How to Train Superstar CSRs with ServiceTitan Phones Pro

Drop In and Listen Live to CSR Calls with Phones Pro 

As the customer experience expert at Aire Serv, Penn has essentially covered every single non-technician area of the business since she started there 14 years ago. Although she’s now pretty good at helping customers diagnose HVAC issues over the phone, she’s left the field work to the service technicians.

“I may have to give it a try if I have anybody call in sick one day,” she says, half-jokingly.

Prior to ServiceTitan and becoming a Phones Pro super-user, Penn used another software program at Aire Serv that she describes as clunky, difficult, and not user-friendly. It was also hard to pull instantaneous call recordings for coaching CSRs in a timely fashion. 

“Managing at that time really consisted of a lot of walking around, listening, live listening, but that's difficult because you could only hear one end,” Penn says. “When I was finally able to pull some of those recordings, it still would feel like we missed the mark, and it's already happened. We can learn from that, but I'd like to be able to do something a little bit more in real time.”

Penn says Aire Serv’s decision to become a ServiceTitan user and purchase the Phones Pro add-on feature “is the best thing we’ve ever done.”

“It's so incredible,” Penn says. “The things our service technicians are able to do, the things we in the office are able to do. And now with Phones Pro … just the metrics of everything. There's so much data that can be pulled, the analytics are there.”

The drop-in and listen-live feature available with Phones Pro lets her offer coaching and training in real-time for a greater impact on her team of CSRs.

“Perhaps someone is struggling or a conversation isn't going well, it’s taken a turn, and I want to either rescue someone or solve a problem. I can drop in, or I can send them a quick message on our internal team chat, say, ‘Hey, listen, how about this?’ Or, ‘You can put that call on pause or hold, I'll take it. I'll pick it up for you,’” Penn says.

That’s exactly how Penn trained a shy and timid high school intern to learn the basics of answering phones as a CSR for Aire Serv over the course of one summer. She started by having the 16-year-old sit with her as she handled incoming and outbound calls, then practicing the basics, before turning her loose to answer calls herself. Penn sat nearby, but monitored her activities with Phones Pro.

“She felt confident, because she could see what I'd been able to see on my screen with Dialpad (the software that powers Phones Pro), that I was always going to be there for her backup. And it worked really great,” Penn says. “So, if I could teach a 16-year-old girl how to do basic things like that, it's pretty incredible.”

ServiceTitan’s cloud-based Phones Pro powered by Dialpad allows companies to use real-time coaching and monitoring tools, such as customer sentiment analysis and call transcription, to improve CSR performance and increase call-booking rates, says Horner, who helped Penn set up Phones Pro at Aire Serv. 

“Phones Pro gives you the ability to not only run a successful business, but also leverage talent,” Horner says. “Your CSRs are able to get the coaching they need as well as the development they expect.” 

Always Ask the Right Questions with Phones Pro Prompts

Penn says she tried to take advantage of every possible resource available in Phones Pro, including discovering the power of the Voice Intelligence feature that triggers automated prompts to help CSRs ask the right questions and handle calls most efficiently. 

For instance, she recently noticed the “negative” red dot next to a CSR call that had been ongoing for more than 12 minutes, so she simply clicked on the Voice Intelligence real-time transcript to see what was happening. After finding the CSR was handling a difficult customer in the most professional manner, she clicked off. But, if she had wanted to listen to the call live, or even jump in and take over, she could have done that, too.

“It ended up being a great thing. The customer was happy, and they joined our maintenance program. But it was so nice to be able to see that,” Penn says. 

Horner says the real-time transcripts and real-time notifications in Phones Pro are probably the top features to leverage for most customers, as it helps to keep calls from escalating.

“It’s nice to know that someone can come in and create a resolution or at least relieve them of the contact, move in a new individual and change that interaction or conversation around,” Horner says. “Leveraging those real-time transcripts can prevent things from escalating out of control.” 

At Aire Serv, Penn also uses the Voice Intelligence feature to create real-time assist cards with certain words triggering specific call prompts or questions. For example, the trigger words might be “blank thermostat” or “thermostat screen is dark.” The assist cards prompt the CSR to ask questions like, “What type of thermostat do you have?” or “Did you replace the batteries correctly?” 

Asking the right questions helps the customer as much as it helps the company, she says.

“I hate to send a service technician to someone's home and charge a customer, when the problem is they had just changed their filter and they didn't put the door back on and secure it properly. So then the door switch tripped, and the furnace wouldn't come on,” Penn explains. “Now, I mean, we'll take the money for that, absolutely. But by doing this, we are able to build rapport and trust with the customer. 

“By asking interesting questions, it gives more positive moments throughout the call, and the customer feels like we truly care about them,” Penn says. And just like she learned from Angie Snow in another ServiceTitan webinar, asking the right questions makes customers feel validated.

“Most times, people just want to be heard,” Penn says. “It may not always be the resolution they immediately thought they were seeking, but being heard and having a resolution where both parties can be satisfied is our real goal there.”

Phones Pro simply empowers your CSRs to own the call, Horner adds.

“Giving them resources like these coaching cards allows them to be confident in their responses and know what information to provide,” he says. “When you think about building your brand for your company and building your reputation for your agents, when they can own the entire conversation with that existing customer profile, it allows that customer to be faithful in your processes.”

Address Customer Concerns Quickly with Phones Pro Disposition Lists

Horner says the goal of Phones Pro is to provide customers with a better understanding for great call flow, as well as address the troubleshooting and note-taking aspects for each call. The disposition lists combine real-time reporting and actionable alerts for better insight into your company’s call-booking successes or failures.

In addition to recording calls, call insights reporting allows you to understand average call length, average hold time, number of inbound calls answered, and number of calls missed by CSRs.

“It's empowering the CSRs to be able to own their conversations, own their growth, and own their development,” Horner says. “Because at the end of the day, we have to determine exactly what the phones really look like from both sides. And by leveraging the tools inside Phones Pro and the integration of Dialpad, we can see full circle, everything that happens with these conversations from interaction to interaction.”

Penn uses the Phones Pro disposition lists for coaching her CSRs, as well as organizing calls.

“It's another way to keep track of items,” Penn says. “If you take a lot of calls for other people that require follow-up, it's a perfect way to not let something fall through the cracks and get lost. You can make notes on items. You can tag them. It's pretty phenomenal.

“It's just constantly remembering we have to keep trying to get better every day,” Penn says. “Technology evolves, and the industries and the trades evolve constantly, too. And we always want to maintain good customer service.”