Developing Customised Scripts for Virtual Receptionists
Hi Dear Readers
My insight for the week,
Rules are meant to be broken…. or are they?
Having a 17-year-old son, has its challenges, I must admit. However, having a 17-year-old son with the same sense of humour, attitude and outlook as me, now that is an absolute joy.
Over the years I have toned down and learnt to use my “filter” needless to say, he has not, and I can’t even get upset with him for saying things that I was thinking. We are very straight forward, so please never ask us if “your butt looks big in that dress” if you don’t want an honest straight answer.
We attended a prize giving celebration this weekend, it was awesome as our team had won the final and are the top dogs at the moment. I just loved all the trophies and shiny gold medals.
What do I love more than shiny new things, food of course. Now unbeknown to us, the owner’s wife had painstakingly prepared all the snacks for the celebration ceremony. They were all dry and all tasted of curry. Which some may love, but neither my taste buds nor stomach approved. And as we are very similar neither did my son’s.
The wonderful owner of our indoor cricket venue came to have a chit chat, unfortunately his opening line was “what do you think of the wonderful spread of snacks?” Before I could kick my son in the shin to give him the signal to be tactful with his response, he blurted out. “Well, if you like eating curry flavoured cardboard”
It was at this moment that I wished I was an ostrich and I could just pop my head into the ground. But alas no, I am not an ostrich and I had to look on as he went over to the snack table and tried a snack, spat it out into a serviette and go speak to his wife.
We left soon after, and what kind of mother would I be if I didn’t give him the good old “use your filter” speech while holding back my laugh.
I am a brilliant receptionist, and I love working for Turnkey Receptionists.
Having a broken “filter” has gotten me into numerous situations over the years, so I am grateful for a script, but what makes a good script?
Are you looking at hiring a virtual receptionist for the first time and you’re wondering, how can I control what they say? The answer is a call script – questions and responses for your virtual receptionists to follow when they speak to your callers.
We have learned a lot about what makes a successful flow. This guide will help you plan your own scripts, whether you’re working with a virtual receptionist like Turnkey Receptionists, or helping your in-house receptionists ensure a consistent phone experience.
What is a call script?
A call script is the guide that tells your receptionists what to say when they answer your calls. It is sometimes called a call flow. It’s how Turnkey Receptionists matches your business’s tone and terminology. In short, it’s how we sound like you.
At Turnkey Receptionists, we are often told by clients that their customers think we are their in-house receptionists. This is only possible because we work hard to develop great call scripts with each and every client.
Why is it important?
A call script is your first impression. A good call script helps your callers to understand your firm and what they can expect from working with you. You will receive a lot of calls from people who are stressed, upset, or pressed for time. By asking the right questions, you’ll give them confidence in your practice and leave them feeling more positive than before.
A call script also helps you get the best from your receptionists. With all the information they need at their fingertips, they can focus on the customer and their needs.
How do we use them at Turnkey Receptionists?
During setup, we spend a long time working with our clients to make sure their call flows work well for both their practice and our receptionists.
We have some template scripts which create a strong base for you to edit, add branding, and include specific questions for your practice area. Our client account managers are experienced in optimizing scripts and they know what has worked for previous clients to help guide you through the process.
What qualities does a great call script have?
- A simple flow – Don’t provide too many options as this will get overwhelming for your leads. Identify the top 3-4 reasons that your customers will call you, ensuring that one of your options is a general catch-all that allows you to take a message when a caller doesn’t fit your main scenarios.
- Natural phrases – Some people find calling a lawyers’ office for example intimidating and the best way to combat these nerves is with warmth and approachability. Our receptionists are experts at putting callers at ease, but the script needs to support them by keeping the questions and pacing as natural as possible. If you’re not sure whether it is easy to follow or not, read your script out loud to test its flow.
“May I take your phone number before I transfer you over?”
- Detailed information – You’ll often receive calls from people asking for email addresses, your office address, or your opening hours. By adding detailed and up-to-date information about your firm, our receptionists can answer these questions immediately. The more information your receptionists have available when they take a call, the better they can represent your firm.
“Our office is located at 1 Example Avenue, Portland, Oregon and we are open from 8:30-5:30, Monday to Friday.”
- Transparent and trustworthy – When a lead calls, you’ll want to get as much information from them as possible, but some people will be hesitant to provide lots of personal data. That’s why it helps to include the reasoning behind each question, so that our receptionists can make callers feel secure.
“May I ask what the call is regarding so …… can be prepared?”
- Next steps – A successful call should leave the caller feeling relieved and confident that they have support on their issue. By providing them some next steps, you can reduce the chance that they’ll reach out to other firms.
“I will give your details to the person asked for, they will reach out for more information or to arrange a consultation.”
Beyond new client intake
Your call script should be flexible, beyond being ideal for intake. A office will get lots of different types of callers. Your call flow should be able to make each one feel understood and avoid unnecessary repetition for contacts you already have in the system.
This is where decision trees are so effective. A current client will not want to have their contact information taken again every single time they call. Each type of caller requires different questions, and you can specify these in your call flow.
It is always good practice to add an ‘other’ option for opportunities and contacts who may not fit within your usual template. This will often involve just taking a message to review.
Time-of-day scripting
It helps to have multiple scripts for different times of day, as the actions you’d want a receptionist to take during work hours are completely different to those for after-hours.
In your daytime script, you might want to enable call transfers for verified callers. This lets the receptionist know to pass them straight to an available person, speeding up the call for a better experience.
We would recommend only making call transfer options available during your working hours. While clients may hope to reach you in the evenings, it’s important to be able to truly switch off. If you’re expecting an urgent call out-of-hours, you can always check your messages in real-time with our mobile app and call them back.
Out of hours, the best practice is to keep your scripts short and to the point. You’ll want your receptionists to take a message with enough detail for you to follow up when you are next in the office, without keeping the caller on the phone for long.
Top tips
- Take the time to listen to a recording of your script in use. Are there any questions that confuse the caller, or anything the receptionist must repeat? This will help you streamline your flow in the future.
- Remember that your customers may not describe their case using the correct terminology.
- Scripts shouldn’t be static! As your firm grows, your scripts should grow with you. You can edit your scripts at any time, and we would recommend looking over them every month or two to make sure they still reflect your customers’ most asked questions.
The Turnkey Receptionists team are experts in creating and refining custom scripts that work for your firm.
Contact Turnkey Receptionists to learn how we can assist you develop your call script.
From my desk to yours, till next time
Your slightly dishevelled but much-loved Receptionist.
