October 2003

By Bill Byron Concevitch, Witness Systems

As the pace of today's contact centers continues to accelerate, the need for immediate knowledge and skill transfer becomes increasingly important. As customer service representatives are challenged with more complexity, supervisors and call center managers are charged with doing more with less. Agents are handling more sophisticated problems and questions, requiring continual training and education. Attempting to make more out of less means agents must try to upsell or cross-sell products and services, which requires that agents have thorough knowledge of the company's product/service line. Leveraging e-learning as a means to improve customer service effectiveness is emerging as a substantial competitive advantage.

To improve the customer experience as well as increase job satisfaction and retention among agents, organizations are implementing customer interaction software, supplemented by a dynamic learning environment, to help align people, processes and technology for increased performance and profitability. Now, organizations have the ability to address skill deficiencies faster with e-learning based on actual performance. The result is a dynamic learning environment in which agents and management alike can experience performance improvements that customers welcome. Driving learning based on skill gaps, while fostering an environment in which learning content can be created quickly and easily, and then distributed even faster, helps result in a 'dynamic' workplace best suited for optimum learning.

With the right tools, companies are better positioned to identify training opportunities and skill gaps based on agents' performance evaluation scores. They can then use those results to measure how well performance stacks up against the 'training thresholds' that have been established by their company's quality assurance and/or training and education groups.

In the contact center, e-learning represents an automated way to bring training and development courses directly to the staff's desktops. In this environment, e-learning enables companies to augment existing one-on-one coaching and training sessions ' that will continue to have an important role in the development process ' with newer methods that allow agents to drive training and learn at their own pace. Research has indicated that e-learning is retained at a rate of more than three times that of classroom training largely because agents are becoming active participants in their own development.

In fact, as many companies begin implementing new technologies, integrating different customer touch points (phone, Web, etc.) and launching new business models, organizations are faced with the demand for better-educated agents. To more rapidly and flexibly deliver learning to agents, industry analysts expect a rapid increase in the use of e-learning for remote classrooms, demonstrations of new applications to agents and customers, product demonstrations and the delivery of packaged training modules. According to Gartner, the current level of training for agents is two percent of budget; however, through 2006, they expect training budgets to climb to five percent for agents working within contact centers. As a result, contact center e-learning is needed than ever.

E-learning is not only more accessible, it's more cost-effective. It reduces the 'soft' costs associated with traditional learning practices, such as instructor-led classroom sessions, that take agents away from their workstations for extended periods of time. It also helps eliminate 'hard' costs like those associated with agent travel and expenses to/from off-site training venues. Finally, it enables agents to learn anywhere, anytime because training is all browser-based. For remote agents, this is an especially strong benefit in that they are now guaranteed the same level of training as those who work within the physical contact center location.

Some companies are choosing to create segments of training from actual customer interactions through software that requires a minimum of time and training development expertise. This new 'disposable learning' indicates that these training segments require little time or skill to create and may be disposed of even after minimal use due to the low overall cost to produce and deliver. The disposable learning concept was designed for the unpredictable call center environment, in which companies launch new campaigns and service offerings weekly, in some cases even daily. Disposable learning can become a key to higher productivity and enhanced customer service levels in the dynamic contact center environment.

Following is a process for creating an unattended coaching session from a best-practices example:

' Create/identify best-practices examples from recorded interactions.

' Export the chosen interactions from your customer interaction recording software.

' Use the interaction editor to segment the audio (voice)/video (data) and mask any confidential information.

' For interactive sessions, create callouts and information balloons and ask questions.

' The editing software allows assessments to be created that can be tracked through the dynamic learning environment created by leveraging the contact center e-learning software.

' The content can be e-mailed, distributed as a hyperlink to the contact center Web site or delivered though the contact center e-learning software.

Working with a consulting group should be considered to assist in creating e-learning content specific to an individual organization. By using recorded customer interactions, online training modules can be developed based on the real-life scenarios encountered by agents every day.

Conducting workshops can prepare organizations to identify the interactions that represent best practices, and then build e-learning modules to emphasize both technical and soft skills development. Content from the workshop can be delivered by the dynamic learning environment created in the contact center with the help of e-learning software, enabling center management to deliver online learning while tracking improvements on an individual and team basis.

The training program can be taken to the next level by virtually simulating real-life customer service situations for new-hires and seasoned agents to solve. This allows agents to interact with customers and test their knowledge of technological resources and procedures under simulated and controlled conditions. In addition, it can instill and reinforce corporate objectives as they are linked to the best-practices modules that have been constructed. Most important, it will raise the confidence level of agents, enabling them to deliver better customer service.

Creating A Workshop

Following is a helpful checklist to follow when developing a workshop.

' Review corporate objectives and how these are linked to the desired behaviors and measurements used to evaluate CSRs;

' Establish training objectives and desired outcomes;

' Determine best-practices interactions to be used as e-learning content;

' Learn how to effectively use editing software to build training segments; and

' Create e-learning modules specifically for your organization that can be put to use immediately.

To create a dynamic learning environment successfully in the call center, adhere to the following key points:

Create/identify best-practices examples from recorded interactions. To direct training to agents and enable a dynamic learning environment, first identify where their skills gaps and learning opportunities lie. That's where performance evaluations based on customer interaction recordings can help. Through the selective recording of interactions agents have with customers, management teams can better capture these contacts and later replay them, evaluate performance and then analyze effectiveness. With automated multimedia customer interaction recording, the results gained speak volumes about the center, its performance and its revenue opportunities. Insight can be gathered into the effectiveness of the contact center's technology resources, and a determination can be made as to whether the business processes established are working and how well agents are servicing customers. As a result, a road map of knowledge will develop about what types and topics of training are needed to optimize customer relationships and business practices. Additionally, it can quickly be determined if those training areas are required enterprisewide, applicable to a certain group or just necessary for a specific individual who simply requires a refresher course to fine-tune his/her proficiencies.

Export the chosen interactions by capturing and evaluating the conversations between agents and customers. As soon as learning opportunities are identified in this manner, 'chunks' or segments of training can be delivered directly to agents' desktops via call center e-learning management software. An example of a skill gap that might trigger an e-learning session might be focused on upselling and cross-selling techniques ' a concept referred to as 'one-to-one selling' ' or even tips for managing customer interactions through newer communications channels, such as e-mail and collaborative Web chat. By prioritizing and delivering segments of training, contact centers can automate how they apply organizational learning. The result is an environment for continuous performance improvement that can help companies ensure their customers receive consistent service across all touch points.

Identify and deliver online learning and mentoring based on agent skill gaps. The merits that create a dynamic learning environment extend beyond agent training and skill enhancement. Dynamic learning in the contact center can serve as a communications channel to unveil new company policies ' such as human resources announcements about a new medical plan or open enrollment for participation in the employee stock purchase plan. It can be directed to the entire organization due to its impact on each employee. Some companies direct group or team learning sessions to all agents to get them up-to-speed on a new product or service introduction just prior to its launch in anticipation of consumer inquiries into the center. To avoid a 'ready, shoot, aim' world, regular communication via an electronic learning vehicle can help ensure agents are current with the latest news and procedures.

Using The Content For Continued Success

The recording, evaluation and analysis information that drives the dynamic learning environment points to another advantage for contact centers in the area of agent retention. By focusing on performance and helping agents set goals and milestones ' many of which are achieved with the help of e-learning ' agents more often perceive they have a true career path and can become active participants in the course of their own development and advancement. With the knowledge and understanding that the company is investing in the agent's development, he/she will be more motivated to stay and grow within the organization. Employee retention still remains a substantial challenge for centers as they strive to offer competitive packages; a team-focused, healthy work environment and a path to move to the next level. Studies have supported the effectiveness of employee 'buy-in' to such programs by stating that after their agents go through training, they become more highly motivated and effective.

In addition to having an impact on customer loyalty and retention, staff satisfaction and morale, a dynamic learning environment introduces another important facet to how centers examine performance. Contact centers can now more accurately measure the quality and effectiveness of the training programs they implement. As agents complete learning segments and take short evaluation tests, the results can be fed back into the e-learning software to trigger recording of subsequent customer interactions. Feedback on these contacts can help determine the impact of training and how well agents are applying their new skills and knowledge in real-world customer scenarios.

Tracking service standards, customer satisfaction levels and agent development and retention rates can point to how well customer-focused goals, revenue targets and overall corporate objectives are being met. Companies can continually enhance their service delivery, agent development and even measure the impact their training programs have. The visibility and benefits e-learning solutions deliver will only continue to become more evident as companies deploy the solutions and see their satisfaction rates improve.

Another key factor for continuously delivering a dynamic learning environment is to educate the management team and agent population so everyone understands the technologies and procedures in place to measure performance within the contact center. The by-product of this internal 'marketing' plan should be an enterprise focus, not just in the customer-facing support centers. For example, HR can use an online evaluation tool to help complete agents' 90-day and annual performance appraisals, reducing the amount of time it takes managers to prepare them.

Agents have long been the front-line to customers; it is vital that agents, managers and supervisors have the appropriate tools needed to consistently optimize customer relationships. Through monitoring, evaluation and integrated e-learning, coupled with a dynamic learning environment, companies can help ensure their customers interact with enthusiastic, motivated agents and obtain consistent service via any channel available to them.

Bill Byron Concevitch serves as the e-learning director for Witness Systems (witness.com). He has an extensive track record and career in the e-learning and training field, and focuses his time working with regional sales teams to build up Witness' global e-learning business and also manages the strategic direction of Witness' e-learning initiatives.

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