Vinyl records, fanny packs, and the phone are all making a comeback.

When I started working in the catalog industry nearly 25 years ago, people would call and ask to be sent a catalog. It was a simple call that was easy for a customer service rep to handle quickly. 

Today, that catalog is online and nobody needs to call for it. The order gets placed online as well, eliminating the need for phone order takers. Customers can also track shipments, update billing information, and reset a password without live assistance.

Yet the phone isn't dead.

At least one source reveals phone volume is increasing, and the trend is expected to continue. And it’s a double-whammy. With the simple stuff moving to self-service, the calls are getting more complicated and taking longer to resolve.

Here's why phone skills are in high demand right now.

Why phone skills are necessary

There are three things creating a need for more phone skills. Volume is increasing, calls are getting more complicated, and phone skills are no longer native.

Let's focus on that last one for a moment.

I spent a lot of time on the phone with my friends when I was a kid. This was well before texting, emailing, or even cell phones. We'd sometimes talk for hours, so communicating that way became second nature.

Things have changed. 

People entering today's workforce have rarely used the "phone app" on their phone. Texting, social media, and messaging apps have taken the place of that.

This means phone skills are far less commonplace than they used to be, but employers haven’t necessarily caught on. A recent study from Axonify revealed that 23 percent of contact center agents receive no formal training.

Meanwhile, phone volume is growing.

The 2020 Zendesk Customer Experience Trends Report discovered that the phone is still the highest volume channel for contact centers. According to a survey of contact center managers conducted for the report, phone volume is expected to grow 25 percent in 2020.

The report also shared some important context about the service channels customers choose:

• 69 percent of customers prefer self-service.

• 63 percent of customers almost always start with self-service.

This tells us a few things about the calls customers are making:

• They are more urgent.

• The issues are more complex.

• Customers might have already tried another channel.

There are some complicated feelings that go with urgency, complexity, and using multiple channels:

• Urgency and complexity creates anxiety.

• Channel-switching creates frustration.

Navigating these emotions while providing friendly and efficient service is a real challenge for inexperienced and untrained agents.

The phone skills agents need

I hear from a lot of customer service leaders who are searching for phone skills training. In general, there are three skills that are most in demand.

Rapport-building

Establishing rapport over the phone can be difficult without experience. You can't see each other's body language, so the words we choose and our tone of voice carry extra weight.

There are two techniques that are highly effective. The first is to imagine the customer is sitting right in front of you. This reminds you to do a few critical things:

• Sit up straight.

• Smile.

• Eliminate distractions and focus on the person.

Doing all that has the effect of making you sound more positive and in tune with what the customer is saying.

The second technique is called the Five Question Technique. It works by thinking of five questions ahead of time that can help you break the ice (i.e. build rapport) and uncover hidden customer needs.

De-Escalation

Angry or upset customers pose a huge challenge over the phone. People tend to get more judgmental and less open to ideas when they're angry, which makes it much more difficult to solve their problem.

Unfortunately, de-escalation can be difficult when we can't actually see the person. People tend to fly off the handle a lot more when they aren't face-to-face with the person helping them. They can’t see our smile or our empathetic body language.

One of my favorite de-escalation techniques is the LAURA technique. It's an acronym that outlines five specific steps you can take, but it's also a persona. Think of a kind, patient, unflappable customer service rep named Laura. Try to emulate her and you'll probably do well.

Visual Communication

It's hard to get customers to see certain things when you can't just show it to them.

For example, let's say you need a customer's account number from their bill. If you're in person, you can simply ask them to hand you their bill, or you could point to the account number on the page.

That doesn't work over the phone. A different set of skills are needed to help the customer quickly see what you want them to see.

This short video explains how to use visual communication techniques.

Take Action

There's one piece of advice I often share that surprises people: don't hire a trainer.

That's right. I don't think you should hire me, or any other external trainer for that matter. (It's entirely different if you have an expert phone skills trainer in-house.) I recommend video instead.

You can read more about why here, but here are the two big reasons:

• The training will be more effective if you do it in short bursts over time.

• You can save 90 percent or more by not hiring me directly.

To get you started, check out my LinkedIn Learning course, Phone-Based Customer Service. You can access it with your LinkedIn Learning subscription or get a 30-day trial account.