CRM script maintenance overview

A CRM script is a sequence of instructions, guidance notes, questions and, where appropriate, links to other related sources of information that will be presented to an operator when processing a customer interaction. Ensuring that customer interactions are handled in a consistent and professional way is a key driver for the use of scripts, as well as to control the systematic progression of calls and to capture all required information. A script can encapsulate any type of discrete process, as a step by step approach, which can then be followed easily by an operator, even when it is not their usual area of expertise. For instance, a script could be created to guide an operator through receiving a call via a contact centre and then launching related scripts depending on the nature of the query. The script might begin with an initial greeting before moving onto questions designed to capture the caller's identity and nature of their query, which will ultimately trigger topic-specific scripts.

A CRM script definition is created to configure the end-to-end workflow of an individual script, categorised under one of four script types:

Pre-Script - A concise introductory script that is presented to the end user when a customer interaction is first initiated. This might combine a standardised welcome prescribed by the housing organisation as well establishing the context of the call.
Security Script - During a customer interaction it is quite common for sensitive data to be referenced; hence a security script would be used to establish the true identity of the caller, through the request of, say, a date of birth, a component of an address, the method by which rent payments are made, etc.
Case Script - This represents the main body of the script and will instruct the end user on questions they need to ask and the related actions that need to be carried out. The complexity of a case script depends largely on the nature of the specific customer interaction and is at the discretion of the organisation, most likely including a range of components such as question sets, background information, text to be conveyed to the caller and further guidance notes to inform the operator.
Task Script - A task is a discrete activity within the overall case, representing a specific action that needs to be conducted. A script can be created to channel the end user through all aspects of completing the individual task.

In most cases, scripts will need to make reference to any number of data fields that are pertinent to the customer interaction; hence it is possible to link the script definition to a module area in which these required fields are located. An integral part of the CRM script definition is the insertion of any number of elements - script components - to represent the workflow outcomes and actions that are used to progress a customer interaction. Any number of elements can be employed and each one assigned a different type to control its behaviour. A new element within a script can be thought of as the next progression stage, and advancement through to a particular branch of the overall workflow is managed through set conditions, with separate nodes available to match all possible outcomes. The final step of the element creation process is to define the appearance of the script output, as viewed by the end user, using the integral script editor feature.

Separate help articles have been created for each key aspect of CRM script maintenance, including: