Calls

Providing outstanding customer service while taking calls is the most important part of your role as a Customer Service Agent. It is critical that you become familiar with the proper scripts, understand the call flow, and know how to deal with difficult callers. Review and follow the resources below to further your competence and strengthen your customer service.

Updated Contact Center Call Flow (072121)

Making Outbound calls (created by Bri Edwards)

Transferring Calls (created by Bri Edwards)

Call Flow Checklist (created by Bri Edwards)

At-Risk Callers:

Handling Difficult Phone Calls

RS Solutions At-Risk Statement

SC DEW Procedure for At-Risk Callers

SCRIPTS:

Greeting:

Thank you for calling the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce my name is _______. Thank you for holding. Could you please provide a good contact number in case we get disconnected? Thank you for providing that. To better assist you, may I please have your Claimant ID? (if they do not know or have their CID ask for their SSN). Thank you!

Gracias por llamar al Departamento de Empleo y Fuerza de Trabajo mi nombre es______. Gracias por su espera. ¿Podría usted darme un buen número donde lo/la pueda llamar en caso de que nos descolgamos? Gracias por dármelo. Para poder asistirlo mejor, ¿podría darme el número de identidad de su reclamo? (si no tienen o no sabe el número de identidad pregunte por el número de seguro social o número de alien).

Concluding a call script:

Have you had the opportunity to visit the SC Works site, www.scworks.org? On that site you can register and view the latest job openings, get assistance with resume writing, interview preparation, and skills training. Please take advantage of these benefits at your convenience. Thank You for calling South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce. Have a great day.

Leaving a voicemail

Good morning/afternoon. My name is _____ from the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce. I’m sorry we missed you. Please give us a call back at 866-831-1724 at your convenience.

Buenos Días/Tardes. Mi nombre es_________ con el Departamento de Empleo y Fuerza de Trabajo. Estoy devolviendo su llamada. Siento mucho que perdimos su llamada. Por favor devuélvanos la llamada al número 866-831-1724 a su conveniencia.

Lexis Nexis Hold - Upload DL again after already submitted script:

We need you to send in another copy of your DL for security purposes.

Being held hostage on a call or going in circles on the call:

1. "At this time I have answered the questions you have asked, if there is no further questions not relating to what we have discussed thank you for calling,...(closing script)."

2. Pause a few seconds and allow the claimant to speak

a. If the claimant asks a different question not related to the topic discussed assist the claimant.

a. If the claimant continues with the same topic, let the claimant know at this time you will have to disconnect the call due to answering all of the questions asked,...(closing).

Instead of saying 'I don't know' try one of these:

1. You do not have the answer but you know it is coming in the future (will be asked on a partner call, etc.)

a. "I do not have the exact date for you right now" or "We have been made aware of this"

b. We will have more information by the end of the week. I will call you on (date) what time works for you?

2. You do not have the answer but you know someone else that may be able to help.

a. “I’m not familiar with that topic.”

b. “But I do know someone that may know more about it.”

c. “May I place you on a brief hold to reach out to her/him for clarification?”

3. You do not know the answer and no one else does either so you are left to guess. Ex: “Why is it taking so long for the claim to process? I filed the fraud survey 3 months ago!”

a. “I'm not quite sure why it is taking this long.”

b. "Based on what I know,..." or "Here's what I do know,..."

c. Ex: "Based on what I know, we are behind on claims at this time and are working diligently to get caught up."

4. You are asked a broad question that you have no idea what the answer could even be.

a. Reframe the question

i. Ex: “If I understand correct, you would like to know if the federal benefits will return based upon what you are seeing in the news?”

b. Then continue with your answer.

i. Ex: “At this time we do not have any information stating it will return.”

When we are not able to do something you can use these scripts below:

1. Claimant is wanting you to look at their documents and release the hold.

(this also can work for when they want us to adjudicate issues on the claim that is pending for months)

a. As much as I like to assist you with anything you need to resolve this issue, I am not able to process your claim. What I can do is send it up for further review.

2. Claimant is wanting to be transferred to someone that can.

a. I would like to transfer you but that department is not set up to handle inbound calls so there is no number to transfer you to. I have sent up a case for you and they will work on it in the order it is received.

3. For appeals that were denied and the claimant strongly feels the employer lied

a. I hear what you are saying, but we have to go based upon the documentation that is provided to us from both parties. If you disagree with the documentation provided by your employer you would need to reach out to them or you can file another appeal.

De-escalate:

The claimant is using vulgar language and/or 'attacking you' verbally, politely give him/her a warning.

"Sir/Ma'am, I understand you are upset, but if you continue to yell and swear, I will have to end the conversation. It is up to you whether you would like to continue." the claimant responds with, "I'd like you to get me damned payments sent out, I have been waiting 3 d*** months!" you respond with, "I will certainly try to help you with this, but I need your promise that you will not yell or swear at me. Is that alright?"

Using this verbiage with the claimant you begin with an empathy statement to soften the impact of setting limits later. The limits you set are specific and clear, sending, the message that if the customer swears or yells, she will terminate the phone call. It is important when setting limits to be as specific as possible and avoid general comments like, "If you don't calm down,..." or "If you aren't prepared to be civil..." When you use the statement "It is up to you whether you would like to continue." We are sending the message that the claimant is in control of whether the conversation continues and that this is their choice. With the statement, you are also reassuring you will indeed help, provided the claimant stops yelling and swearing, and you complete the limit setting process by using the broken record technique to encourage the customer to make a specific commitment to stop the destructive behavior. By following the repetition with a question - "Is that alright?" You use the question to reinforce the idea that you are interested in the agreement of the customer and that you can work together.

If the claimant still continues to swear and yell, then let the customer know you are ending the call and he/she is welcome to call back at some other time. Disconnect the call.

SUPERVISOR REQUESTS

If they still persist on wanting to speak to a supervisor and say they have spoken to other people and they are getting different information each time and need to know what is really going on or need to speak to someone that has a better understanding first start off by acknowledging their issue:

"I can understand how frustrating and even confusing that can be! May I have your SSN or CID so I can pull up your account and see if we can get some clarity to the issues that have caused the confusion?"

Please, I cannot stress this enough to avoid using filler words like "hmmm", "umm", "let's see", or "okay". Instead, if you are not sure. Tell the claimant the truth. It is alright to tell them "I do not know.", "Let me look further into this for you." or "I see this issue, or you filed this and I see,...I am not sure,...would you mind if I placed you on a brief hold? I want to reach out to me lead and get more clarity."

I assure you the claimant will be ecstatic you are reaching out to get further assistance to assist them instead of just telling them anything to get them off the phone. And believe me, they know!

Supervisor Calls Scripts (if after trying the scripts above they still request a Supervisor):

I do not have the ability to transfer the call but I can message my supervisor with your claimant number and best contact number for a call back. You can expect a call back within 24 -72 hours.

May I get the best contact number for you?

The agent needs to comply with the claimants request whether the supervisor will give the same answer or not. If your agents are not complying with this standard process it should be considered a zero tolerance issue

Remember to show empathy to our claimants. I know how frustrating it can be sometimes especially when they are calling you every name in the book but your own. But put yourself in their shoes. They do not know how they are going to pay their bills, or where their next meal may come from even. How would you feel if you were in their predicament? Empathy can go along way, even if there seems nothing can be done. Just knowing that someone cares will mean the world to the claimant.