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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION -o0o PHAM THI HAI YEN Communication skills of call center agents with customers Major: Psychology Code: 9.31.04.01 DOCTOR THESIS SUMMARY OF PSYCHOLOGY HANOI - 2020 The project is completed at: DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL EDUCATION – HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION Instructor: Associate Professor Dr Nguyen Thi Hue Reviewer 1: Professor Dr TRAN THI MINH DUC University Of Social Sciences And Humanities Reviewer 2: Associate Professor Dr NGUYEN THI MAI LAN Vietnam Academmy Of Social Sciences Reviewer 3: Associate Professor Dr PHAN TRONG NGO Hanoi National University of Education The thesis will be put before the Board to protect thesis of University Meeting at the Hanoi National University of Education at on / /2020 It is possible to refer the thesis at the library: National library, Hanoi or library of Hanoi National University of Education INTRODUCTION The urgency of the topic Communication and interpersonal skills are one of the many areas that are deeply studied by scientists because of their theoretical and practical meanings Along with activities, communication plays an important role in the formation and development of personality of the individual To communicate effectively, each individual needs communication skills in each specific activity With the strong development of the digital era, besides traditional forms of face-to-face communication, telephone communication is a popular form thanks to its convenience and flexibility With communication channels with customers via telephone, call center agents are an important connection between businesses and customers Through the communication process, call center agents can accurately identify the needs of customers, answer questions and complaints, support necessary information for customers, proceed to provide more value-added services in accordance with the needs of customers In the field of telecommunications, customer support via phone is a convenient, quick, easy and cost-effective tool Vietnam is now ranked as a "prospective country in the field of telephone support in the future" However, the level of customer satisfaction with the support of call center agents has not reached expectations According to ICMI's 2018 report, "the level of expectation of businesses is to create satisfaction of 85% of customers calling, but in fact, this number is 70.3%." In Vietnam, "the percentage of customers who are successfully supported at the first call of Viettel operator in 2018 is 90 - 95%" One of the factors affecting the quality of customer service via phone is that the communication skills of the call center agents have not met the job requirements Call center agents, when communicating with customers, have expressions such as: raising their voice, not listening, explaining in words that are still difficult to understand, even arguing with customers Ineffective communication with customers combined with call pressure causes frustration at work, the rate of resignation at the switchboards is relatively high, up to 30-40% So how to help call center agents communicate effectively, reduce the pressure, create customer’s satisfaction? This is a matter of practical and theoretical significance at present in the context in Vietnam, no author has studied this form of indirect communication Therefore, the topic: "Communication skills of call center agents with customers" was selected for research 2 Research purposes Based on the theoretical research and the status of communication skills of call center agents with customers, the thesis proposes a number of measures to improve communication skills with customers for the agents in order to enhance the quality of customer support services via phone Research subjects and objects 3.1 Research subjects Expression and level of communication skills of call center agents with customers 3.2 Research object - Call center agents belonging to Viettel Telecom switchboards and Vinaphone Telecommunications switchboards at Minh Phuc Company Limited; supervisors, shift leaders at the switchboards and customers using telecommunications services connected to the switchboard The number of research objects is described specifically in chapter Scientific hypotheses - The communication skills of call center agents with customers are at average level and the expression of component skills is not equal: answering and customer supporting skills at low level, skills of making first impression with customers and skills of determining customer’s needs at an average level; call ending skills at a high level These four component skills are related Communication skills of call center agents are affected by some factors, including: awareness of training and improving communication skills; career motivation; training and fostering communication skills for agents have a great influence on their communication skills Communication skills for call center agents can be improved through the following measures: building motivation and a sense of workmanship and a love of work for call center agents; organizing periodic training and practicing on communication skills for call center agents; and counseling psychological support for call center agents Research tasks - Overview of researching communication skills, communication skills in career activities, communication skills of call center agents with customers - Developing a theoretical basis for communication skills of call center agents with customers - Surveying, analyzing and assessing the status of communication skills of call center agents with customers and the factors affecting that situation - Proposing and testing some measures to improve communication skills with customers for call center agents Scope of the research 6.1 In term of the research content In the research condition of the thesis, we only consider the communication skills of call center agents with customers through the reception of incoming phone calls from customers and research according to the procedure of incoming calls including the following skills: (1) Skills to make a first impression with customers; (2) skills to determine customer needs; (3) skills to answer and support customers; (4) call ending skills The dissertation examines a number of factors affecting communication skills of call center agents with customers including career motives; passion for work; awareness of improving communication skills; requirements of superiors; training and retraining issues; job pressure and career characteristics The thesis tested impact measures on some agents 6.2 In term of the research area and time The thesis will focus on researching agents working in telecommunication fields, namely Viettel Telecom and Vinaphone In particular, the research is officially conducted at the switchboard of Minh Phuc Company Limited 6.3 In term of the survey object The thesis conducts a survey on the total number of 354 agents who are working at the switchboard of Minh Phuc Company Limited are performing the task of supporting customers by phone through receiving incoming calls The research approach and the research method 7.1 The research approach The study was conducted with the following approaches: - Activities approach - System approach - Interdisciplinary approach - Process approach 7.2 The research methods - Method of studying documents - Method of investigation by questionnaire - In-depth interview method - Method of observation - Method of active product analysis - Typical cases and portrait description method - Professional solution - Method of case studies - Mathematical statistical method New contributions of the thesis This is the first study of communication skills of call center agents with customers in Vietnam, researching communication skills in an indirect manner, so it makes sense both in theoretical side and practical side 8.1 In term of the theoretical side Building the concepts of communication skills, communication skills of call center agents with customers; pointing out the communication skills of call center agents to customers through the process of receiving incoming calls: skills to make first impressions with customers, skills to identify customers' needs, customer answering and supporting skills, and call ending skills Developing evaluation criteria and scale of communication skills of call center agents with customers Pointing out the factors affecting communication skills of call center agents with customers such as career motives; passion for work; awareness of improving communication skills; requirements of superiors; training and retraining issues; job pressure and career characteristics 8.2 In term of the practical side The thesis has clarified the actual level of communication skills of call center agents with customers, identified the relationship between communication skills The thesis shows the factors affecting the communication skills of agents with customers; predicts the change of communication skills when there is a change from the influencing factors At the same time, the thesis also proposes measures to enhance communication skills with customers for call center agents The research result of the thesis is a useful reference for the development of the criteria for evaluating communication skills of agents with customers for the management team at the switchboards, this is also a useful document for building content of training programs, improving communication skills of agents The thesis structure Including introduction, conclusion, recommendations, list of references, appendices and chapters Chapter 1: Theoretical basis of communication skills of call center agents with customers Chapter 2: Research organization and methods Chapter 3: Results of practical research on the communication skills of call center agents with customers CHAPTER THEORETICAL BASIS OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS OF CALL CENTER AGENTS WITH CUSTOMERS 1.1 Overview of research situation of communication skills of call center agents with customers An overview of the research situation in the world and in Vietnam on this issue shows that psychologists focus on the research in the following main directions: - Research directions on communication skills: Psychologists focus on the study of the theoretical issues of communication and research on communication skills based on the nature of the organization; the study of communication skills in the direction of focusing on analyzing interpersonal relationships; the study of communication skills in the direction through a combination of language and non-verbal communication The main communication skills given are verbal and non-verbal communication skills, listening skills, emotional mastering skills, and relationship-building skills - Research on communication skills in career activities: This is an area that many domestic and foreign authors have researched in depth There are studies of communication skills in almost all fields from business, education, health, communication, etc., and the studies focus on the characteristics of professional communication of each field - Research on communication skills of call center agents with customers: Studies in the world referring to communication skills of call center agents with customers base on the views and homogeneity of communication skills of the agents as an element in power of them or consider telecom communication skills as a career activity In Vietnam, this issue has not been studied deeply by the authors and focuses on a few separated skills On the Internet forums, there have been articles and presentations on customer careers of call center agents, but mainly mentioning the difficulties in work, there have not been in-depth studies on communication skills to provide a scientific basis for adjusting communication gaps of the agents with customers in Vietnam In summary, in the world and in Vietnam, there have been studies of psychologists studying issues such as communication skills, communication skills in career activities Meanwhile, although communication and customer support via telephone are increasingly popular, the researches on communication skills of call center agents have not been studied in depth by many scientists in Vietnam This is confirmed to be a new topical theoretical and practical research problem needing to be addressed 1.2 Communication skills 1.2.1 Skill Skill is the manipulation of knowledge and experience of the subject to effectively perform an activity in specific conditions Characteristics of skill: maturity, flexibility and efficiency 1.2.2 The concept of communication skil Communication is the psychological contact between people, through which people communicate with each other about information, emotions, cognition, mutual influence Communication skills are the application of personal knowledge and experience into effective implementation of communication activities under defined conditions 1.3 Communication skills of call center agents with customers 1.3.1 The call center agents The call center agents are people who work at call centers, receive and make calls to support and advise customers on using products and services of the business, and create trust for customers in the products and services Table 1.1 Comparison of general communication with communication of call center agents with customers Number Communication Criteria Form of communication Subject of communication Object of communication Environment, communication context Purpose of communication Content of communication Means used when communicating Communication Direct Individuals in society Individuals in society The social environment Exchange of social information The various information Language; nonverbal gesture behavior; subject personality and object of communication Communication of call center agents with customers Indirect Call center agents Customer Environment between service provider - customer Support, guide customers appropriate information Information about products and services, answer questions Language; voice, call center system, computer to look up information 1.3.2 Communication skills of call center agents with customers Communication skills of call center agents with customers are the application of the agents’ knowledge and experience in communicating with customers in order to satisfy customers' need in supporting and consulting Communication principles of agents with customers Communication principles of agents with customers include the principle of customer respect, the principle of goodwill and the principle of empathy 1.3.3 Communication skills demonstration of call center agents with customers We study the agents' communication skills with customers according to the call progress and illustrate the steps in the call receiving process and the specific skills as follows: Table 1.2 The call receiving process and the corresponding skills The process of receiving calls Step Greetings to customers Step Information extraction Step Provide information to the customer Step End the call Communication skills of call center agents with customers Skills to make a first impression - Skills to greet customers - Skills to show support and willingness - Skills to show respect Skills to identify customer’s needs - Skill of asking questions - Listening Skills Skills to answering and customer support - Language expression skills - Expressive language skills - Skill in providing appropriate information End call skills - Thank customers - Encourage customers to connect with the call center - Say goodbye and send greetings to customers These four component skill groups have dialectical relationships with each other, impact and complement each other Therefore, component skills are also important and have a major role in creating the effectiveness of communication with customers 1.4 Factors affecting the communication skills of call center agents with customers The effectiveness of conducting communication skills of call center agents with customers depends on a lot of influencing factors such as: passion for work; career motivation; awareness of improving communication skills; requirements of superiors; training and retraining issues; job pressure and career characteristics Conclusion of Chapter CHAPTER RESEARCH ORGANIZATION AND METHODS 2.1 Research organization 2.1.1 Overview of the research area and object The thesis was studied at the switchboard of Minh Phuc Limited Company with switchboards: Viettel and Vinaphone Table 2.1 Information about the research object Personal Information 18 – 22 23 – 25 Age 26 – 30 Above 30 Male Gender Female High school Graduation Intermediate Degree College University Under months Experience months - years More than years Quantity 73 169 70 42 55 299 42 79 156 77 73 79 202 Rate % 20.6 47.7 19.8 11.9 15.5 84.5 11.9 22.3 44.1 21.8 20.6 22.3 57.1 2.1.2 Research phases • Theoretical research phase • Research tool design phase • Trial investigation phase • Official investigation phase • Test measures phase • Date processing and thesis writing phase 2.2 Research Methods 2.2.1 The research method of text documents 2.2.2 Survey method by questionnaire This is the basic method used to study the status of communication skills of call center agents with customers The project consists of types of questionnaires, the first questionnaire is used to solicit opinions of the agents about the situation of communication skills and the factors affecting communication skills; The second questionnaire is the referendum of the agents' customer opinion 11 Diagram 3.1 Correlation between the communication skills of call center agents with customers first impression skills with customers 0,436** 0,128 skills to identify customers' needs ** 0,538** 0,228** skills to end calls 0,207** skills to answering and 0,328** customer support The diagram 3.1 shows that the communication skills of the agents with customers are correlated with each other Specifically, the correlation between first customer impression skills and skills of customers' need identification is r = 0.436; the correlation between skills of customer needs determination and skills of guiding and supporting customers is r = 0.538 these are closely correlated Meanwhile, skills such as skills of establishing relationships and skills of determining customer’s need r = 0,207 or call ending skills and skills of customer’s need identification r = 0,128 The explanation for this can be understood as follows, when the agents determine the exact needs of the customers, from that agents can support and provide customers with appropriate information 3.1.2 Situation of specific manifestations of communication skills of call center agents with customers 3.1.2.1 The performing level of skills of the first impression on customers The performing level of skills of the first impression on customers is presented in Table 3.2 Table 3.2 The performing level of skills of the first impression on customers The expression of skill Showing customers greetings Respect for the respect of guests Expressing willingness to help customers Medium score Mean 3,75 3,59 3,49 3,61 SD 0,46 0,60 0,45 0,39 Level High Medium Medium Medium 12 Table 3.2 shows the average performing level of skills of the first impression on customers with total GPA = 3.61 Among the three typical features we presented, the expression of the greeting of the the agents was better than the other expressions in the group with GPA = 3.75 * The performing level of executing customers' greetings skills Understanding the actual situation of the level of greeting customer skill of the agents, we obtained the data table 3.3 Table 3.3 The performing level of customer greetings skills The expression of skill The telephone operator introduces the business name and name / list of telephone numbers when making a call The operator asks the customer name before starting the conversation and calls the customer during the call Actors actively change the way of addressing to suit the wishes of customers The telemarketer smiles while talking to the customer GPA Mean SD Capability Level level 3,82 0,78 High 3,81 0,78 High 3,76 0,80 High 3,61 0,85 Medium 3,75 0,46 High Table 3.3 shows that the level of making greetings of agents is high (GPA = 3.75) The reason for this is that the agents show these two skills better than other operations in the group because these are mandatory and specific requirements Even before making a formal call, the the agents need to practice saying the correct sentences and intonation repeatedly for smooth, to avoid confusion * The performing level of customer respect skills To learn the skills to show respect for customers, we show through the following table Table 3.5 The performing level of customer respect skills The expression of skill Mean SD The operator asks the customer to keep the phone polite and thank the customer for 3,56 0,74 keeping the phone The agent apologizes or expresses regret for the inconvenience or expenses incurred 3,47 0,79 when using the product or service Capability level Level Medium Medium 13 The telemarketer proactively gives up when customers show signs of wanting to speak up Telephone agents share and discuss more personal issues (occupation, age ) of customers to create a comfortable atmosphere Phone agents maintain privacy when talking to customers: there is no noise in the call GPA 3,52 0,78 Medium 3,52 0,67 Medium 3,42 0,72 Medium 3,49 0,45 Medium The results in Table 3.5 show that the performing level of customer respect skills is average (GPA = 3.49) 3.1.2.2 The performing level of the customer’s need determination The performing level of the customer’s need determination of the agents with customers is presented in Table 3.6 Table 3.6 The performing level of the customer needs determination of the agents The expression of skill Demonstrating listening skills of call center agents Demonstrating skills of asking agent questions GPA Mean 3,27 3,11 3,19 SD 0,37 0,41 0,32 Level Medium Low Medium Thus, the performing level of the customer needs determination of the agents with customers reached the average level shown in Table 3.6 with GPA = 3.19 In which the expression of listening skills and questioning skills is a little different, in particular, the expression of listening skills is better than the questioning skills with the GPA of listening skills is 3.27 * The performing level of the listening skills of call center agents with customers Actual status of listening skills of the agents with customers is shown in Table 3.7 Table 3.7 The performing level of the listening skills of call center agents The expression of skill Mean SD Call center agents share and sympathize with the unwanted experiences their 3,21 0,61 customers encounter The telemarketer uses the buffering sound during the call so that the customer can see 3,21 0,68 that the agent is still listening (Example: Yes, yes, I understand ) Capability level Level Medium Medium 14 Call center agents focus their attention on the issues that customers are presenting: silence to listen, no objection, no deduction or prediction Telephones actively summarize or reexpress important information that customers have shared Call center agents create opportunities for customers to present, share and not interrupt customers GPA 3,34 0,72 Medium 3,27 0,59 Medium 3,32 0,72 Medium 3,27 0,378 Medium Table 3.7 shows that with manifestations we learned about the listening skill of the agents with customers in the skill group of customer’s need identification, the results show the performation level of this skill is at an average one (GPA = 3.27) * The performing level of questioning skills One of the skills used by the agents in the process of identifying customer needs is the questioning skill, we find out the level of questioning skills through the following data table Table 3.8 The level of the practice of questioning skills The expression of skill The telemarketer asks open questions to determine the customer's problem needs The information to be asked is clearly oriented (for example, asking about time, current status of products, services, information on how to use the customer ) Call center agents specifically exploit the initial handling of customers when problems arise Call center agents who use standard sentence samples or ask questions to customers must have a subject, a predicate, and not speak curtly or blank The agent uses the language of polite language wisely, does not make customers feel uncomfortable because they ask too many questions Mean Mean SD Capability Level level 3,11 0,74 Low 3,04 0,68 Low 3,15 0,56 Low 3,07 0,65 Low 3,21 0,60 Medium 3,11 0,41 Low 15 Therefore, with GPA = 3.11, the questioning skill group of the agents is low The expression of each skill in the group has different average scores but the difference between the factors is not much 3.1.2.3 The performing level of answering and supporting customer skills The performing level of answering and supporting customer skills is shown in Table 3.9 Table 3.9 The performing level of answering and supporting customer skills The expression of skill Mean Demonstration of language expression skills 3,11 of call center agents SD Level 0,35 Low Expression of non-verbal expressive skills of call center agents 3,02 0,46 Low Demonstrate skills to provide appropriate solutions for customers 3,10 0,39 Low Mean 3,08 0,30 Low Through Table 3.9, we find that the performing level of answering and supporting customer skills of the agents with customers is low (GPA = 3.08) Among the expressions that we presented, the performance of the language using of the agents with the highest GPA in the group is 3.11 * The performing level of suitable project providing skills for customers of call center agents Specifically, the performing level of suitable project providing skills for customers is shown in the following data table Table 3.12: The performing level of suitable project providing skills for customers of call center agents The expression of skill Mean SD Capability Level level Call center agents notify customers of 3,25 0,76 expected time to solve customers' problems Medium Telephones actively provide relevant information or information search locations for 3,00 0,61 customers Low For complicated and unsolvable cases, the telephone operator gathers full information of 3,16 0,61 the customer and passes it to the head of the department for processing Low 16 The expression of skill Mean SD Capability Level level Call center agents offer solutions that best suit customers but also suit the interests of the 3,04 0,66 business Low The call agent verifies that the customer has understood the information that the agent 2,99 0,79 has conveyed Low The agent makes good sales opportunities 3,22 0,59 and cross-selling opportunities are promoted Medium Mean 3,10 0,39 Low Data table 3.12 shows that the performing level of suitable project providing skills for customers is at low levels (GPA = 3.12) Although the average score of this skill group is low, the GPA of some expressions in the group is higher and average 3.1.2.4 The performing level of call ending skills of call center agents The performing level of call ending skills of call center agents is shown in Table 3.13 Table 3.13 The performing level of call ending skills The expression of skill Mean Phone operator thank customers for calling 3,52 Capability Level level 0,810 Medium Consider further processing directions 3,82 0,723 High Ask customers if they need any further assistance? 3,78 0,850 High Goodbye and wish customers 3,81 0,764 High 3,73 0,60 Mean SD High The table shows that the call ending skills reached a high level with an average score of 3.73 3.1.3 The reality of communication skills of call center agents with customers compared with variables 3.1.3.1 The reality of communication skills of call center agents with customers compared with telecommunications networks The reality of communication skills of call center agents with customers compared with telecommunication networks is shown in Table 3.13 17 Table 3.14 The reality of communication skills of call center agents with customers compared with telecommunication networks Viettel Mean SD First impression skills with customers 3,60 0,42 Skills to identify customers’ needs 3,23 0,37 Skills to answering and customer support 3,16 0,29 Skills to end calls 3,70 0,57 Mean 3,42 0,48 The expression of skill Vinaphone Mean SD 3,41 0,33 2,75 0,473 2,90 0,209 3,55 0,62 3,15 0,57 Research results show that there is a certain difference between communication skills of Viettel agents and Vinaphone agents In particular, the average score of communication skills of Viettel agents is higher than that of Vinaphone (3.42 versus 3.15) 3.1.3.4 The reality of communication skills of call center agents with customers compared with the training level Table 3.16 The reality of communication skills of call center agents with customers compared with the training level The expression of skill First impression skills with customers Skills to identify customers’ needs Skills to answering and customer support Skills to end calls Mean High school Intermediate College University Graduation Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD 3,34 0,23 3,49 0,32 3,58 0,40 3,80 0,33 2,97 0,19 3,02 0,17 3,13 0,27 3,60 0,21 2,70 0,20 2,99 0,28 3,07 0,27 3,34 0,26 3,73 0,59 3,70 0,63 3,71 0,58 3,77 0,60 3,18 0,33 3,30 0.38 3,37 0,43 3,63 0,41 With the variable of training level, the research shows that there is a difference in communication skills with customers between two groups of call center agents: the agents with university degree and agents with intermediate and college degrees or high school graduates ( GPA = 3.63 and 3.18) T-test of comparing two independent samples (p