What mistakes do phone operators make, and how do you fix them?
Sado AI team · · 4 min read
In short
Most operator mistakes come from habit, not lack of knowledge: greeting without the company name, never asking the caller’s name, guessing a price, putting people on hold without asking, transferring so the caller has to repeat everything, and saying goodbye without agreeing a next step. Each has a ready-made correct phrase. To find them, listen to a few recordings a week, fix one mistake at a time and add the right phrase to the cheat sheet.
Ten mistakes and the right phrases
New and experienced operators both make these. Each one has a ready replacement:
| Mistake | How it sounds | Better |
|---|---|---|
| A nameless greeting | “Hello, yes?” | “Assalomu alaykum, Sharq Tour, Dilshod speaking” |
| Never asking the name | The whole call without a name | “May I have your name? … Kamola, let me tell you” |
| A guessed price | “About a million, I think” | “Let me check the exact price and tell you right away” |
| Hold without asking | Silence, then music | “Could you hold for a minute? I’ll check” |
| A transfer that makes them repeat | “Call another number” | “I’m putting you through to our manager Anvar, I’ve told him your question” |
| Arguing | “No, you’ve misunderstood” | “I understand, let’s go through it together” |
| Missing the caller’s language | The caller speaks Uzbek, the operator carries on in Russian | Switch to the language the caller speaks |
| Goodbye with no next step | “OK, thanks, bye” | “So we’ll see you tomorrow at 11. We’ll remind you the day before” |
| Nothing in the CRM | The call happened, the card is empty | One line after every call: what was agreed |
| A long monologue | Two minutes listing services | One question: “What are you interested in?” |
An angry caller: the right conversation
For example, a customer calls a travel agency about their documents after three days without an answer:
Caller: I’ve been calling for three days and nobody answers! What’s happening with my documents?
Sado: I’m sorry you had to wait. I’ll check it myself right now. Could you give me your name and travel date?
Caller: Rustam Karimov, Dubai on 20 December.
Sado: Rustam, found it. Your documents were accepted and the answer comes on Friday. Shall I call you on Friday to tell you?
Caller: Yes, call me.
Sado: Fine, I’ll call on Friday before 12. Sorry again.
The operator didn’t argue or look for someone to blame: he apologised, checked, gave a clear answer and took the next step on himself.
How to fix mistakes across the team
- Each week, listen to a few recordings per operator and mark the mistakes from the table: how to score call recordings.
- Pick the one mistake the team makes most and work only on that for a week.
- Write the right phrase on the cheat sheet and practise it out loud in a five-minute huddle.
- The next week, check the recordings: is that mistake rarer?
- Give new operators the right phrases from day one: the first-week plan.
Whose mistake is it: the operator’s or the process’s?
If many operators make the same mistake, it isn’t about people. The price list is out of date, the script is too long, or there’s no time to write notes after a call. Then fix the process, not the operator. For example, expecting a long comment after every call from someone taking 80 calls a day is a mistake: add ready-made fields to the CRM and let them just tick.
What about an AI operator
An AI operator says it the same way every time: it greets with the company name, answers in the caller’s language, Uzbek or Russian, and gives prices only from the company’s facts. If it doesn’t know, it doesn’t make things up: it says a manager will call back and creates a task.
After every call the answers, a short summary and the next step go into the portal, so “I forgot to log it” never happens. How this compares with a team of people: AI operator vs call centre. Try it live.
Questions
Should operators be fined for mistakes?
Fines teach people to hide mistakes. Better to listen to the recording together, give the right phrase and link a bonus to the quality score.
Which mistake costs the most?
Usually the goodbye with no next step and the made-up price: the first loses the customer, the second loses trust. Fix those first.
Is it a mistake when an operator says “I don’t know”?
“I don’t know” isn’t the mistake; nothing happening after it is. Say “Let me check and call you back in 15 minutes”, keep the promise on time and add the answer to the cheat sheet.
Do experienced operators make mistakes too?
Yes, the ones that became habits: long monologues, rushed goodbyes. Review their recordings regularly as well.