Making Notes On Customers Account

When contact centres make notes on customer accounts, it’s important to ensure the information is recorded consistently and clearly.

Jane wanted to understand more and asked our Community:

“What standards do contact centres use when making notes on customers account to record details of why they were calling?”

The answers from the industry professionals were great and we thought the topic was interesting so wanted to share the findings with you.

What Standards Do Contact Centres Use When Making Notes on Customer Accounts?

When contact centres make notes on customer accounts, it’s important to ensure the information is recorded consistently and clearly.

While there are no set industry-wide standards, there are several common practices and best practices used to maintain high-quality records.

Here’s an overview of the key elements that contact centres consider when recording notes about customer interactions.

Clarity and Accuracy Are Key

The most important standard in note-taking is clarity. Notes should accurately reflect the customer’s inquiry and the action taken.

While spelling and grammar are important, they should only matter to the extent that they impact clarity. If notes are unclear or indecipherable, they’re not useful to anyone who might need to review them later.

In fact, some contact centres do not mark down agents for incorrect spelling or grammar as long as the note accurately reflects the interaction.

Contributed by: Jonty

The Who, When, Why, and What Framework

A common approach to note-taking is using the “Who, When, Why, and What” framework. This helps ensure that the most important details are always recorded:

• Who called, including third-party callers when applicable.
• When the call took place, for record-keeping and tracking.
• Why the customer called, providing context to their inquiry or issue.
• What actions were taken to resolve the issue, including any changes made to the customer’s account or follow-up steps.

This framework ensures that agents focus on the key aspects of the call and don’t get lost in unnecessary details. It also reduces the tendency to write long, rambling notes that may be time-consuming and ineffective.

Contributed by: Josh

Use of Call Reason Codes

Many contact centres use call reason codes to categorise customer inquiries quickly. Best practice suggests keeping this list of codes concise—usually no more than 20.

The codes should be numerical, as this allows for quick entry into the system.

For example, a simple code could be “1” for billing issues and “2” for technical support. These reason codes help agents categorise the call efficiently and ensure consistency in recording customer interactions.

Contributed by: Jonty

Quality Assurance and Standards

Some contact centres incorporate note-taking into their quality assurance (QA) processes.

In my old company we used to tie this in with our call quality standards. Under the ‘Know your stuff’ section of our standards we used to score the agent against ‘were accurate notes placed on the customer’s account’.

My quality assurance team would look for the following:

• Whether the notes accurately reflected the call
• If the customer called on behalf of someone else, the third-party caller’s name was included.
• If changes were made to the customer’s account, such as address changes or discounts, these were properly noted
• If other specific changes were made these were correctly noted (e.g. any discounts, agreements, extensions made)
• If any critical actions were taken, such as addressing data protection concerns (if the caller failed DPA) or selecting the correct call category.

We did not mark down for incorrect spelling or grammar. As long as the notes made sense and gave an accurate reflection.

Contributed by: Carol

Audit Trails and Accountability

A well-documented audit trail is crucial for tracking the progress of a customer issue. When agents interact with other departments or colleagues, they should note exactly who they spoke to and what was discussed. This generates accountability and reduces the risk of important tasks being overlooked or lost.

For example, if a customer calls for an update, agents should be able to easily refer to the case notes and understand the current status of the issue.

This not only helps the agent but also improves the customer experience by providing a clear picture of any progress made.

Contributed by: Jeff

Legal Considerations

In many countries, including the UK, customers have the right to access any information a company holds about them, including the notes made during customer service calls.

Therefore, it’s important for agents to ensure that the notes they write are professional and appropriate. Agents should never include information in the notes that they wouldn’t want the customer to see.

This highlights the need for contact centres to be mindful of what is recorded, ensuring it is accurate, relevant, and respectful of the customer’s privacy.

Contributed by: Sophie

Best Practices and Simplified Guidelines

In general, while there may not be specific standards universally applied across contact centres, several best practices help ensure that note-taking is effective:

• Use abbreviations where appropriate to save time and maintain consistency.
• Ensure accuracy by recording key details like call reasons and actions taken.
• Train agents on how to focus on important information, such as using the “Who, When, Why, and What” framework.
• Create style guides based on best practices, including examples of good note-taking.

By following these guidelines, contact centres can create consistent, high-quality records that benefit both customers and agents.

Contributed by: Smith

This article was made possible due to the great community of experts we have at Call Centre Helper, to get involved just join our LinkedIn Community and and if you aren’t already make sure you are following us on LinkedIn to see our latest content.

For more information on After Call Work, read these articles next:

• What Is After Call Work (ACW) and How Can It Be Improved?
• 10 Top Tips to Reduce Call Centre After Call Work (ACW) Time
• How to Improve Agents Typing While Talking and Listening

Reviewed by: Robyn Coppell