Discovering Call Interaction Fluency: A Way to Improve Experiences with Call Centres

Previous studies have often neglected the influence of call centre employee communication competencies on customer response, and this is the first study to integrate the concept of fluency into the call centre service experience. This study investigates the role of call interaction fluency in customer-employee interactions through call centres. Specifically, we conceptualise and develop a scale to measure call interaction fluency (study 1) and propose a model (study 2) in which fluency is linked to the customer’s emotional response (anger), an evaluation of the interaction (interaction satisfaction), and the customer-company relationship (call aversion, trust, and satisfaction with the company). We also introduce the role of the coping strategy used by customers depending on their initial emotional state (study 3). The results provide an easy-to-administer scale to measure call interaction fluency, and both direct and indirect effects are shown in a holistic model. Agent’s nationality and gender and customer’s age moderated the effect of call interaction fluency on interaction satisfaction; fluent interaction proved to be efficacious for both emotion-focused and problem-focused customers. Our results reveal that fluency should be considered when designing training programmes for call centre employees.