A call flow diagram serves as a general visual roadmap for how callers can expect to progress through an interactive voice response (IVR) system. It accounts for the most likely paths a call may take—from the initial welcome message all the way to the end of the call.
Creating a call flow diagram is important because, although no two support calls will ever be 100% the same, many calls will still be extremely similar. Thus, by identifying your most common call types and preparing everything you can expect to need along that call’s journey, you can set up your agents to provide consistent, high-quality support for your customers.
The 4 Calls You Should Map Out With a Call Flow Diagram
Simply put, you wouldn’t respond to a sales query the same way you would to a technical product issue, so your call flow diagrams should reflect that. At the end of the day, your specific company might need any number of unique call flows, but there are a few specific types you should probably include no matter what.
Setting up the following call flow diagrams will not only help you maintain quality assurance across your support team, but it will also give your agents the tools they need to succeed in their roles.
1. A Sales Call
Sales calls are a prime opportunity to turn inquiries into revenue. Many potential customers will contact a business directly over the phone to learn about their products and services. If you play your cards right, a sizable portion of these customers may be willing to place an order during the initial conversation.
In order to turn more of these sales calls into revenue, you need to set up a call flow diagram to help steer the conversation to a close. It doesn’t matter if you’re a small B2C business or a large B2B enterprise company—these same rules apply.
A sales-oriented call flow diagram will help you outline how an agent should proceed when addressing common sales questions, product details, and pricing. Depending on your most common sales calls, you may also want to incorporate how to address payment procedures and collect customer information for finalizing transactions. This way, your agents have a map to guide them and your business has an increased chance of turning incoming leads into paying customers.
2. A Product Issue Call
Calls related to refunds, exchanges, order status inquiries, and technical support matters often involve frustrated customers who want their problems addressed and resolved as soon as possible. At the same time, if your agents aren’t prepared to resolve these requests, you may be putting your customer’s satisfaction and your brand’s reputation on the line.
On the other hand, if you’re able to map out a product issue call flow ahead of time, your support reps will be well-equipped to resolve any and all customer issues.
A good rule of thumb for creating this kind of call flow is to include instructions on the following:
- What questions to ask customers in need of support
- Which resources agents can reference to assist with customer support
- When to escalate a support issue to another support agent or department
Not only would a call flow diagram like this make it easier for your support agents to answer customer questions, but it would also help safeguard your company’s reputation.
3. An After-Hours Call
Sometimes your customers will have pressing questions that can’t wait until your normal business hours. While they may not be convenient, these calls still require your time and attention.
It’s only natural that you may not be able to deliver the same level of customer service outside of your normal business hours, but having a well-documented after-hours call flow can guide agents on how to be as helpful as possible under these circumstances.
For example, at the beginning of an after-hours call, your agents can set the expectation that they may only be able to troubleshoot basic customer issues during this time. You can also instruct your support agents to collect any time-sensitive details, like the caller’s contact information. From here, you can either resolve the customer’s support request or call the following business day during normal operating hours.
4. An “I Just Want To Speak to a Live Agent” Call
Some callers will bypass self-service options like IVRs in an attempt to reach your agents directly—either because they’d prefer to speak to a human or because they’re calling about an emergency. While the reason for these calls may not be clear at the outset, your agents should still be able to identify and troubleshoot any urgent customer issues that come in unexpectedly.
This is where having a pre-built call flow diagram comes in handy yet again. By setting up the framework procedures for handling emergency calls, your agents will be able to recognize the nature of the call, determine the next steps, and decide whether or not they need to escalate the call.
What To Include In Every Call Flow Diagram
The end goal of your call flow diagrams is to help your support agents successfully field and resolve incoming support calls—but that’s only possible if they have clear step-by-step instructions in place.
Here’s what you should include in your call flow diagrams:
Introductions and Identity Verification
Making a proper introduction is crucial for establishing rapport and trust with your incoming callers. That said, the first step in any effective call flow diagram should be to make an introduction. This can be as simple as greeting the caller and providing key details about yourself and your organization.
Keep in mind that it’s also important to include identity confirmation procedures to ensure you are speaking with an authorized customer. This could involve asking an authentication question such as, “What are the last four digits of the phone number associated with your account?” though other good verification methods exist as well.
Of course, you don’t need to follow these exact steps but establishing a good rapport with your customers from the outset will often increase your chances of earning a high customer satisfaction score—even if your agents aren’t able to fulfill their support requests.
Verify Their Request and Troubleshoot Their Issue
Once you’ve confirmed the identity of your caller, the next step is to verify their request and begin the troubleshooting process.
You might open the dialogue by saying something like, “Thank you for calling, I’d like to gather some more details to best assist you. What seems to be the problem?” This shows you are listening attentively. After a brief discussion to clarify the situation, you can start resolving the issue. In terms of the call flow, your diagram should outline how you should troubleshoot their request, whether it’s by asking relevant questions to diagnose the root cause of their issue or by assigning them to another support agent who can better meet their needs.
Confirm Their Support Question Has Been Answered and End the Call
Before ending a support call, it’s important to confirm that the customer’s needs have been met. To do this, your call flow diagram should include instructions on how to verify that the caller’s support request was resolved successfully.
Try asking questions like, “Did this help explain everything?” and “Do you feel like you have the information you need now?” to ensure you’ve addressed their concerns completely. Even if the caller wants to schedule a follow-up call, be sure to keep them updated on the status of their support request.
Finally, your support agents should always thank the caller for their time and consider requesting brief feedback through a survey. This can provide valuable insights on how your support team can improve its processes in the future.
