the customer on hold

Proper Hold Procedure

The Consultant needs to perform the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Ask the caller if it is OK for them to be placed on hold.

Inform the caller the reason for the hold.
Inform the caller on the estimated hold time (about 2
minutes).
Return to the caller prior to the estimated hold time.
Thank the caller for his/her patience, and for the hold.
If another hold is necessary, repeat the steps.

Proper Hold Procedure

AVOID the following statements:

Hold on
Wait a second
Can I put you on hold to finish my notes?
Please hold
For a while

Proper Hold Procedure

(Customers name), is it ok if I put you on hold for
about two minutes? I just need to run a line test to
see if your modem is connected to our network.
Thank you.
( Cusomers name ), Ill be putting you on hold so I
can look further into this issue. It will just take me
about 2 minutes. Is that alright with you?
When getting back to the customer: Thank you for
staying on the line./Thank you for your patience.

Avoiding Dead Air

What is Dead Air?
A period of unexplained, awkward silence where
the caller is waiting for you to say or do something
Marked down if its more than 10 seconds

Guidelines
Educate the customer (explain jargon, explain the
troubleshooting steps)
Be transparent loop the customer into what
youre doing

Youre not just buying yourself time, you also sound

more knowledgeable (CSAT)

Avoiding Dead Air

Small Talk

How they are

Holidays
How long theyve had their BP service

Avoid

Religion
Politics
Finances

Avoiding Dead Air

While checking information from your tools:

Im just going to run a line test to check the connection of your

modem to the networkI see that the modem is offlineCan you
tell me what the lights on the modem are doing?

Let me just check what settings well need so we can configure

your Outlook Express to receive Bigpond email

Im just checking if we have any service disruptions in your

areaSo far we dont seem to have any outages in your
locationlets try doing some basic troubleshooting steps

Avoiding Dead Air

Be transparent in what youre doing. Customers appreciate

that you are actually doing something to look into the issue
and not just guessing, like when youre just quiet and then
suddenly come up with a vague conclusion as to the cause
of the problem.

Building rapport shows that you can actually carry on a

conversation besides the technical aspect, that youre
human just like the customer.

Avoid using the names of the tools like RightNow,

Moby, etc. They dont know what they are and they dont
need to know. These are considered jargon if you use them,
plus theyre proprietary information to Telstra.

Resolve the Issue

Objectives:
Could any further actions have been completed to
resolve the customers enquiry to prevent the
customer calling back unnecessarily?
Locate and utilize the correct information from RightNow
and all other resources available.
Remember to stick to the support boundaries and refrain
from offering personal opinion as a solution.

Troubleshooting
Wikipedia defines troubleshooting as A form of
problem solving most often applied to repair
of failed products or processes. It is a logical,
systematic search for the source of a problem
so that it can be solved, and so the product or
process can be made operational again.

Source: http://wikipedia.org

Troubleshooting
Elements:
Giving a general plan of action
Simplifying and educating on technical aspects and
instructions
Giving detailed and accurate instructions

This will help you:

Set the customers expectations
Empower the customer through education
Minimize AHT by avoiding repetition

Troubleshooting

General Plan of Action:

What you want to accomplish
What to expect
What the succeeding steps are

Example:
To get us started, we will firstand then
The first thing we need to look into isthen well
move on to
At this point, we need to checkthen we can

Troubleshooting
Simplify and Educate:

Avoid jargon
Plan of action
Troubleshooting steps
Customer enquiry
Empowering the customer -- educate

Example:
Can you check the lights on your modem and tell me which are
steady, blinking, or off? The lights of the modem will tell us
the status of the connection. If the online light is steady, it
means that your modem is getting a good signal from the
Bigpond Network.

Troubleshooting
Giving Instructions:

Accurate and detailed

Simple
Low Context
Minimize repetition, reduce AHT

Example:
Please go ahead and powercycle the modem.
versus
We need to restart your modem. You can unplug it from the
power point or from the back of the modem and make sure all
the lights go off. Please wait for 10 seconds then plug it back
in. This will allow us to refresh the modems connection.

Activity
Form groups and come up with
troubleshooting steps for the issue to be
given.
Your statements must have the
troubleshooting elements:
Plan of Action
Giving Instructions
Simplify & Educate

You will be given 10 minutes to plan and 3

minutes to discuss.

Activity
SCENARIO:
Customer cannot browse
Customer is using Windows XP
Windows XP Firewall may be enabled but customer does not
know how to disable it if its on
RightNow tells you to disable the Firewall

PURPOSE:
The FW could be interfering with the connection
This needs to be disabled temporarily for testing purposes
After disabling, the customer needs to test browsing by going
to www.bigpond.com

Activity
STEPS FOR DISABLING THE FIREWALL:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Click Start Control Panel

Click on Classic View
Double-click Windows Firewall
If it is set to on, select Off. Click OK.
Close Control Panel

TEST BROWSING:
1.
2.
3.

Open Internet Explorer

Type www.bigpond.com on the address bar
Confirm if it works

Resolve the Issue

Objectives:
Refrain from unnecessary transfers!
Repeat calls are a driver for customer dissatisfaction, so it
is very high on the Telstra Clients priority list to ensure
that you do everything you can possibly do on the call to
prevent the need for the caller to phone again!

When there is solution identified on the call, the

Consultant must provide a complete and accurate
description/instruction on the next step to be carried
out by the caller.

Close the Call

Objectives:
The closing should be short and natural
Confirm the customers problem is solved.

Steps:
1. If it is not very obvious, confirm the
customers problem has been resolved.
2. Ask the customer if they have any further
questions.

Close the Call

Steps:
3. Express satisfaction that you were able to
help the customer.
4. Wish the customer a good
day/afternoon/evening.
5. Say goodbye or bye if applicable. Do NOT
thank the customer for calling Bigpond.
6. End call/Transfer.