SHM ✅Soft Skills

Safety Hotline Messaging

Verification, Privacy, and Soft Skills

Verifying the Member

When communicating with our members, it is important to verify the member for the Safety Hotline team to call them back.

• Email address
• First and Last name
• City and State or Zip Code

• Phone Number

Verifying the Member

Many times a member will not remember what information they used for their account but you are able to assist them with locating their account:

• Use their full name in CSR.

• Ask if they've used a nickname or a different name.

• To help verify the account without giving away too much information, you can share these small details

• Name: The first letter of their first or last name.

• Email: Just the part after the "@" symbol (like "@yahoo.com").

• City: The first letter.

• State: The first letter.

Remember: To protect the member and their account privacy, use these clues to help them confirm their own information, not to give them the answers.

Soft Skills

As Safety Hotline Message representatives, your interactions with customers are key to their experience. This guide will help you understand and enhance these vital personal skills, enabling us to provide even better service and build stronger customer relationships.

Soft Skills

Communication & Interpersonal Skills:

Active Listening: The ability to fully concentrate on what the caller is saying, both verbally and non-verbally, to understand their concerns, emotions, and needs without interrupting. This includes empathetic listening. Empathy: The capacity to understand and share the feelings of another. For a safety hotline, this means acknowledging the caller's distress, fear, or frustration without necessarily agreeing with their actions, but validating their emotions. Clear and Concise Communication: The ability to convey information simply, directly, and understandably, especially when providing instructions or explaining procedures in a high-stress situation. Avoid jargon.

Soft Skills

Communication & Interpersonal Skills:

Active Listening: The ability to fully concentrate on what the caller is saying, both verbally and non-verbally, to understand their concerns, emotions, and needs without interrupting. This includes empathetic listening. Empathy: The capacity to understand and share the feelings of another. For a safety hotline, this means acknowledging the caller's distress, fear, or frustration without necessarily agreeing with their actions, but validating their emotions. Clear and Concise Communication: The ability to convey information simply, directly, and understandably, especially when providing instructions or explaining procedures in a high-stress situation. Avoid jargon.

Soft Skills

Communication & Interpersonal Skills:

Calm and Reassuring Tone: Maintaining a steady, composed, and soothing voice even when the caller is agitated, panicked, or distressed. This helps de-escalate situations and builds trust. Patience: The ability to remain calm and understanding when dealing with callers who may be repetitive, confused, or emotional, allowing them the time they need to express themselves. Non-Judgmental Approach: Providing support and guidance without expressing personal opinions, biases, or criticisms of the caller's situation or actions. Building Rapport (Briefly): Quickly establishing a sense of trust and connection with the caller to encourage open communication, even in a short interaction. De-escalation: The skill of reducing the intensity of a conflict or emotional outburst, often through empathetic listening, validating feelings, and offering solutions.

Soft Skills

Problem-Solving & Critical Thinking Skills:

Problem Identification: Quickly and accurately identifying the core issue or safety concern the caller is presenting. Critical Thinking: The ability to analyze information, assess the severity of a situation, and determine the most appropriate course of action or resources to offer. Resourcefulness: Knowing where to find and how to access relevant information, protocols, and external resources (e.g., emergency services, specific support agencies) quickly. Adaptability/Flexibility: Being able to adjust communication style and approach based on the caller's emotional state, the specific nature of the safety concern, and evolving situations. Decision-Making (Under Pressure): Making sound judgments and decisions efficiently, often with limited information and under time constraints.

Soft Skills

Behaviors to Avoid: Language and Tone:

Avoid language that assigns blame or expresses personal shock. This includes phrases that imply fault on the caller's part or convey extreme personal reactions to their situation. Refrain from using colloquialisms or highly emotive personal statements. Specifically, avoid phrases like "I would be so mad if that happened to me," as they can minimize the caller's experience and shift focus from their needs. Maintain a neutral, objective, and empathetic tone. The focus should always be on active listening and providing support without interjecting personal feelings or judgments.

Soft Skills

Behaviors to Avoid: Language and Tone:

Audible Sighing: Why to Avoid: Can be interpreted by members as impatience, frustration, or disinterest, even if unintended. Maintain a consistently calm and neutral tone. If you need to take a breath, do so silently. Speaking Over Member: Why to Avoid: Interrupting a member makes them feel unheard, disrespected, and rushed, even if you intend to be efficient. Instead: Practice active listening. Allow the member to complete their statement or thought before you begin speaking, wait for a natural pause in coversation.

Thank you!