In this study, researchers explored whether information gathered from the first two minutes of technical support telephone conversations could predict the callers' satisfaction with the technical support person. The study analyzed 84 calls made by employees of a company to their help desk and used proxy callers and other raters to rate the interactions. Additionally, Receptiviti’s LIWC framework was used to examine the communication style of the technical support persons.
The results showed that the satisfaction of proxy callers, their ratings of the support persons' behavior, and the support persons' use of the first person singular category of the LIWC were all significant predictors of the original callers' satisfaction. This study has important implications for companies' selection and training of customer support employees. By paying close attention to communication style and caller-centered behavior, companies can improve their customers' overall satisfaction and experience.
