3 rings before answer, which is the maximum number of rings consistent with prompt, courteous service.
Greeting: Pretty Good. The greeting is your opportunity to set the tone for the entire call.
Empathy: The call handler pretty much missed every opportunity to show the caller she cared about her and her situation e.g. when she stated she’s gotten older, discussed radiation, etc. Clearly she would have enjoyed a sense that the call handler truly cared about her, which would have made issues with scheduling perhaps less of a challenge. Instead, all the call handler could manage was “What is your name?”
Rapport: Until the end of the call, very little rapport was established. Humor is a useful way to establish rapport. Toward the end of the call, the call handler said “They have the nice pretty sign. We’re the other guys!” which at least served to end the call on an upbeat, which is important.
Enthusiasm: The call handler did have some inflection in her voice, but in general, scores low on the enthusiasm scale. When the call handler stated “we take a lot of x-rays, because we like to have a lot of x-rays”, she missed an opportunity to explain to the caller why it was to the caller’s benefit that the practice takes a lot of x-rays.
Control/Questioning: The call handler never managed to gain control of the call. This is in evidence by the fact that so much of the dialogue consisted of the call handler responding to the caller, and so often with one word answers such as “Okay” “Hello” “I’m Here”.
The best call handlers see themselves as problem solvers and advocates for the caller. It’s always a sign of a good call experience when an attempt is made at collaborating with the caller to help her with whatever challenge she is facing e.g.: “I’m sorry we’re having a challenge finding a time for you! Let’s see what we can do for you okay?”