Using Improv to Improve Customer Service

Now that the presidential  election is over, it’s safe to pick up the phone again. Gone are the hundreds of “robo-calls” with their scripted messages urging the caller to vote or send money. Political candidates rely on getting their message out to the voters, and you’d expect the message to be consistent. What works for politicians doesn’t work so well in customer service. Who wants to hear a “canned” electronic message? Or worse, a human being that is obviously reading from a script?

The scripted message provides some comfort to companies reluctant to let customer service reps go freestyle handling customer calls. A script keeps the service rep from making unrealistic promises or giving costly concessions out of policy. But customers like to feel they are talking to a friend in a natural conversation, not to a machine. The answer to training competent and personable service reps may be found in some tips from a Russian Theatre Director, Konstantin Stanislavsky. In an article in Fast Company, “3 Ways Improv Training Can Improve Customer Service,” techniques used in the Moscow Art Theatre’s improv training are applied to helping customer service reps interact effectively without a script.

1. Loosen the script. The article refers to Anton Chekhov’s play scripts. Chekhov gave the actors leeway to interject their personalities and interpretation into the characters. The same technique can be applied to customer service scripts. Service reps are people with personalities and experiences that can help them relate to customers. Heavy scripting takes personality out of interactions, and creates a feeling of being talked to instead of having a conversation.
    
2. Train to improvise. Service reps need training on how to comfortably assume a role, the same as an actor. In the Moscow Art Theatre, actors are given scenarios and then the opportunity to explore their own interpretations. In the same way, role playing in customer service training lets service reps try out and explore how they would handle service situations. Trainers then offer feedback to keep service reps on track. 
    
3. Your role, your character, your brand. Companies may have guidelines for greetings, a process or set of questions to determine need, and then a closing for each customer interaction. The same with improv. Actors are given characters and scene descriptions, and then are free to interact within those guidelines. Customer service agents represent the company, so how they handle customers, the language they use and overall interactions have to reflect the company’s brand, just like actors interpret a playwright’s work. Going off-script doesn’t give the service rep the ability to speak for the CEO or argue with a customer instead of staying in “character.” Service reps need to understand that they play the role of a helpful, competent and friendly ambassador, regardless of personal feelings or disposition.

Instead of holding your next customer service training in the conference room, consider the local theatre. Improv training isn’t just for budding actors  Learning how to interpret a script and feel comfortable “on stage” can put the human touch back into customer service delivery.

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