I started my journey into the world of helplines in 2007. I was promoted to manage a helpline in a field I was, and still am, passionate about. Until then, most of my work had been in face-to-face services but I was used to communicating over the phone and on email with clients and stakeholders, so I genuinely didn’t think it would be that different or difficult. This was just our service being offered over the phone, right? Wrong.
The first and main difference is that, on a helpline, it is very unlikely you will ever meet the caller face to face. We are social animals and we communicate quite differently in direct contact than we do if there is any kind of barrier between us. For instance, think about how different your conversation would be with someone at your kitchen table compared to communicating with them via email. Road rage is another prime example – the barrier of the car creates a different communication experience.
So, managing and working on a helpline required a new set of skills. Obviously, some of my skills were transferable but I even had to learn to use these in a new way. ‘Active listening’ is a different beast over the phone because, once you take away eye contact and body language, you have fewer clues to help you assess your caller’s situation.
On email and live chat, tone of voice is also missing and many, if not most, people struggle to find words to accurately convey this. And it’s not just you who won’t be receiving these clues – your response to the caller will be missing them, too. This is why learning and practising new skills is essential for the delivery of an effective helpline service.
When people contact a helpline, they are invariably in some form of distress. This distress will come across in a variety of ways; anger, upset, circular conversations, frustration, low mood, to name but a few. It is harder on a helpline to build a connection and to establish trust with a caller and, with one or more communication clues missing, it is more difficult to gauge the level of the distress and formulate an appropriate response (if, indeed, a response is necessary.)
The ability to ‘Actively Listen’ to someone is a skill, which needs learning, practising and developing. To ‘hold’ the caller so that they feel safe enough to open up and tell their story and feel heard, whilst having clear and appropriate boundaries and demonstrating empathy, is hard enough face to face, but doing it with no visual clues is harder and takes more effort.
Why are helplines important? I have been lucky enough to work with many different helplines, whose offer of support to people can vary depending on need and resources but, one thing is the same of all of them: everybody, no matter their reason for contacting a helpline, wants to be listened to, and to feel heard (these are different).
Helplines offer a safe space for people to communicate, to share, or to talk about their concerns without fear of judgement or ridicule. Helplines can offer a range of services – anything from a listening ear through to practical advice and support.
Callers to most helplines can choose whether or not to be anonymous. Being anonymous can be liberating and this can feel safer. It can encourage the caller to be more open about an issue and their emotions about it. And callers to helplines don’t have to wait to be seen, or be referred.
Well-trained helpline teams are highly skilled and can offer a vital service and a useful alternative to face-to-face sessions. Helplines can be available at many times that face-to-face services can’t be, and can also provide an access to services for people who are unable or unwilling to present at an appointment. Helplines offer choice, and are accessible to most people, whatever their need, ability, or disability.
Helplines and customer care lines are often the first port of call for members of the public looking to access a service so it should be common sense to ensure those staff members are welcoming, professional, knowledgeable and effective.
There is a place for knowing someone and building a professional relationship face to face, but there is also a solid place for helplines. HR and training managers should always bear in mind the extra skills helpline workers require to build trust and understanding without the usual visual and/or aural clues that most of us take for granted.
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