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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.. Research purposes Ba

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

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

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

1 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

3 Research subjects and objects

The number of research objects is described specifically in chapter 2

4 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

5 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

6 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

7 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

8 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

9 The thesis structure

Including introduction, conclusion, recommendations, list of references, appendices and 3 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 1 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 Communication

Communication of call center agents with customers

Call center agents

communication

Individuals in society

Customer

communication context

The social environment

Environment between service provider - customer

communication

Exchange of social information

Support, guide customers appropriate information

communication

The various information

Information about products and services, answer questions

communicating

Language; nonverbal gesture behavior;

subject personality and object of communication

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

Skills to make a first impression

- Skills to greet customers

- Skills to show support and willingness

- Skills to show respect Step 2 Information

extraction

Skills to identify customer’s needs

- Skill of asking questions

- Listening Skills Step 3 Provide

information to the

customer

Skills to answering and customer support

- Language expression skills

- Expressive language skills

- Skill in providing appropriate information Step 4 End the call

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 1

CHAPTER 2 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 2 switchboards: Viettel and Vinaphone

Table 2.1 Information about the research object

• 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 2 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

Table 2.5 Assessment scale to quantify communication skills of call center agents with customers

2.2.3 The research method of active products

Analyze and evaluate the performance of communication skills of the agents with customers based on the recording file

2.2.4 The research method of observation

Directly observe behaviors, gestures and words when call center agents communicate with customers as a basis for supplementing information about the agents' communication skills with customers

2.2.5 In-depth interview method

Deeply interview with call center agents and customers, ask them to share the content through interviews

2.2.6 Typical cases and portrait description method

Gather more information about the communication technology of call center agents with customers based on specific cases and conduct impact on portraits

2.2.7 Professional solution

In order to determine the necessity of communication skills of call center agents, specific manifestations of such skills and factors affecting the formation and development of communication skills of the agents

2.2.8 Case study method

Case studies are designed and used to verify the results obtained from the questionnaire on the status of communication skills of call center agents with customers

2.2.9 Mathematical statistical methods

2.2.9.1 Qualitative data processing

The information obtained from the method of observation, interview, active product research, case study is used to illustrate and support the interpretation and justification of data obtained from quantitative data processing In this content, we have clearly described how to handle the results on each method

2.2.9.2 Quantitative data processing

The data collected after the practical survey is processed by SPSS 20.0 software The parameters and statistics used in the study are descriptive statistical analysis and deductive statistical analysis

* Descriptive statistical analysis: The indicators used in descriptive statistical analysis include:

Conclusion of chapter 2

CHAPTER 3 RESULTS OF PRACTICAL RESEARCH ON THE

COMMUNICATION SKILLS OF CALL CENTER AGENTS WITH

CUSTOMERS

3.1 Real situation of communication skills of call center agents with customers

3.1.1 General assessment of the real situation of communication skills

of call center agents with customers

To find out the real situation of communication skills of the agents in the process of communicating with customers, we set up a questionnaire for the agents to self-evaluate communication skills with customers The results are shown in chart 3.1

Skills to identify customers’

needs

Skills to answering and customer support

Skills to end calls

Very high High Medium Low Very low

Figure 3.1 The performing level of communication skills of call center

agents with customers (%)

The results in chart 3.1 show that the agents have medium communication skills (38.40%) through their self-assessment The data also shows the difference in the implementation of their communication skills, in which, they perform low level of answering and customer support skills (GPA = 3.08); skills of determining customer needs at an average level (GPA = 3.19); skills of call ending at a high level (GPA = 3.73)

3.1.1.2 Correlation between communication skills of call center agents with customers

To find out the correlation between the agents’ communication skills with customers, we illustrate through the following diagram

Diagram 3.1 Correlation between the communication skills of call center

agents with customers

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

1 Showing customers greetings 3,75 0,46 High

2 Respect for the respect of guests 3,59 0,60 Medium

3 Expressing willingness to help customers 3,49 0,45 Medium

customer support

0,436**

0,207**

0,128**