As a Dispatch Quality Improvement Coordinator, I’m responsible for reviewing call assessments and providing feedback to dispatchers and calltakers. There are two aspects to a call assessment that stand out for me. One is the customer service provided during the call assessment and the second is missed opportunities to provide life saving or altering instructions. Because this post is about customer service, I’ll be focusing on that aspect of a call review however, stay tuned for a future post titled Missed Opportunities where I cover how to avoid missing opportunities to provide help.
A key aspect in any customer service is listening to the customer. In emergency dispatch, our customers are our callers. By listening, I don’t mean just hearing the caller but actually listening to the caller – what they’re saying, whether they’ve provided an appropriate answer to the question asked, the tone of voice they’re using, their emotions, etc.
Listening to the caller isn’t just about hearing the answer to the question we’ve asked so that we can get the call posted and get off the phone, it’s about picking up clues and queues to aid us in providing the best service possible to our caller in order for us to get the information we need to be able to send the most appropriate help quickly and efficiently as well as provide help over the phone to the caller.
It’s very easy to fall into the trap of simply focusing on the mechanics of asking questions and getting to the end of the call assessment. Unfortunately, when we fall into this trap, we miss vital information and golden opportunities to meet the needs of our callers. The primary purpose of actively listening is so that we can learn about the caller’s situation and understand what we need to do to help the caller, the responders, our co-workers and any patients, victims or bystanders.
Many things can interfere with our ability to be able to listen purposefully. When we are not skilled at responding appropriately to stress or to difficult situations, our “fight or flight” instincts kick in and we tend to react. As professionals dealing with people in their time of need, it’s vital that we learn to recognize these triggers and understand that our reactions and judgements are about ourselves and not our callers. Developing our interpersonal communication skills is an important part of professional development in this profession.
Focusing on the call at hand is an important part of taking the time to listen to the caller. All too often in our busy and understaffed centers we tend to get caught up in the getting to the calls in the queue because they might be something more serious than what we’re dealing with. It’s unfortunate that some agencies put such emphasis on call times. More important than the quantity of calls each calltaker or dispatcher processes is the quality of calls they process.
When we avoid rushing through calls, we are able to take the time to listen intently and with empathy to our callers, recognize what they need and meet those needs in order to get what we need. That’s really what providing 100% customer service is all about!
Active listening is about being present with the caller. Listen to the caller with empathy and understanding and responding to the needs of our callers will assist us in providing 100% customer service and obtaining the information we need through a quality call assessment. Try it and see how much easier your call assessments become!
If you have any questions, please email me at corinne@dispatchcoach.com.
Tags: business coaching, client services, customer services, emergency communications, Emergency Dispatch, improving relationships, Interpersonal Communications, Leadership, personal coach, personal development, public safety, relationship building
