Writing a Termination Letter in the Call Centre

CallMiner discuss the keys to writing different types of termination letters in the contact centre.

Terminating professional relationships can be difficult. Whether a situation calls for a company to let go of its employees or, instead, some of its customers, it can be tough to convey the appropriate tone and delivery to those affected.

Similarly, formally ending existing contractual relationships with vendors your business no longer requires can prove to be a challenge for the same reasons.

Presenting affected parties with a clear, concise termination letter is an appropriate formal gesture meant to clarify that their professional relationship with your company has ended, but not all termination letters can or should be handled in the exact same way.

For call centres, there are various ways that termination letters can be created to align with legal best practices and company needs.

We will go over a few key elements of a well-drafted termination letter below, but first, we should touch on the primary types of termination letters that exist.

Types of Termination Letters

Termination letters are especially useful for providing legally verifiable notice to affected parties of your organization’s relationship with them coming to an end.

How this ought to be done depends on the type of termination letter you intend to create and send. The two main types of termination letters call centres tend to handle are the following:

Employee Termination Letters

Termination letters that fall under this category are used to notify an employee in writing that they are being laid off or terminated. These types of termination letters can be tricky to create due to employees potentially pursuing legal action against your business over their dismissal.

If an employee is being dismissed due to performance concerns, you should keep all documentation on file such as data from quality assurance software solutions or performance monitoring reports, as well as any documentation from agent coaching sessions. And of course, be sure that all agents are made aware of performance expectations during onboarding and training.

Regardless of the grounds on which your employee is let go, it is important to consult with an attorney before giving anyone an employment termination letter.

Also, it is important to note that including the exact reason for an employee’s dismissal in your letter is typically ill-advised as this can place legal limitations on your organization should the employee in question choose to escalate the situation to a court of law.

Employee termination letters should generally include the following details:

• The date of termination
• Information about the notice period
• Information about final payments and cessation of benefits

In addition to the above, it is important to consider the tone of your letter as you create it. Your word choices have the power to convey many emotions and should be considered carefully. Opt for professionalism and simplicity for the best results.

Service Termination Letters

These kinds of termination letters can be either customer-oriented or business-oriented. They are intended to serve as clear notification that a given business should or will cease to provide services to the recipient immediately or on a specified date.

It may be necessary to terminate services extended to customers for a variety of reasons, and these can be described for posterity in the termination letter. The same can be said of customers requesting termination of services in accordance with the guidelines set out in their contract with the company in question.

Whether you are terminating services received from another company or letting customers know you will be discontinuing services soon, there are important details worth incorporating into your letter.

Include the following in your service termination letter to ensure your customers and/or providers have all the information they may need from you:

• Your company’s contact information
• Reasons for discontinuing service
• The exact services being terminated
• The date the service will be terminated

Termination Letter Examples

The following examples of termination letters put the important points touched on above into practice.

Customer Support Employee Termination Example

This example clearly demonstrates how employee dismissals over poor performance in a customer support role can be handled professionally.

General Employee Termination Example

In this example, important information regarding the discontinuing of an employee’s health and insurance benefits following their termination is provided.

In addition to this, clear contact information is given along with instructions for returning company property.

Business Contract Termination Letter

This termination letter example shows how you can go about issuing a termination notice to businesses whose services you had previously contracted. Unlike other customer service termination letters, this one touches on how remaining orders will be filled.

Putting together the perfect termination letter involves taking all the considerations we’ve touched on above into account in addition to legal advice from a licensed legal practitioner who is experienced in relevant employment regulations for your area.

By taking the time to put the steps you’ve taken to terminate existing business relationships with other companies, your clients and your employees into writing, you can protect your company from legal repercussions and document business dealings with greater accuracy.

This blog post has been re-published by kind permission of CallMiner – View the Original Article

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Call Centre Helper is not responsible for the content of these guest blog posts. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of Call Centre Helper.