Call Center Made Easy

THE LEARNING CYCLE | System skills training

2012-02-10T08:02:00.000-08:00

The idea that people learn in different ways has been explored over the last few decades, by many researchers. Kolb is one of the most influential of these. His experiential learning cycle is recognized as being one of the cornerstones of understanding how individuals learn effectively. With his colleagues, he found that individuals begin with their preferred style in the experiential learning cycle (see Figure 1). Participants can easily become bored if the training approaches used during the session only tap into one learning style. Kolb’s research found that people learn in four ways, with the likelihood that they will develop one mode of learning more than another. As shown in the experiential learning cycle model, learning occurs through four key areas:

concrete experience (doing);
observation and reflection (reviewing);
abstract conceptualization (concluding);
active experimentation (planning).

Figure 1: Kolb’s learning cycle

This cycle suggests that there are four stages, which follow from each other. Concrete Experience, which is having an experience, is followed by a personal Reflection on that experience, or time to think about what just happened. This may then be followed by learning from the experience, or the application of known theories to it – Abstract Conceptualization. This then leads to the construction of ways of modifying the next occurrence of the experience, Active Experimentation; leading in turn to the next Concrete Experience. All this may happen in a flash or over days, weeks or months, depending on the topic, and there may be a ‘wheels within wheels’ process at the same time.

The four stages in the cycle are mutually dependent and in your role as trainer you can benefit by building time for each of the four elements into your training programme. Essentially, good learning design should ensure that each learning activity has i) an experience of some kind, ii) time for facilitated reflection, iii) time for facilitated conclusion and, iv) an opportunity to plan the use of the experience in practice.

TYPES OF COACHING

2012-02-07T07:55:00.000-08:00

Coaching tends to be a popular form of development for customer service representatives. The general methods of formal coaching and mentoring involve:

si ing alongside the agent listening to calls;
one-to-ones;
listening remotely or to recordings and providing feedback;
coach and agent jointly listening to recordings;
mentoring – a more experienced agent giving feedback;
a roving coach providing ad hoc feedback;
coach and team members all listening to recordings;
buddying;
peer coaching;
informal coaching;
self-coaching.

Sitting alongside the adviser

‘Sitting by Nellie’ is a term o en associated with coaching and teaching someone how to do a job. It enables the coach and the learner to observe each other and to listen in to calls. In other industries there is a requirement for physical proximity because of the need to observe performance; however, in contact centres, information and communications technology allows remote listening and feedback.

One-to-one coaching

Not all coaching should be provided in public spaces such as at the workstation. There are many circumstances where it is advisable to conduct the coaching session in private. The presence of other people can inhibit both the coach and the learner and prevent true rapport from being developed. There should be a dedicated coaching room(s) with the necessary equipment, furnished to make it a relaxed environment.

Listening to recordings helps to highlight things that may not be noticed:

A lot of the time it isn’t what they say, it’s the tone in which they say it. . . I play something and I’ll just stop it and say, ‘Shall we listen to that again?’, rewind it and then they’ll go, ‘I didn’t know I said it like that’. It makes them analyse themselves and really wake up to their mistakes.’ (Taylor, 1998: 93).

Listening remotely

Listening remotely to a call can be done with or without the knowledge of the adviser and its use will o en depend on work practices and culture. Some advisers will not be unduly concerned that someone is listening in to their calls while others may become so anxious that it may affect their performance.

Where this form of surveillance is used without informing the adviser it is hard not to consider it a ‘Big Brother’ tactic. If the purpose is to continually keep advisers ‘on their toes’, this suggests that the organization does not fully trust the advisers to produce a professional performance.

Where remote listening is carried out with the knowledge of the adviser it can be a very helpful means of coaching and encouraging performance. It is not intrusive to the customer and provides the opportunity for rapid feedback and guidance as soon as the call is completed.

Mentoring

Mentoring is o en undertaken between a more experienced senior person and one with fewer skills and experience. In many organizations the two people o en work in different departments and do not have direct daily interaction. In this way, the relationship can be more open and supportive than if one had direct operational responsibility for the other.

The roaming coach

Many coaches spend some of their time walking the floor and providing support at the advisers’ desks and this can be systematically timetabled as well as being impromptu. The benefit of the latter is that coaching and feedback can be directly related to a particular need, eg after a challenging call. Also, the potential for learning is high if it is close in time to a specific issue. Coaches ‘walking the floor’ also give advisers the opportunity to seek more informal assistance than arranging a formal coaching session.

Coach and team members listen to recordings

Coaching need not be purely one-to-one. Weekly team meetings provide good opportunities to listen to recordings as a group, with colleagues giving advice and recommendations about how to address specific issues, eg a difficult caller or problem. On the whole, it is better to choose incidents that have relevance to the whole team rather than one person.

Buddying

Buddying is a popular and widely used form of coaching, with 75 per cent of centres using this method (Dimension Data, 2005: 209). It is also particularly successful with new employees who are sometimes paired with experienced advisers for the first six months of employment to provide advice and support. To increase motivation, incentive payments have been made to mentors if the new recruit remains with the organization for a minimum period of time (Income Data Services, 2004).

Informal coaching

Coaching can also occur informally and in many contact centres the CSRs sit in close proximity. This is o en in the form of pods, which consist of about eight to 10 people working in a circle facing one another. This physical structure enables less experienced operators to temporarily interrupt the call and seek advice and information from their colleagues.

Coaching oneself

Self-monitoring during a call is a skill used by all experienced advisers as a means of assessing how well they are conducting the conversation with the caller. Advisers can also reflect on a call after it has happened and mentally replay language, tone and fluency to identify what went well and what could have gone be er.

Recorded conversations can also be used by advisers to monitor, assess and develop themselves through listening again to calls and assessing their own performance figures. Visual computer analysis of calls can also be used to highlight where the adviser interrupts, speaks over the caller, etc.

The benefits of self-coaching are that it is less threatening and allows the learners to self-monitor, which will develop a continuous reflection of their behaviour. If this is carried out successfully it reduces the load on the team leader.

Making available call performance recordings and data to the adviser may at first appear threatening; however, if it is done in a spirit of learning and trust then this can be a very successful way of encouraging development.

Coaching is not criticism

2012-02-03T00:54:00.000-08:00

Coaching is generally regarded as a form of constructive one-to-one development that involves identifying areas where performance is not up to the required standard and developing agreed solutions to address the performance gap. Unfortunately, coaching delivered in the wrong manner or through an inappropriate system can be perceived negatively by the learner. In fact, even genuine coaching can be interpreted negatively by the learner and so it should be approached professionally.

Another area of concern is the use of the term ‘coaching’ when what is actually meant is ‘criticism’. This use of the word ‘coaching’ as a so form of criticism or discipline corrupts and degrades the original meaning of the word and thus undermines those who coach in an ethical and professional manner.

It is essential to separate coaching from performance evaluation because the two processes have very different purposes. Coaching may involve an assessment of a person’s skills but the main objective is about development and improvement of performance. Performance assessment connected to salary or other forms of ranking should be completely separated from the coaching process.

The most satisfactory solution to this is to ensure that the person doing the coaching is not involved with performance assessment or grading. In this way the relationship is not compromised; however, in many organizations the team leader who provides input on performance is also the coach. Encouraging the team leader to be a coach is entirely logical and practical, but this structural arrangement may also mean there is a conflict of interest and roles.

The reasons for separating grading and coaching are obvious. For successful coaching to happen there needs to be trust and a true rapport between the coach and learner. If learners feel that their performance is also being assessed and that this may impact upon salary or other benefits they will feel inhibited about admitting limitations and mistakes, etc.

Coaching the coaches

In many organizations there are trained and dedicated coaches whose main purpose is to support and develop employees. But o en the role of coaching falls within the remit of the team leader or manager who may have extensive knowledge and skills but who does not necessarily have experience of coaching. The problem is that team leaders get promoted because they are good at their job, not necessarily because they are good at managing and leading. For these reasons, there should be general management training for team leaders and this should include coaching them how to coach. In particular, induction training for team leaders should include coaching skills.

EMPLOYMENT FOR THE ALTERNATIVELY-ABLED AT REMPLOY

2012-01-28T00:12:00.000-08:00

The 1944 Disabled Persons (Employment) Act provided the legal foundation for the first comprehensive structure to support disabled people in the UK. It led to the establishment of the Disabled Persons Employment Corporation in April 1945 and the first factory was opened in Bridgend, South Wales in 1946 making furniture and violins. Much of the momentum for these developments was the provision of suitable employment for disabled ex-servicemen. The title ‘Remploy’, meaning ‘re-employ’, was first registered by the ex-Services Employment Welfare and was adopted in 1946. The mission of Remploy is, ‘To expand the opportunities for disabled people in sustainable employment with Remploy and the communities it serves.’ Currently, over half of employees have a mental health condition or learning disability.

Remploy has a network of 82 factories in a wide range of operations across the UK and has a turnover of £165 million. In 2005 more than 5,700 people were employed in Remploy businesses and over 3,500 disabled people were assisted in finding jobs with employers. The aim is to maximize the number of disabled people in employment through employment in Remploy manufacturing businesses, service sector businesses and encouraging people into mainstream employment.

Remploy (2005: 24) considers that, ‘Learning and development is the key cornerstone to success in Remploy. It is the key enabling process that allows every person we employ or support into work to achieve their potential and independence.’ Company policy is that 5 per cent of employees’ time is spent on development and in Remploy Offiscope (a division of Remploy) it is between 10 and 15 per cent. Approximately 5,000 external courses are run across the organization and 1,000 people gained a literacy or numeracy qualification and more than 300 people gained an IT qualification. Overall, 60 per cent of employees received training leading to a qualification (Remploy, 2005). Each work site has a union learning representative and this has led to the establishment of a learning centre at each of the factories. Use is also made of Learn Direct courses and each factory has links to a local college with tutors providing training including basic skills.

Remploy has two call centres based in Aberdeen and Acton, north London, which support internal operations and mainly provide services for external organizations, many of whom are from the charity sector, eg Royal National Institute for the Blind. Remploy Offiscope can provide call centre services and combine this with dispatching, thus providing an integrated fulfilment service.

The Aberdeen call centre was set up in July 2000 with 15 seats and eight people working there. The number of employees depends on the volume of work generated by contracts and there is a very low churn rate, with people staying with Remploy for many years. When new staff are required they are located by Interwork (a Remploy agency). No specific qualifications are required although skills assessments are carried out and flexibility and enthusiasm are expected.

The learning and development structure

Induction training has evolved over the years and includes company information, health and safety, data protection, office procedures, customer service, communication skills (including enthusiasm, rate, flow, clarity, tone, voice mirroring), objection handling, and why people buy.

There is a buddy system where the new person sits next to an experienced person. Support is also provided through listening in and also replaying calls. Informally, there is also the opportunity to hold calls and seek advice from colleagues or the supervisor.

With regard to ongoing training, clients are encouraged to come and deliver training about themselves, their products and services so that Remploy becomes a virtual part of their organization. There is a considerable amount of role play and test calls before a new client’s system goes live. Clients sometimes require changes in the provision of service and this leads to further training. Some advisers have achieved S/NVQs for learning supported by a local college. During quieter times staff are encouraged to use the computers to increase their own learning.

Remploy is ISO 9001 accredited, which means that there are detailed procedures including a training matrix and the monitoring of training. There is a training plan and also a training log for each client. There is a performance appraisal system that also includes a development plan.

The technology will allow both Aberdeen and Acton to operate as a virtual call centre and it also has the potential to enable people to work from home. However, working within Remploy provides the opportunity to interact socially and allows employees to be given good care and attention. Working onsite also provides more opportunities for learning and for all these reasons homeworking has not yet been introduced.

GIVING FEEDBACK | Coaching and mentoring

2012-01-25T08:12:00.000-08:00

Giving honest feedback is not an easy thing to do and some coaches shy away from it, defeating the purpose. However, being honest does not mean that the limitations of the learner have to be starkly presented to him or her in a personally threatening manner. Ideally, the feedback should be invited by the learner not presented by the coach and it should be done in a manner where the learner does not reject the information.

Holding back on giving honest information so as not to cause offence prejudices the chances that the learner’s behaviour will improve. The true message should not be so deeply hidden that the learner is unable to recognize it. In order to do this:

Feedback should be clear and specific.
It should focus on the behaviour and not on the person.
It should focus on behaviour that can be improved.
It should be invited where possible and not thrust at the learner.
It should be delivered in a timely manner.

An effective model for giving feedback is the DESC approach by Bower and Bower (1976). Essentially, it involves identifying the goal or objective you wish to achieve then following this process:

Describe your situation in terms of what happened; describe behaviour and not the person.
Express your feelings about the situation in a calm and constructive way.
Specify what you would like to happen.
Consequences – explain the positive implications of the change in behaviour and/or what might happen without a change in behaviour.

Another very useful model for improving communication and coaching is the Johari Window (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: The Johari Window

In Figure 1 there are four areas within the quadrant: arena, blind spot, façade and unknown. The arena represents the area of common understanding by you and the other person. The blind spot represents that which is known by the other person but not by you. The façade illustrates what you know and what is not known by the other person. Finally, the unknown area represents that which is not known by you or the other person.

If we wish to improve communication and understanding in the blind spot and façade areas it is important that more information is provided by you and/or the other person in order to draw the exchange into the arena. Where nothing is known by both people, investigation and research are necessary to identify what is unknown thereby allowing it to be carefully examined and discussed.

The importance of timing

Coaching feedback should be delivered in a timely fashion. If the period of time between the behaviour and the feedback is long then the coachee may not remember what happened or be less inclined to do anything about it. This means that the coach or team leader needs to be up to speed with all the metrics and behaviours of their team. Learners will know which coaches and team leaders are on top of their jobs and those who are not. It is therefore necessary to be up to date and also to set a good example.

Providing prompt feedback is a more successful means of behavioural change. This can o en be done through listening in to calls and providing guidance and recommendations as soon as the call ends.

Coaching is not criticism

Another area of concern is the use of the term ‘coaching’ when what is actually meant is ‘criticism’ (Cameron, 2000). This use of the word ‘coaching’ as a so form of criticism or discipline corrupts and degrades the original meaning of the word and thus undermines those who coach in an ethical and professional manner.

Coaching the coaches

TRAINING AND COACHING AT ING/POSTBANK ZAKELIJK

2012-01-22T09:09:00.000-08:00

In 1991, two large banking and insurance firms in the Netherlands (Nationale Nederlanden and MNB Postbank Group) merged to form ING, one of the largest financial services companies in the world. The ING brand offers banking, insurance and asset management in more than 50 countries worldwide. Most activities are ING branded, but there are also some very strong local brands, eg Postbank. In the Netherlands, the contact centres of ING bank and of Postbank Zakelijk (Postbank Business) operate as one unit, as they both serve mainly business customers. Headquarters and central management are located in Amsterdam.

The contact centres of Postbank Zakelijk are located in Arnhem and Amsterdam and employ 100 FTE customer service representatives. Each location has a manager and teams consist of 12 CSRs and a unit supervisor. In addition, about 40 FTEs work in the correspondence department and deal with written mail and e-mails only.

Recruitment and induction

All new CSRs at ING/Postbank Zakelijk are hired by a temporary work agency that does the first selection. A group assessment and a click talk with the unit managers is also part of the selection process. Because of the high skill demands, CSRs need to have commercial experience in sales or other call centres, secondary vocation education (MBO level or more) and have the right attitudes and competencies. Words like dare, eagerness, charisma and team player must apply to them and they should have good communication skills.

Induction training is normally in groups of 10 and involves products, processes and systems, with different types of learning being used including simulated calls, presentations, cases, role plays, etc. There is some attrition during the early stages, approximately two people in every group of eight to 10 who start the training leave, either during the induction training or in the first weeks after the training. This may be because the level is too high even for graduates of tertiary vocational education (HBO). The final exam after the induction training is a big hurdle. If CSRs fail and their motivation and behaviour are considered really good, they can do a resit. If they fail the resit, they will have to leave.

Organization and structure of training

The training department of the contact centre is based at ING headquarters in Amsterdam and consists of a coordinator and a project leader. In addition, each contact centre location has a trainer, who is interchangeable; if necessary, trainers can work at different locations. The training department develops and gives training, determines ING’s training strategy and meets regularly to discuss issues. It has a central budget, which includes money to pay for external training given to all CSRs. In general, all product, process and system training is in-house. Sales training and conversation training are provided by two external training agencies. Basic sales training is covered during induction and this is supplemented later with more advanced courses. In addition to the central training budget, each unit manager has a decentralized budget (an amount of money per CSR) to develop CSRs.

CSRs do not use scripts and have a lot of freedom in their customer contacts, as long as targets are reached by the end of the year. They can look up information on customers, their contact history, and on all financial products and services in the electronic knowledge system. In addition, call guides on the CSRs’ desks help them with special promotions or sales. These call guides provide examples of standard phrases CSRs could use, the main objections of customers and how to refute them, and some information on the products.

Experienced CSRs also follow additional training on customer complaints, conversation skills, and on new products, special promotions and product updates. Major changes in products or services are announced by e-mail and explained in the regular team meetings. All updates are stored in the knowledge database. Sometimes, there will be a short (maximum one hour) instruction on a product change. There is also additional training on the knowledge database and on e-mail. Training for experienced CSRs is only done when workload allows it, ie in down-times. In addition, this training should not take too long. These limitations often lead to a ‘struggle’ between the training department and the planning department.

Coaching

CSRs receive a print-out of their performance each week in which they can see whether they are above, on, or under target. The unit managers personally bring these print-outs to the CSRs and then informally talk to them about the outcomes. Targets are, for example, on sales, call time, login time and breaks.

Coaching is done at least six times a year and there is a coaching calendar to keep track of the knowledge, skills and attitude of CSRs and their points of attention. As training can only be carried out in down-times, unit managers spend quite a lot of time listening in to calls and developing CSRs’ skills at work.

Coaching is done by sitting next to CSRs and listening in to calls. Sometimes calls are taped. There is a checklist for content per product and an ‘online sales model’ to score conversation skills. These checklists contain 30 items on which CSRs can score. In an individual interview, the items and targets are discussed and three points of attention are mentioned and agreed upon. For example, these could be listening in with a colleague who is good at selling a specific product; using a specific phrase three times a day in calls; or selling a specific product twice each day.

All CSRs, like all other employees of ING bank, have an individual development plan that outlines their personal training and development. CSRs have a formal talk with their unit manager three times a year. At the beginning of the year, they have a planning interview to set goals and targets. Half way (in June) there is a staff appraisal to check up on the CSR’s goals, and at the end of the year there is a performance appraisal to judge whether targets are met. ING says the system is ‘working successfully’. A good performance could lead to a small salary increase. A bad performance means that CSRs have to enter a specific coaching trajectory for six months in which clear expectations and actions are indicated. If they succeed and get a good evaluation, then they are allowed to stay. However, if they still score badly after the coaching route, they will enter a ‘last chance route’ in which they are stimulated to look for another job and eventually can be fired.

COMMITTING TO ACTION | Coaching and mentoring

2012-01-18T07:57:00.000-08:00

Changing behaviour is a challenging and difficult thing to achieve with other people and with ourselves. Think of the number of New Year’s resolutions you have made and how many of them have lasted for only a short time. Likewise with our health, we know that it is not wise to smoke or eat or drink too much but changing our behaviour is remarkably difficult.

The reality in many cases is that we know exactly what behaviour is needed but there is something missing to bring it about. Part of this might be willpower and this is where the coach is especially valuable. By including someone else in the process there is an increased responsibility for learners to live up to the agreed commitments and do what they promised. There is also more incentive to do so when someone else will be checking on the achievements at a later stage. In some circumstances the coach can hold a metaphorical mirror up to the learner and describe some of the work elements that are not being achieved.

Setting targets

There is a large amount of performance data available within contact centres and this can o en be used in the process of setting targets and appraising individual accomplishments. When a person achieves a target this does not mean further improvement is unnecessary; instead, strengths should be applauded and built upon to encourage excellence and to model behaviour that inspires co-workers.

Where areas are not so strong they should be identified and agreement reached about the best means of improving them. These targets may then be set as goals to be achieved and revisited at the next session. The assumption should not be made that the coaching provided during the current session will be enough; where appropriate, ongoing support should be provided. These learning goals should then be practised and enhanced on a regular basis in the workplace.

One of the most commonly used techniques for setting targets or objectives is the mnemonic SMART. This details all of the elements that should be used in setting targets, namely:

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Relevant, and

Time-based.

This model has also been extended to include Evaluation and Review, making SMARTER.

Another helpful approach is the GROW model, which is o en used in coaching and mentoring. It stands for:

Goal

(current) Reality

Options

Will

One way to think of this GROW model is to consider the metaphor of a map. Each coaching session benefits from having a Goal that can be clearly measured (perhaps using the SMART approach). To reach the goal it is necessary to understand the current Reality of where a person is – not the imagined position but the actual one. For the coach it is o en helpful to have evidence to support this accurate description of the situation. A journey can o en take a number of different routes and these Options should be fully explored. Finally, there has to be a Will or desire to achieve the objective of improved performance.

Challenging targets

Identifying accurate targets is an art form rather than an exact science and it can only be achieved through careful negotiation with the learner. The Yerkes-Dodson Law (1908) explains that when a target is not challenging enough there will be insufficient motivation to do anything about it. Alternatively, if a target is too challenging and is not reached it will undermine the learner’s confidence. Not surprisingly, a balance is needed but this o en cannot be identified in advance and it is better to ascertain this through discussions and negotiations with the learner.

How committed are you to achieving these targets?
If you were the coach and I were the learner what would you say to me?
What do you think your colleagues think about the quality of your work?
What types of caller do you least like handling?
What have you done to develop your skills in handling difficult callers?
How do you feel when you don’t achieve targets?
How do you feel when you reach or exceed targets?
When you are feeling tired how do you maintain energy levels?
What could you do to increase your motivation?
How much of your potential are you achieving in your work?
How would you solve this situation?
What other strategies could you try?
Why does this matter to you?
What is stopping you doing . . .?
If you could do things differently what would you change?

COACHING AND QUALITY IN AN INTERNATIONAL TELECOM COMPANY

2012-01-15T04:00:00.000-08:00

The telecom company puts a lot of effort into quality monitoring and there are several instruments used for this. First, customer satisfaction is measured each month by an external organization. Not only its own customers, but also customers of other companies are asked about the company’s services in the past six months, and the results are given to management. Furthermore, there are internal customer panels that provide qualitative information. E-mails and the website are evaluated by a net questionnaire. In addition, employee satisfaction is measured once every two years with a survey and once every three months with a short questionnaire.

Secondly, the handling and logging of calls (including what CSRs do on the computer) is recorded by the monitoring system. This provides qualitative information for team leaders. In addition, the team leaders evaluate four calls of each CSR every month. They use specific evaluation criteria for this, which are based on customer satisfaction, like degree of empathy, first-time resolution, closing of conversation, etc. In the past, CSRs knew that their calls would be recorded in even weeks or in uneven weeks. As this turned out to bias the monitoring, they decided to record 20 per cent of all calls.

The evaluation of these taped calls is discussed in a one-to-one talk between the CSR and the team leader. CSRs also receive information on their performance on their Agent Score Card with important quantitative KPIs. This scorecard is also discussed in the monthly bilateral talks. It is used for improvement only, not for judging performance in a formal way. For example, the team leader might notice that the CSR needs more skills in a specific area. He or she will then decide which intervention is necessary. One outcome could be more training, in which case the team leader and the CSR can take a look at the training catalogue in which all training courses, e-learning and manuals are listed. After one month, the team leader and the CSR evaluate the intervention together. All team leaders follow courses on giving feedback. They have a coaching role, but it is acknowledged that this is not fully developed at the moment. In general, the company wants to ‘train less and coach more’ in the future.

Once every three months, CSRs have an appraisal interview with their team leader, and once a year a performance interview. This performance interview is usually scheduled in January or February. CSRs and team leaders look back on the past year, review the salary, and set expectations for the next year. Important KPIs on which performance is monitored are average handling time, adherence time (this is the time CSRs work on schedule and are not taking too many breaks), logging percentage, first-time resolution, and front-line completion.

CSR training is also evaluated. For example, at the end of each e-learning module, there is an evaluation form that CSRs fill in. In addition, the last day of induction training is spent on evaluation. These training judgements made by trainees are in line with Kirkpatrick’s level 1 training evaluation. The contact centre is developing an evaluation based on Kirkpatrick’s level 2: what did CSRs learn? Level 3 would imply an evaluation of whether skills learnt are actually applied at the job. Kirkpatrick’s level 4 was assessed as part of the international company’s evaluation of the impact of training actually leading to improved performance.

STAGES IN THE COACHING PROCESS

2012-01-11T08:55:00.000-08:00

There are a number of stages in the coaching process and while they are not firmly fixed it is certainly beneficial for most of them to be utilized. A systematic approach will help ensure that the quality of the coaching is high without imposing an artificial environment:

Inform the learner when the coaching session will happen. Coaching may happen on an ad hoc basis when there is an opportunity, but in most circumstances it is less unsettling if learners have the chance to prepare themselves in advance.
Minimize the potential for anxiety. If a person is anxious he or she is more likely to be defensive and construct barriers that hinder true communication with the coach.
Break the ice. It is advisable to begin coaching sessions with a lighthearted discussion that puts the learner at ease and which develops a positive rapport.
Invite learners to comment on their performance first. Asking learners to begin the session allows them to take some control and thus reduces possible tension. It also enables discussion of aspects of which the coach may not even be aware.
Ask questions. It is o en better to ask questions and guide learners to assess themselves rather than directly presenting them with evidence of non-conformance. Of course, there may be some individuals who will not openly acknowledge shortfalls in skills or who may even be oblivious to them.
Acknowledge strengths. It is important to acknowledge where people have been doing well because if there is no recognition of positive behaviour it may decline. Furthermore, giving genuine praise, where merited, will enhance confidence and motivation and encourage further learning.
Areas for improvement. From a psychological perspective it is o en beer to discuss what could be done better than what went wrong. Presenting an area as a deficiency is a negative approach and it is better to look optimistically at upward trends in performance. A popular strategy is to begin with, ‘What went well?’ and then follow this with, ‘What could have gone be er?’
Agree targets. Arbitrarily imposing targets for learners o en fails to get their commitment and may result in resistance. A more productive approach is to ask what can be achieved and negotiate an objective that is challenging but achievable. Setting a target that is too ambitious may only result in demoralizing the learner if it is not reached. Stretch targets are acceptable, but unachievable ones are pointless and undermine the learner and the organization.
Support and motivate. Coaching sessions provide a very good opportunity to develop a closer relationship with learners and this enables them to be encouraged and motivated.
Is there anything else? Before the coaching session is concluded it is o en helpful to ask if there are any other areas that haven’t been discussed. By using this invitation other areas of concern may also be addressed.
Arrange date and time for next session. Setting targets is insufficient if there is no particular deadline by which they should be achieved. Arranging a time for the next meeting gives a focus to the agreements and motivates the learner to implement the actions.

The benefits of coaching

2012-01-08T06:03:00.000-08:00

Coaching is a very useful form of development in many spheres of work but it has particular application in contact centres, and there are many benefits for the following reasons:

It provides a regular opportunity for the team leader and adviser to discuss levels of performance.
It is flexible and can be undertaken when it is needed and around work requirements.
It is targeted at the needs of the individual.
It allows targets to be agreed and then monitored.
It can be part of a regular series of development and can therefore be linked to previous coaching sessions.
It connects formal classroom training with actual practice.
It provides much opportunity for two-way communication between the team leader and the adviser.
It can be carried out in real work situations.
It can build rapport between the coach and the learner.
It can be targeted at specific actions and be standalone.

The value of coaching would appear to have a positive impact on employee attrition. Significantly, only 29 per cent of centres that provide at least two hours/agent/week of coaching had attrition problems. This increased to 48 per cent of contact centres which provided less than two hours coaching/week

Contact centres are frequently very target-driven focusing on quantitative measures and clearly specifying how things should be done. This o en translates into detailed and strongly enforced scripts that allow little room for freedom on the part of advisers. This dictatorial approach may ensure a minimum standard of service but, unfortunately, it is unlikely to result in excellent service.

Telling people is nearly always less effective than asking them for their views and building towards a common understanding. If an idea originates from an individual rather than being imposed from above it is more likely to be adopted and be more enthusiastically applied.

Both coaching and mentoring in their purer forms are designed to bring about a desired outcome focusing on a joint agreement about behaviour, motivation and commitment. In some forms of coaching, eg high-level sports coaching, a lot of pressure is sometimes applied to the person being coached; however, this is rarely successful in work situations.

There is some confusion about the differences between coaching and mentoring and much of this arises because quite a few of the approaches overlap with each other.

Coaching and mentoring

2012-01-05T03:32:00.000-08:00

COACHING/MENTORING

The coaching of customer service representatives tends to begin during the latter part of the induction training and then continues throughout the period of employment. In general, advisers receive approximately three weeks of training per year, although those in outsourcing tend to receive the least. Much of the training is in the form of coaching, with agents receiving approximately 20 minutes per day and which commits team leaders to four hours/day for a team of 12. This is clearly a major dedication of time, which is considered valuable: ‘Public services team leaders are said to spend most of their time in coaching – which we believe should be the main role of team leaders’

Team leaders in small contact centres tend to spend almost twice as much time coaching as those in large organizations: 1.9 hours/agent versus 1 hour/agent. There are several reasons why this difference may occur: there may be more paperwork and administration in larger centres; also, smaller contact centres generally have fewer agents per team leader, which may mean that they are able to offer more coaching. Alternatively, it may be that because the agents receive less induction training than in larger centres they are more in need of it when they are in a fully operational role

Less than half of contact centres use a trainer for coaching and only 16 per cent of centres have a dedicated coach. For this reason, the team leader or supervisor is fully or partially responsible for coaching agents in over 74 per cent of contact centres. This situation can cause problems because of the lack of coaching experience among team leaders:

Again this raises the question of whether the team leader has sufficient capacity and the relevant skills to perform this function at a satisfactory level. Considering that many of the required competencies for coaching are not included in many team leader induction training courses, it is concerning that they are now responsible for coaching.

It is clear that call centres consider coaching a very important means of developing their employees. Yet, providing feedback on performance is a sensitive area that requires good skills and experience. Newer team leaders who have not been trained as coaches face a challenging time that may also have detrimental effects on their advisers. The evidence, in some cases, is that insufficient support and investment is being delivered to enable effective and professional coaching by team leaders and other staff.

Coaching

It is believed that the word ‘coaching’ evolved from the skills required to handle a team of horses a ached to a stagecoach. Coaching has been subdivided into four areas: tell, show, suggest, and stimulate (Clu erbuck, 1998). Generally speaking, coaching involves the improvement of performance directed at enhancing specific skills. The coach and learner agree targets and the coach provides direct feedback on behavioural performance over a period of time. A definition is:

Coaching is the process whereby one individual helps another: to unlock their natural ability; to perform, learn and achieve; to increase awareness of the factors which determine performance; to increase their sense of self-responsibility and ownership of their performance; to self-coach; to identify and remove internal barriers to achievement.

Mentoring

The term ‘mentor’ originated in Ancient Greece when Odysseus went to fight in the Trojan War and gave responsibility for bringing up his son, Telemachus, to his friend Mentor. Mentoring involves developing and advancing the whole potential of an individual. It is o en a long-term relationship where the goals and the process are owned by the learner. The mentor is o en a form of resource for the learner and it is the learner who controls the process.

The qualities of a coach

Good coaches should be able to create an environment that is conducive to learning and it is their personal attitudes that allow the interaction to happen successfully. Successful coaches are:

able to detach themselves;
accessible;
credible;
good communicators;
good listeners;
interested and attentive;
knowledgeable;
knowledgeable about the organization;
patient;
perceptive;
supportive;
technical experts.

The roles of the coach

To develop the talents of employees a coach needs to use a variety of approaches and roles but not necessarily all at the same time. A coach should be:

an adviser;
a confidant;
a counsellor;
a friend;
a guide;
a motivator;
a role model;
a supporter;
a teacher.

HANDLING ABUSIVE CUSTOMERS | Delivering Excellent Customer Service

2012-01-02T08:00:00.000-08:00

Almost inevitably there will be occasions when customers become so frustrated that they want to express their anger to someone. Generally, this is not when something goes wrong the first time: most people understand that things will sometimes not be perfect. Instead, most frustration and anger occurs when a mistake has already been notified and the promise that it will be rectified has not been kept. One failure is rationalized by the customer, but two are o en enough to exceed his or her patience. Thus, when a mistake happens it is very important that someone takes direct responsibility and it is quickly corrected.

Dealing with angry and frustrated customers comes with the adviser’s job and it is important, for self-preservation reasons, that the adviser does not take these criticisms personally

Where customers are abusive and use inappropriate and threatening language, they should be informed that this is unsatisfactory and that the call will be terminated if this language continues. O en callers will apologize when their behaviour is pointed out to them and will explain that they just want a solution to their situation. Phrases to be used where there are these types of calls include: ‘Mr Smith, that language is unnecessary and doesn’t help me resolve your complaint’, ‘We have a policy to close calls when there is abusive language. Please explain your situation slowly while I write it down.’ This strategy slows the caller down and makes them focus on their complaint rather than how they feel.

Moments of Truth

The book Moments of Truth was written by Jan Carlzon, CEO of Scandinavian Airlines System, about how he used customer service to improve profitability. Each time a person comes into contact in some way with the organization it is a moment of truth when the customer is either happy or disappointed with the situation: a person waiting too long for service in a retail outlet, too many selection choices in an automated call distribution system, etc.

In the centre circle write the name of the specific service that is offered. Next, using the outer circles, identify all the potential moments of truth the customer might experience during the delivery of this transaction. These can be done in order, going clockwise around the circle. When these have been identified, develop strategies and responses to ensure that the customer has a good experience. If there are multiple operations, repeat this exercise for each one.

Essentially, a moment of truth relates to whether or not customers receive the service they expected. Seven out of eight contacts in the overall transaction between the customer and the organization may be satisfactory, but if the eighth represents a bad experience for the customer then that is what will be remembered and he or she may not return. The whole system is only as strong as the weakest link in the chain and it is this weakest link that the customer is likely to remember.

Colin Mackay, CCA

Background

Prudential’s mission is, ‘In an uncertain world, we want to make it possible for everyone to enjoy a secure future,’ and it intends that its customers should experience its core values, which are: Trustworthy, Helpful and Easy (to deal with).

The contact centre strategy is a part of the Pru UK wider strategy and as such is signed off at board level. The core elements are contained in a business plan, which at a high level focuses on:

increasing investment in people;
consistent service delivery;
building long-term relationships;
embedding a culture of continuous improvement;
being easy to deal with for customers.

The plan is monitored and delivered through local management and is fluid, providing it is seen to be supporting the primary objectives of the organization and the centre. The essential focus fits with the business vision of being Trustworthy, Helpful and Easy (to deal with) and the objective is customer satisfaction within all segments of the marketplace. The business plan calls for customer retention, process improvement and development of individuals within the context of the vision. Training at each level of development supports the achievement of these objectives. Measurement is focused on accuracy and quality with other targets supporting one-to-one, handling time and other key areas. The approach is intended to impress and, particularly in the intermediary market, to sell through the development of relationships. Delivery of the strategy has become significantly easier with improvements in the supporting technology during recent years.

Prudential’s main customer groupings are intermediaries, corporate businesses and members of the public who are policyholders. The vast majority of new business is distributed through intermediaries, so customers dealing directly with Prudential are often also the clients of its intermediaries and so the service proposition needs to be tailored to each customer segment. The primary roles of the agents are the provision of information and post-sale advice.

For customer service, the key drivers focus upon making it easier for customers to interface with the organization. Prior to the establishment of the Stirling operation, telephone contact was through department-based call centres accessed by dialling a different telephone number for each speciality. Now there is a one-number strategy focused on customer type, and callers have their enquiry answered by a human voice without having to navigate through an Interactive Voice Response (IVR). Prudential’s service proposition covers all nature of enquiries from purchasing a product to maturing products, including some sensitive customer touch-points such as bereavement. Customers can communicate with the company in several ways ie, by telephone, e-mail, fax, letter or face-to-face.

Product promotion is done through the establishment of longer-term relationships based on the provision of superior customer service. Customer service consultants within the centre operate at two levels through a series of stepped gradations based on skills acquisition in the areas of:

contribution to customer experience;
key responsibilities;
knowledge;
skills.

The centre is not scripted since scripting is seen as interfering with the customer interaction. Agents do, however, have a structure within which they are expected to work. Because agents are frequently discussing monetary figures and also because of compliance requirements, accuracy is a key attribute combined with the need to make specific points meeting compliance requirements. The centre uses VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol), and there are elements of customer relationship management in the front-end system, together with the operation of a workflow management imaging system.

Choosing attitude and handling boredom

In some contact centres the calls are o en very similar in nature and they may become very tedious to the customer service representative. As the monotony increases it can become increasingly difficult to be motivated and give a lively, enthusiastic and professional level of service. This, obviously, has an effect on the customer who does not want to speak to a dull and ‘couldn’t care less’ adviser.

The book, Fish, based on the Pike Place Fish Market in Sea le, describes the high levels of energy and enjoyment that can be created between employees and customers. Mary Jane, a manager in a nearby office, had her third floor area described by her manager as a ‘toxic energy dump’ and was severely disheartened by this. On her lunch break she went to the Fish Market and found that the employees there enjoyed their work even though many of the actions were repetitive. One of the Fish Market employees explained that, ‘There is always a choice about the way you do your work, even if there is not a choice about the work itself’ (Lundin et al, 2006: 37).

Three other principles described in Fish were:

Play – have fun doing your job.
Make the customer’s day.
Be present – give the customer your whole attention.

By putting these principles into action advisers’ work becomes more interesting, fun and rewarding. Indeed, ‘The greatest satisfaction appears to be derived from customers (“helping people”) and from the camaraderie and social support that develops in the work environment’

Carolyn Blunt, Real Results Training

United Utilities supply water to the North West of England and have a contact centre in Cumbria dedicated to managing billing enquiries, payments and account information.

As a refocus and refresh on customer service, Manchester-based company Real Results Training was invited to design a training intervention for 200 contact centre staff in Cumbria. The brief to Real Results was to make the programme ‘fun, interactive and themed around United Utilities’ existing Customers at the Heart slogan, but preferably from a new angle’. The measure of success would be a 20 per cent improvement in agent ‘call quality scores’, measured by coaches using a structured assessment form.

After two days of on-site analysis to fully understand the role and the training needs, Real Results designed an accelerated learning programme called ‘Pulse8’ which took the ‘Heart’ theme into a new medical domain. Eight skills and behaviours crucial to customer service were identified and these became the main structure of the programme:

Listening
Confident communication
Ownership
Proactivity
Initiative
Rapport
Accuracy
Respect

It was vital to the success of the session that the principles of accelerated learning were followed to ensure everyone learnt as much as possible in their one day of training and that the focus and attention of the relatively young workforce was maintained throughout. PowerPoint was banished; instead learning was created and reviewed using printed jigsaws, recorded audio, creating posters, unscrambling anagrams and competitive team quizzes. The listening exercise involved the participants working in pairs, one person with a stick on which to spin a coloured plastic plate, the other person reading a set of non-work related facts from a list. After three minutes of listening (and plate spinning) the spinner would be given two minutes to recall as many facts as he or she could, and would receive one point for each fact recalled fully and accurately. A note would be made of the score before the pair would change places and begin again with a different fact card.

Afterwards the participants were asked what they felt about the exercise. Answers such as, ‘It was hard to do two things at once’, ‘It was distracting hearing lots of similar conversations going on around me’, ‘It felt like a memory test more than a listening test’ were common and exactly what was needed to draw out the key learning points.

The plate and stick represented the computer system and the fact sheet is the information from the customer. Participants were asked, ‘Which are you getting points for?’ The learning was that listening to the customer is more important than navigating the system. Ideally an experienced adviser becomes able to do two things at once, but until then, participants were encouraged to focus on the customer first, system second. Hearing lots of similar conversations is just like being out on the floor – we need to keep focused – techniques for minimizing distractions were then shared by the trainer. You only need to memorize when you are not able to write things down – something you can do when on the telephone. The customer may not always give information in the order that the system wants it, so rather than trying to remember everything or even worse – asking a customer to repeat themselves – use a jotter to make notes.

The other seven behaviours were explored and throughout the session ‘pulse checks’ were made where participants were encouraged to reflect on their learning and how they would apply it and record it on an action plan. This action plan was reviewed by their manager following the training as part of an informal debrief and then fed into their personal development plan.

Following the completion of the programme the target of a 20 per cent increase in call quality was exceeded, with agents consistently scoring 100 per cent. Follow-up coaching over the coming months ensured this was sustained and new learning became embedded. Feedback from team managers included:

Two of our team members have attended Pulse8 this week and have said they feel a real benefit, they said they feel a lot more confident handling calls. I have done two side-by-side call qualities on each of them this afternoon and have seen a massive improvement; they both scored 100 per cent twice and seem to have a new outlook and really positive attitude.

I have just completed three side-by-side call qualities on Alistair and he scored three consecutive 100 per cent! This is an amazing achievement for him – also two out of the three calls were not standard queries and I would class them in the more difficult call category and he handled them well.

The programme sponsor, Michelle Cheeseman, concluded: ‘Based on my initial observations, evaluations and feedback, the design of the Pulse8 course and delivery by Carolyn Blunt from Real Results have both met and exceeded my requirements.’

Surprise the customer

There are a number of levels of service that can be provided to a customer and these will have an impact on whether they continue to offer their business to the organization; see Figure 1.

Unacceptable: This falls so far below what customers want that they are highly unlikely to ever use the service again.

Figure 1: Handling angry people
Basic: This is the minimum standard customers will accept. They may tolerate this for a variety of reasons, eg convenience or price, but if a competitor presents a more appealing offering they are likely to be attracted to it.
Expected: Most customers begin an interaction with an anticipated level of service quality. This may be as a result of previous interactions with the organization or it may be a benchmark of wider levels of service, eg customer care received from other call centres.
Desired: Customers also have higher levels of expectation and if these can be achieved then the customer is likely to be a happy one.
Excellent: The service is of the highest level and makes the customer an unpaid ambassador for the organization.
Unanticipated: Customers will have an expectation of the possible service levels that might be offered to them. If the organization can provide something positive that is unanticipated, this should surprise and delight the customer, eg free entry into a prize draw; advising them of a cheaper account.

Managing expectations

Each customer enters a transaction with an expectation of a certain level of service and, depending on his or her experience, the following results happen:

Above expectation – happy.
As expected – neither happy nor disappointed.
Below – disappointed.

What is interesting about expectations is that they do not remain at a fixed level. Not only do different people have different levels of expectations ie, what satisfies some people will be an intolerable level of service for another, but also a person’s expectations will alternate up and down.

This can be due to their mood eg, they might be having a bad day. It may also be due to the fact that they have become accustomed to a high level of service that was at a ‘desired’ level but they now find this expected. In other words, their standards have risen and they now expect more.

Sense of humour

A sense of humour is a powerful ally in the tactics an adviser can use with the customer and it will quickly develop rapport and lighten the interaction. It is difficult to script this because it depends very much on the nature of the transaction and the mood of the customer. Therefore, the adviser is the best judge of whether to employ humour using his or her experience and skill, and if he or she is successful it will lighten the mood and enable other services to be offered. It should, however, be used with caution since a humorous attempt that misfires may upset the caller.

Audit customer services

Good practice dictates that there is a regular examination of all aspects of service provision. This should begin with a list being made of all current and possible dimensions of service.

The next stage is to ask customers what they expect and how important each element is. In this way the most important elements for the customer can be prioritized and strategies can be put in place. Using the Pareto Principle (the 80:20 rule), can help in this process: 80 per cent of problems o en arise from 20 per cent of causes.

Having internal standards is a good starting point, particularly when the areas of concern have been identified by customers. However, these standards should also be benchmarked against competitors through the use of mystery shoppers, etc.

Existing customers can provide helpful information about service levels but it should not stop there. This is a limited population: what about the customers who are dissatisfied but do not tell the organization and just take their custom elsewhere? These should also be investigated as they may provide some valuable insights into why they le .

Finally, ensure that service is always excellent and be aware that standards continue to improve. Last year’s excellent service is this year’s routine delivery and will need to be upgraded to retain the customer.

UNDERSTANDING CUSTOMERS | Excellent Customer Service

2011-12-17T09:00:00.000-08:00

Satisfied the customer is depends very much on the ability of the CSR to develop rapport. This requires CSRs to quickly recognize the type or personality of customer they are working with and the benefits of doing this are:

The customer becomes more relaxed.
It makes the interaction smoother and o en more easy for both parties.
The customer’s service experience is increased.

Customers come in all shapes and sizes and for this reason it is necessary to respond to their individual circumstances:

If the caller:	Your response should be:
Is angry	Concerned
Has an emergency	Urgent
Is friendly	Friendly
Is natural	Natural
Is overburdened	Sympathy
Prevaricates	Set deadlines

There has been much research conducted into personality types and there are many descriptions of the types of customers who might be found on the telephone: friendly, anxious, controlling, detailed, determined, etc. One of the most popular tools for describing personalities is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, which is based on the work of the psychologist Carl Jung. The MBTI maintains that each person has a primary mode of operation within the following four categories:

a person’s flow of energy;
how a person takes in information;
how a person prefers to make decisions;
a person’s preferred day-to-day lifestyle.

Contained within each of these categories people prefer to be either:

extraverted or introverted;
sensing or intuitive;
thinking or feeling;
judging or perceiving.

And, of course, people’s behaviour changes depending on how they are feeling and the circumstances.

Make a list of the various types of people you are familiar with and the types of phrases they are likely to use. Then, describe some of the coping mechanisms you use to develop rapport, eg:

Anxious customer: I am very worried about setting up the new so ware on my computer.

CSR: I’ll take you through the installation of the so ware step by step and if you have any concerns please let me know.

Aggressive customer: How many times do I have to explain? You people are just useless.

CSR: I fully understand your concerns and will deal with them as quickly and effectively as possible.

Handling complaints

Where a customer is enquiring about an action that would appear not to have been completed, CSRs, ideally, should not respond, ‘I don’t know what caused that. I am going to put you on hold while I find out who was responsible. Is that all right?’ Or, ‘That’s Stephen’s responsibility, let me explore what went wrong. Please hold.’

Instead, it is be er to apologize and explain that you will investigate the specific circumstances. At the time of the call the full circumstances may not be known, eg delivery of the product/service may have been a empted but the customer was not at home at the agreed time. Blame should not be apportioned and a more suitable response could be: ‘I’m very sorry you didn’t receive your package. Let me investigate and try to find out what happened. Would you like to hold or shall I call you back as soon as I have more details? This should be within 15 minutes.’

Handling angry customers

Customers normally become angry for a reason and this must be addressed in order to bring the dissatisfaction to a conclusion and hopefully retain the loyalty of the customer. However, before this happens it is sometimes necessary to allow customers to ‘let off steam’ before their situation can be properly investigated. Generally, their frustration will build up before they make the call and this is likely to increase in the early stages of the interaction. During this time it is be er to just listen, because when people are angry reason and logic are not at the top of their minds.

Gradually people will calm down and it is at this stage that problem solving can occur through the use of appropriate questions. Once the problem is understood a solution should be proposed and it is important to ensure that the customer is satisfied with it.

The final stage is to ensure that the action required to rectify the situation is carried out. Taking responsibility for ensuring the resolution is a key role for advisers, but the problem is that o en they are not the person delivering the solution nor have they responsibility for the computing system design.

Figure 1: Level of service and customer satisfaction

MOTIVATING AND INCREASING AGENT SKILLS

2011-12-14T08:58:00.000-08:00

The Dutch operations of an international mobile telephony company implemented a unique training programme for experienced CSRs called ‘pit stop’. The analogy with a Formula One pit stop is clear: the company sees CSRs as sitting at the steering wheel, wanting to take their laps as quickly as possible in order to win the race. However, customer satisfaction surveys show that speed is not always the best way to work with customers because quantity and quality of customer satisfaction are not always as they should be. Therefore, the company takes CSRs off the track and fine tunes everything.

The idea of the pit stop, therefore, is to take a whole team of CSRs, including their team leader, out of their normal routine and place them in the pit stop for a week. The pit stop works on a problem at the team level, but actions are differentiated towards individual team members. This means that interventions take place at both individual and group level. The pit stop is a full-time programme of 40 hours; no exception is made for part-time workers. CSRs describe the programme as being very intensive, but they also indicate that they like it very much.

The objective of the pit stop is to create a ‘Wow’ experience for CSRs in order to exceed customer expectations. It should lead to an increase in their empowerment, proactive behaviour, and loyalty, while at the same time generating revenue. The pit stop programme is structured as follows:

Monday: Kick off session by pit stop manager and focus on individual CSRs: feedback from CSRs on what is blocking them (content, process, tooling), and talks with CSRs on what motivates them.

Tuesday: Communication training in order to sharpen the analytical skill of CSRs (questioning techniques).

Wednesday: Attitude training (from reactive to proactive behaviour).

Thursday: Customer experience management: feed-back session with customer experience management department and short behavioural training to give and receive feedback to and from customers, colleagues and management.

Friday: Evaluation and making appointments with the team leader on how to establish changes and how to follow up on the training.

In the morning, two hours are spent discussing a theme, then this is applied in practice. At the end of the day, an evaluation is made: what did CSRs learn? Some training in the pit stop is e-learning, whereas other training is in class. The telecom company developed the pit stop training itself. Three trainers are available to train on communication and attitudes, five trainers handle training in knowledge on products and systems. More specifically, the pit stop programme is designed to train both soft skills and technical skills. Soft skills include:

analytical skills (understanding customer behaviours by listening and questioning);
showing empathy (emotional awareness and response);
providing guidance (ability to communicate at a personal and professional level);
tone of voice (knowledge and adoption of differences between positive and negative language).

Technical skills include:

being brand ambassadors (excellent knowledge of products and services);
escalation (organizational structure);
follow-up (understanding system navigation skills to effectively manage customer enquiries);
resolving the problem/request (understanding of processes and relevance). When CSRs are back on the work floor, they have to meet the appointments agreed upon during the final day of the pit stop. Every two months the team leaders make a report and CSRs fill in a short questionnaire with 10 questions about the use of skills learnt in the pit stop. In general, the pit stop is evaluated on customer satisfaction, employee motivation and operational KPIs (key performance indicators). The results of these evaluations show that:
There is an increase in customer satisfaction (speed of problem resolution, friendliness, expertise, problem solved during first contact, service exceeds expectations).
There is an increase in employee motivation (work situation, work climate, empowerment, knowledge, coaching, influence over work situation, pleasant feeling, being motivated).
Operational KPIs improve: higher occupancy (how much time can be spent on customer contacts), more first-time resolution, average handling time (this increases, but is expected to decrease over time), and less repeated calls of the same customer on the same issue.

CUSTOMIZING SERVICE THROUGH ATTITUDE TRAINING

2011-12-11T05:55:00.000-08:00

The content, duration, scope and style of most customer service training varies considerably and is o en integrated with a number of organizational development initiatives: front-office design, market research, new technologies, organizational structure and strategy and, importantly, the customer.

There are also differences in customer service training with some being comprehensive and systematic through a tailored approach that is incorporated within employee development and reward systems. Other programmes, however, might involve a major corporate ‘event’, be bought off the shelf, or have employees sent on residential or oneday programmes. The focus of programmes also varies from developing techniques and a service culture, to changing attitudes

This movement towards character formation rather than training is said by some writers to represent a ‘sea change’ in organizational practices and requirements. Rather than imposing bureaucratic practices, employees are empowered to use discretion which then personalizes the customer interaction and provides a ‘new authenticity’.

In effect, there are two models for handling calls. The first involves a very structured and systematic approach that restricts the adviser to a limited range of responses – this is the ‘production line’ approach. The second approach is to develop skills and attitudes and to give advisers a considerable degree of personal freedom in their handling of calls. This approach is o en used for more complex and high-value interactions and is called the ‘empowerment’ approach.

Advisers’ attitudes to customer service training

In some quarters there is a view that customer service training is merely a form of ‘sham empowerment’ designed to increase the workload for advisers, but in fact most employees are very positive about the training. There may be some organizations that adopt a cynical approach but where this is the case there will be no genuine buy-in to the principles of customer service by advisers, with the result that customer satisfaction figures are unlikely to improve.

In practice, most people a ending customer service training recognize the value of it and fully support the intentions. In a study of supermarket managers and staff, ‘no one spoke negatively about the value of the initiative. . . and the majority were enthusiastic’.

All employees should regularly a end customer service training and not just advisers. One of the continual gripes heard by trainers is, ‘You should get our managers to a end these courses, they are the ones that need it!’

CUSTOMER SERVICE TECHNIQUES

2011-12-08T08:56:00.000-08:00

There are a wide range of so skills. A number of the popular ones particularly associated with customer service are briefly described below.

Explain what can be done, not what can’t

It is nearly always more constructive to explain to a caller what can be done rather than what cannot. This has been described as spin-doctoring and involves replacing negative information with something more positive eg, ‘Sorry, we don’t have one at the moment’, becomes, ‘A new delivery is arriving tomorrow and we will send one, Mr Jones’.

In Phoneco, training was focused on ‘emotional trigger words’ that conveyed negative associations eg, ‘sorry, no problem, vehicle, premium, and sales training’. These were called RIP words and were prohibited. Instead, they were replaced by positive sexy words including, ‘certainly, rest assured, immediate, and great’.

Problem solving techniques

When products and services are more complex, such as financial services, callers can become frustrated with their own lack of understanding or control of the situation. To avoid misleading, bullying or patronizing the customer the best solution for the agent is to ask, ‘How can I help solve this problem? What would you like me to do? What would make you feel be er? Is there anything else that I can try for you?’. Training in problem solving techniques can also be used to address issues in the call centre itself, for example, where staff use quality circle activities to identify and implement solutions.

Selling skills

Selling can be very demanding particularly when salary is related to sales targets. This o en involves out-bound calls to potential or existing customers, although many organizations now consider most of the calls they receive from customers (ie, in-bound) as an opportunity to cross-sell or up-sell. The skill sets and attitudes of employees who prefer in-bound calls and those who were involved with out-bound calls o en tend to be different. It has also been noted that many employees in each of these categories are reluctant to change from one role to another.

Provide a choice

Giving the caller a number of options provides them and the organization with a number of benefits. Where two choices are suggested by the adviser it is o en the second one callers choose because it is the freshest in their mind. Therefore, if it is anticipated that one option may be more favourable to the caller then this should be used second.

Providing two options or more also gives the impression of choice. This strategy is sometimes used to close a sale where the two options both produce a positive outcome for the seller eg, ‘Would you like it in red or blue?’

Build rapport

Empathy with the customer can be developed through the use of techniques such as neuro-linguistic programming. This encourages the adviser to mirror the caller’s speed, tone and volume. Likewise, vocabulary should be chosen to match that of the caller and there should be careful use of jargon and technical language.

The customer is boss

Read the following dialogue and assess how customer friendly it is:

Mr Khan: The breakdown of the satellite for three days last week resulted in the loss of my television, telephone and internet access. I would like a refund of my annual subscription.

CSR: Now Mr Khan, we can’t refund your annual subscription just for a few days interruption in service. You don’t seriously expect the company to reimburse you for a whole year when you only lost a few days. We aren’t able to authorize that because everyone would want it.

This response has the potential to destroy the relationship with the customer, which may have lasted for many years. Many of the words and phrases in the CSR’s response have the potential to act like an incendiary device and escalate the bad atmosphere, eg:

‘Now Mr Khan’ This is a very patronizing way to address a customer. It is talking down to the customer and treating them like a child.

‘We’ Using the word ‘we’ suggests that the CSR is hiding behind the corporate façade rather than dealing personally with the issue. Using the word ‘I’ indicates that the CSR is making this a personal conversation and will take responsibility for resolving the situation.

‘Just a few days interruption in service’ Three days may not appear to be a long time but that is not for you to judge. Lack of communication services may have serious implications, eg a family member may be in hospital requiring frequent contact.

‘You don’t seriously expect’ This phrase belittles the claim of the customer and suggests that his or her call is frivolous and not important.

‘When you only lost a few days’ The use of the word ‘only’ implies that the three days were insignificant; it is not possible for the CSR to judge how important or not the lost days were.

‘We aren’t able to authorize’ Once again there is the use of ‘we,’ and using ‘authorize’ implies an organizational structure that prevents a refund. In fact, many customers understand that this is just a means of putting off the customer and not really listening to their legitimate complaint.

‘Everyone would want it’ This is not really the concern of Mr Khan since he is interested in his own situation.

In the short paragraph above the CSR has presented at least seven challenges or negative ‘moments of truth’ to Mr Khan. Each of them has the potential to destroy the customer relationship and remove the income stream that comes from this customer. Ultimately, as Sam Walton the founder of Walmart said, ‘It is not the company which pays the employee’s wages it is the customer.’ Walton also said, ‘There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.’

It is not unreasonable for the customer to expect some degree of reimbursement and the request for a full refund may be a response to the frustration of not having access to any of the services. It may also be an initial negotiating position with Mr Khan expecting a counter-offer. The company should have anticipated calls of this nature and have a policy in place with a range of options rather than leaving it up to the individual responses of the CSR. A much be er and possibly scripted response might be:

CSR: Thank you for your call Mr Khan. We understand the difficulties you have experienced not having access to our services. This was caused by technical problems in the communication between the ground station and the satellite. We would be happy to reimburse you one month’s charge and also provide you ‘free of cost’ access to our premium film channel.

Handling chatty and over-familiar customers

It is not unusual to get customers who wish to chat more than is really necessary. This can actually help develop rapport because it sometimes requires less initiative from the CSR; however, the transaction does need to be completed successfully and in a reasonable time period. Treating them courteously and without negating their feelings takes skill and there are a number of strategies that are useful. Appropriate responses include:

Irrelevant information: when they give superfluous details you might respond:

‘That’s interesting. Could you provide me with your . . .address, etc.’

‘That’s very interesting, now if I could have your reference number. . .’

Personal information: some customers ask for personal information about the CSR: ‘Are you married? Do you have any children’, etc. One swiftway of handling these are to say, ‘I’m sorry, the company doesn’t allow us to give this sort of information.’

Minor requests: some organizations have their ‘regulars’ who call up with minor requests (perhaps seeking a bank balance) but in fact are lonely and are really looking to have a conversation. Company policy may vary about the speed with which these calls are handled. They can o en occur in the evening when call pressure is less and this allows a more considerate approach to be taken.

Callers needing personal help: some callers may be in particular need of medical or even psychiatric support. Those with serious need should be directed to appropriate counselling and support services. It is good practice to have these numbers available.

Transferring customers

In an ideal world, automated call distribution would direct customers to the most appropriate CSR and all their needs would be handled by that one person. However, this is not always possible for a number of reasons including:

Callers may not always select the correct option.
Several different actions may be required.
The CSR may not possess the necessary knowledge to facilitate the transaction, etc.

Where this happens the CSR should not make the caller feel guilty about arriving at the wrong desk. Instead, they should not transfer them immediately, but should explain why and where they are going to be transferred, and if possible give the name of the person to whom they will speak. Before transferring them ask if they are happy with this process eg, ‘I am going to transfer you to our accounts department where they can deal with your enquiry, is that ok?’ This is much more considerate and demonstrates that the customer is in control of what he or she wants to achieve. If the customer says, ‘Yes’ he or she is sanctioning the transfer, or alternatively sometimes people may prefer to call again later.

When the call has been transferred, it is important that customers are addressed with their own name to indicate that the new person dealing with their call knows who they are and, preferably, knows most of their details eg, ‘Hello Mrs Kovak, this is Samira in Dispatches. I understand that you haven’t received . . .’.

Putting customers on hold

If the customer is told, ‘Please, hold for a moment,’ in effect they are being excluded from the process. This can be very off-putting particularly if it happens as soon as the call is answered, where the CSR or receptionist is perhaps dealing with another call or personal caller. Putting someone on hold is inconvenient and they should be asked first whether they agree with the request, eg: ‘I’m just going to put you on hold for a few moments, is that ok?’

Holding time

When a customer is asked to hold, different procedures should be used depending on the length of time a person may be expected to wait. If it is up to a minute then a suitable remark might be: ‘I’m going to put you on hold. I should be a short while/a few moments/a minute. Is that all right?’

If the hold is likely to be longer, one to three minutes, overestimate the time needed. This is done for a number of reasons: first, it may well take longer than you anticipated. Secondly, if the customer expects five minutes and you get back to them in four they will be more satisfied. If you say it will be four minutes and you return in five minutes they will normally be less happy because their expectations were not met. For example, ‘It is going to take about five minutes to find an answer to your question. Would you like to me to call you back, or would you prefer to hold?’

If the expected hold time is more than three minutes many organizations choose to offer a call back. If it is possible, it is courteous to get back to the customer every 30 seconds or so and say, ‘Sorry to keep you waiting, I am currently speaking to our deliveries department.’ ‘Thank you for holding, I’m processing your enquiry.’

Thanking customers for holding is a normal courtesy that conveys respect and o en overcomes any problems with unduly long holds. After all, they want a resolution to their call and will normally be willing and patient for a solution.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION | Delivering Excellent Customer Service

2011-12-06T08:52:00.001-08:00

Figure 1 plots the challenge faced by the organization in trying to balance the provision of a satisfactory level of customer service while at the same time doing so in a financially viable manner. The figure shows that in some cases a high level of service can be too expensive for the organization. Alternatively, if the level of service is too low the customer will go elsewhere.

Figure 1: Identifying service levels

The secret of success is to find a quality of service that is satisfactory for the customer and achieves a profit, or reaches service level targets for public sector organizations. This is the ‘zone of agreement’. Point ‘A’ indicates the lowest level of acceptable service for the customer. Point ‘B’ indicates the highest level of service the organization can deliver without it becoming unprofitable.

This zone of agreement is rarely fixed and is dynamically changing over time and with the type of customers. All customers are different and their expectations vary considerably, so that what may be satisfactory for one may be unsatisfactory for another. Furthermore, individual customers have changing expectations and whether or not they are having a good/bad day will affect their telephone responses. To compound these variables, there are also other competing organizations that seek to offer better products and customer service.

Why customers stop doing business

Customers stop doing business with an organization for a variety of reasons but, as can be seen below, the main one is indifference by an employee:

1 per cent die.
4 per cent move to another area.
6 per cent develop alternative associations.
10 per cent change for competitive reasons.
15 per cent are not happy with the product.
64 per cent leave because of an unsatisfactory interaction with an employee.

Dissatisfied customers

The main objective is to keep the customer satisfied, happy or better still excited. Without this, customers are likely to become discontented and seek other providers. The challenge for the organization is that many dissatisfied customers just disappear and are never heard from again. There are some general rules of thumb that provide some insights into the challenges that organizations face:

The average business never hears from 95 per cent of unhappy customers.
For each complainer there are 19 who do not tell the organization.
90 per cent of unhappy customers will not give their custom to the business again.
People who complain are more likely to return to the business than those who do not complain.
If the problem is resolved the majority of complainers will continue to buy from the company.
The average dissatisfied customer will tell 10 other people.
The average customer who has his or her complaint resolved will tell only five.
A customer who receives exceptional service will, on average, tell three or four other people.

It is evident from the above points that many organizations may not even be aware that they have dissatisfied customers who just disappear, never to return. Thus, it is very easy to develop a bad reputation when dissatisfied customers tell 10 other people about their poor experience. Moreover, even when there is exceptionally good service it takes a much longer time to develop a good reputation than a poor one, so it is essential to keep a close focus on service levels. For this reason, all organizations should conduct audits to ascertain how well they are satisfying their customers.

Service recovery training

Service recovery training is designed to rescue situations where the customer has not received satisfactory service. When customers are satisfied with the service they receive, 65 per cent remain loyal and return compared with only 30 per cent returning when they are dissatisfied.

Customer complaints start to rise in a rapidly expanding telecommunications organization. They complain of long delays in their calls being answered and then receiving poor levels of service from the customer adviser.

Try to identify training needs at:

organizational level;
job level;
individual level.
The immediate response might be to think that the source of the problems lies with the customer advisers. While this may be true it may also be caused by a variety of operational circumstances, eg:
The organization has grown rapidly and no longer has the capacity – employees, advanced telephony equipment etc – to manage increased levels of demand. Also, the organizational systems and workflow may be poorly structured, placing unrealistic expectations on advisers.
A systematic and detailed job analysis may not have been conducted to identify what knowledge, skills and attitudes are needed for all people doing the job.
Are the complaints only attributable to one, a few, or all advisers?

Surprisingly, when customers feel that a complaint has been handled well 85 per cent of them will return. For this reason, advisers should be trained to take responsibility for the problem even though it is not their fault. They should not blame other departments and instead give a sincere unconditional apology, which will normally calm even angry customers (Crome, 1998). Generally, the rule of thumb is that it is five times more expensive to gain a new customer than retain an existing one. As a result, and particularly in recent years, much greater attention is being given to keeping existing customers satisfied.

It is clear from these figures that it is far easier to get a bad reputation than develop a good one. Most customers complain because they are seeking to have their problem resolved and if they are given attention and the problem is resolved they o en become loyal customers.

Excellent service

It is not the organization that decides whether the service is excellent or not, it is the customer. Thus the customer should always be given opportunities to provide feedback on the level of service.

Where customer service is only satisfactory it becomes almost invisible to customers. They are not even aware of its existence, except when it is missing. To be fully perceived and recognized, customer service needs to be excellent.

Back office becomes front office

One significant aspect of turning back office functions into customer facing ones is that staff who never had direct interaction with the customer in the past are now in very regular contact. Furthermore, they are o en expected to sell, up-sell and cross-sell. In a three-day programme called ‘Making it easy (for the customer) to say yes’ for a direct insurance company, the objectives were:

To improve the conversion rate from call to sale; to improve the average transaction value of each sale; have the confidence and the skills to control calls and indeed increase business through professional telephone techniques; develop an action plan; . . .to delight the customer; be the best (company); today everyone (in the company) sells.

In many organizations there are now few places to hide for people who do not like interacting with the public. Thus, it is essential that customer service training is provided for all employees and at regular intervals. After all, everyone has customers, whether they are outside the organization or inside.

Standardizing service

Standardization of service is o en aligned to prescriptive requirements and is very common in contact centres. The procedures and tactics to be used are o en condensed into a number of ‘commandments’ as this checklist for a utility company confirms:

Quick response time.
Standard greeting.
Be polite and professional.
Use listening noises.
Take control.
Ask questions – don’t demand information.
Take notes.
Obtain reason for call.
Use customer’s name.
Take appropriate action to defuse anger.
Make the customer feel important.
Treat the customer as an individual.
Know our products and services – promote them.
Summarize the call.
Offer your name and extension.
Thank the customer for calling and finish the call with goodbye.
Always use the standard greeting: Good morning/a ernoon, . . .speaking. Can I take your reference number? Never say . . .Hello!

TRANSITION FROM A CALL CENTRE TO A CONTACT CENTRE

2011-11-29T08:02:00.000-08:00

The historical focus for communication skills in large call centres has been on the spoken voice as this has been the main channel for customer contact. The improvements in technology have driven the introduction of intelligent self-service channels that provide customers with the option to ‘self-serve’ on simple transactions. As IVRs, websites and mobile phone technology increase self-service capability, the requirement for simple transactional interactions between customers and advisers will reduce to that of only those customers who choose to speak to someone over the phone. This choice is important and should not be removed; however, it is expected that this will be a minority of calls into centres. This is expected to reduce all forms of transactional contact and in turn impact on the profile of the customer service adviser. Voice contact will be driven by more complex queries and with an increase in the internet channel, the split between voice and written contact is expected to change. Induction programmes in call centres focus on developing brand identity through voice communication and it is a huge challenge to transfer this identity to the written word, particularly in large organizations.

Basic skills challenge

Contact centres attract a wide range of people, from graduates to school-leavers, with varying ranges of qualifications – in some cases none at all. Most contact centres recruit advisers by attitude and behaviours rather than academic skills or qualifications. Recruitment activities usually assess basic skills in English, maths and computer skills during recruitment, although it is not certain that this provides evidence of someone’s correspondence ability. A recent evaluation of the skills in an established correspondence team in a contact centre demonstrated that basic grammar, spelling and punctuation was poorly applied to e-mails and letters sent to customers. The individuals in these roles were recruited internally as having the ability to write effectively, so this implies that there are even lower standards in the general customer service population.

Differentiation

To address the skills described above and be ahead of changes to the profile of advisers, customer contact organizations should ensure that advisers are multi-skilled to respond to complex calls and written correspondence whilst maintaining the quality of the brand and customer experience. A number of companies now align the written voice to their brand, which is communicated in external marketing material that is easy to read and uses warm, engaging, conversational language. This same approach should be reflected in written communications used by customer service organizations, but this is rarely addressed.

Mandy Scott-Hopkins, O2

A large customer service organization recently implemented a written correspondence programme to develop a consistent standard that reflects the brand and positively impacts on the customer experience for people who need to or prefer to make contact through e-mail or letters. Using an external company to provide the expertise to initiate this project, the organization developed an effective programme that has had a substantial impact on setting and improving consistency and standards. With the expected increase in written correspondence the success and further development of this programme is vital to adviser performance.

Approach

A working group was identified with key stakeholders within the organization. The agreed approach was as follows.

Design and deliver a bespoke workshop for line managers and champions
- Identify current skills gaps within pilot team.
- Identify the correct brand and written voice, working with central brand team.
- Design a writer’s guide and letter/e-mail template library.
- Design and deliver a workshop for line managers and champions.
- Design an assessment template for measuring improvements.
Develop and agree an exit strategy
- Design a correspondence workshop for advisers.
- Identify current skills gaps and provide individual training programmes for internal trainers with the best grammatical skills to deliver the correspondence workshop.
- Design and deliver a Train the Trainer course to internal trainers and assess competence to deliver.
- Review existing training content, identify any conflict and make recommendations to align with the fundamentals of the correspondence course.
- Deliver post-course evaluation and recommendations for future guardianship.

The course

Masterclass for line managers and champions – two-day workshop

Through identifying the skills gap the criteria for the needs of the correspondence department were identified. This was the flagship course that defined the content requirement for the correspondence workshops for advisers.

Pre-course

An initial health check was conducted to identify the level of competence against set criteria that demonstrated competence in effective writing and understanding of language. This consisted of completing three pieces of writing, which measured:

clarity;
accuracy;
layout;
language;
language awareness: verbs, punctuation, grammar, spelling, etc;
tone: direct, natural, clear, personal, customer-sided.
Course content

Based on the outcome of the pre-course work, a two-day workshop was developed that focused on the following areas identified for improvement:

writing in a standardized tone that reflects the image of the company;
sentence design;
punctuation;
letters vs e-mails;
structuring responses;
apologizing;
opening and closing effectively;
cutting out unnecessary words;
using everyday English;
avoiding jargon;
avoiding passive verbs;
contractions;
layout and bullet points;
saying no;
softening bad news;
using standard paragraphs.

Tools

Standardized writing guide. Samples of actual letters from the department to work with in the workshop.

Post-course

Competence test designed and implemented in regular quality checks to maintain standards and identify knowledge gaps for further training.

Evaluation

End-of-course reaction questionnaire.
End-of-course test of learning.
Follow up health check of the team at three months.
Follow-up return on investment at six months.

Results

Key writers workshop

One course was delivered with six attendees and the assessed level of competence improved from an average level to 90 per cent in an end-of-course evaluation. One hundred per cent of delegates improved as a result of attending the workshop. The delegates returned to their roles as champions of the standard and now use an improved quality check process to ensure consistency is maintained.

End-of-course evaluation indicated that most delegates improved their capabilities as a result of this training and have improved across the board in their letter and e-mail writing skills.

Exit strategy

The trainers believe that they have a higher level of awareness of grammar, punctuation and spelling as well as a good understanding of the ‘brand voice’. By the end of the intensive training programme they felt competent to deliver the workshops. They received a mixture of delivery styles that included remote learning, face-to-face, telephone feedback, group and individual coaching. The trainers’ skills increased to more than the minimum level required and they have all delivered a significant number of sessions following the implementation, which have received very positive end-of-course feedback scores.

The pilot review recommended that the implementation of the following will increase the effectiveness of the programme:

Guardianship policy to maintain the integrity of the template library and course content.
Development programme for in-house trainers to maintain quality and competency.
Bi-annual health checks completed by the external consultancy.

Overall business improvement

Pre-course evaluation

Pre-evaluation of the skills in the pilot groups identified that three-quarters of the team scored five out of seven on a set of criteria provided by the external consultant. The remaining quarter scored six, indicating some common issues.

End-of-course evaluation for correspondence courses

End-of-course evaluation indicated that most delegates found the workshop an excellent experience that challenged them to change the way they constructed their letters and e-mails and increased their confidence in their skills and knowledge as a result. They felt very confident in the trainer’s level of understanding and delivery and thought the overall structure and content of the course was very good.

Post-course evaluation

A review was completed 16 months later to check that the skills were being put into practice and to identify further development areas. On the whole the teams are using the skills well and the collective team rated as an average level 3. Further opportunities to maintain standards and improve to higher levels of competency were identified and recommended.

Table 1: Quality check scores January–August

Quality and observations

The new quality check form has been introduced and the average improvement was 6 per cent during the first three months. Five months later quality had increased by 14.6 per cent in comparison to January’s results. The effect on repeat correspondence has not been as successful and further investigation is required.

WRITTEN COMMUNICATION

2011-11-26T08:01:00.000-08:00

During recent years there has been a considerable evolution with call centres becoming contact centres to reflect the increasing use of other channels of communication. Customer contact centres involve additional forms of interaction than solely using the telephone eg, mail, but the main area of growth is in e-mail communication.

Written communication requires complementary skills to those used in verbal communication. Accurate spelling, suitable use of vocabulary and correct grammar are necessary to present the organization in the best light. ‘As more call centres evolve into contact centres, literacy will be a key labour skill’. This development could be an increasing problem because a large number of trainees have limited basic skills, especially spelling.

Below are two case studies that illustrate how an organization has recognized the increasing importance of written communication and the necessity of matching the language used in correspondence with corporate brand.

Mandy Scott-Hopkins, O2

Background

With a large customer service function (circa 8,000 FTE) within a contact centre environment, O2 strives to differentiate itself from competitors through brand and reputation. We develop most learning solutions as a result of business change and need to react very quickly, so the challenge is to develop dynamic learning solutions that support this, underpinned by a quality development programme for core skills. The historical focus for communication skills has been on the spoken voice as this has been the main channel of customer contact. With the increased use of written channels it has become necessary to focus on the impact of written communication on our brand.

Challenge

The challenge was to identify, design and deliver a standard of writing within Customer Services in line with O2 brand values, reflecting the personality of the organization and delivering a high standard of modern grammar. The in-house Learning and Development (L&D) team provided generalist development solutions and did not have the expert knowledge to develop the content.

Solution

An external company that specialized in this area was sourced to support the design and implementation of the solution. A steering group was created including representatives from operations, L&D and the external company, with a senior level operations manager as the sponsor. The key success factors were:

Identify and define the brand and written voice for CS correspondence.
Identify the standard and understand current issues with correspondence.
Develop a basic correspondence library and writers’ handbook to support advisers with templates for letters and e-mails.
Design and handover a correspondence workshop for advisers.
Deliver an exit strategy to ensure the business owns the material and is self-sufficient at maintaining the programme through developing the capability of trainers, coaches and team managers.
Identify talent in the business and grow it by delivering an ‘expert’ workshop to key people in the business to ensure that the programme is sustainable.
Measure performance improvement to include improved grammar, tone, punctuation and spelling in addition to reducing escalations/repeat correspondence.

Outcomes

The success factors were achieved and O2 owns a bespoke two-day comprehensive writing workshop that delivers results. The continuing challenge is that the development and guardianship of this subject is dependent on external resource at a substantial financial cost. As the trained ‘experts’ move on and develop careers, the number of those competent at this level reduces, therefore the ability to maintain the integrity and benefits from the programme diminishes over time. The challenge is to ensure the ongoing development of new experts is cost-effective. There are clear cost benefits in developing our internal teams with the skills to design, deliver and coach modules to support this area.

Tactics for active listening | COMMUNICATION SKILLS TRAINING

2011-11-23T02:37:00.000-08:00

Make notes

In more detailed conversations or when one is tired it may not be possible to remember all the details. In cases such as these it is practical to write brief notes or use the computer system to store key information.

Building rapport

This can o en simply be achieved by mentioning the weather, or saying something like, ‘That happened to me once.’ Connecting like this with the customer personalizes the interaction and moves it away from being a standard mechanized procedure.

Avoid interruptions

Normally, it is much better to let a person complete what he or she is saying rather than interrupt. This not only demonstrates respect it also indicates that what the CSR has to say is not more important than the customer.

Use the customer’s name

Nearly all of us like to hear our name, so careful use of the customer’s name indicates that he or she is receiving attention and is valued as an individual. The fact that the CSR has also given his or her name indicates that he or she is willing to take responsibility for the transaction. The important thing is to use the name in moderation; if it is used too o en the conversation becomes too false and rapport with the customer will be lost. If you are not sure about the name because it is a new one or you couldn’t hear it properly, one strategy is to ask the customer to spell it. This can sometimes be done indirectly when getting the customer details.

Using the customer’s name is a simple way to develop rapport; however, one certain way to lose it is to use the wrong name. This can be very easy to do when dealing with many people during the shift, as the following example illustrates:

CSR: ‘Well, Fiona, we have a great deal for you.’

Customer: ‘That’s good news, but my name is Michaela.’

CSR: ‘Oh, I’m really sorry!’

Much more energy and attention is then required to retrieve the empathy and rapport during the interaction. If in doubt use ‘Sir’ or ‘Madam’.

Don’t become defensive

When customers describe their situation this is o en how they interpret it and, normally, this should be acknowledged by the CSR. It is best to try and understand their situation, even though it may appear unreal (or perhaps even untrue), and find a solution that is satisfactory to the customer and the organization. The important thing to remember is to keep an upbeat conversational tone even when things are not going in the desired direction.

Invite | COMMUNICATION SKILLS TRAINING

2011-11-18T07:59:00.000-08:00

The ‘Invite’ stage of the conversation cycle is a very useful means for taking control of the dialogue. This is generally done through asking questions and drawing the other person into the conversation. There are a number of forms of questions, which are described below.

Closed questions

Closed questions are generally used to narrow down the conversation and find out specific answers. They are questions that normally result in one word answers such as ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ or a short phrase. Closed questions normally begin with the following phrases:

Do/did, eg, ‘Did you load the so ware?’

Can/Could

Will/would, eg, ‘Would you confirm your address, please?’

Have

Isn’t it?

Wasn’t it?

Closed questions serve a number of purposes:

They enable the questioner to keep control of the conversation.
They provide quick information and facts.
They allow the conversation to be led in a particular direction.
They check understanding.

Closed questions may sometimes be used to slow down or halt overly cha y and rambling customers eg, ‘So, you would like your new furniture delivered on Thursday afternoon, is that right?’

Checking questions

These are closed questions that enable the CSR to identify if the customer has understood and is following the discussion. The challenge is to do this without appearing to patronize or imply that the customer is not intelligent enough to understand. The use of tone here is very important and incorrect use may convey the wrong impression. Rather than saying, ‘Did you understand what I just said?’, it is much safer to turn it around with, ‘Have I explained that ok? I would be very happy to go through it again.’

Inform | COMMUNICATION SKILLS TRAINING

2011-11-15T11:00:00.000-08:00

The ‘inform’ stage of the conversation cycle sets the stage for the adviser to guide the interaction with the caller. It also allows the conversation to keep momentum and flow naturally.

There are a number of strategies that can be used to encourage the conversation to flow and help achieve a successful outcome. A number of these are described below.

The KISS principle

KISS stands for ‘Keep it short and simple’, or, ‘Keep it simple, stupid!’ The aim is to keep the conversation as simple as possible and get to the heart of the customer’s wants as quickly and politely as possible.

Tell ’em

One of the main principles of communication is to explain what you are going to explain to them; then tell them; then repeat what was said. This can be summed up as:

Tell them what you are going to tell them.
Tell them.
Tell them what you told them.

For example:

Tell them (’em) what you are going to tell them: ‘I will begin by asking for a few personal details to confirm your status. Then I can take a look at your bank account and arrange payment of the bills.’
Tell them: ‘Right, let’s begin. Would you give me your date of birth. . .’.
Tell them what you told them: ‘Well Mr Federer, I have paid your electricity and credit card bills. Is there anything else I can help you with?’

Positive language

Use positive language as much as possible. For example, try not to say, ‘We cannot deliver on Wednesday.’ Instead, use, ‘We can arrange delivery for you on Tuesday or Thursday, which would suit you best?’ In this way the customer feels like they have a choice although in fact they are two options chosen by the CSR.

Keeping the customer informed

The CSR should always keep the customer informed when they are carrying out an action. Phrases that help the customer include:

‘I am just going to check what happened to your shipment. This may take a little time.’

‘Please bear with me while I book the ticket for you.’

‘The computers are running a little slow today. We should have your information soon.’

Silence

The term ‘dead air’ is o en used to describe situations when there is no conversation happening between the CSR and the customer. A span of approximately four seconds silence is unlikely to be noticed by the customer but beyond this we get what can be called a ‘pregnant pause’. When there is no communication this can be unsettling for the customer and it is important that the CSR explains what will happen so that the silence doesn’t become oppressive, eg: ‘I am just going to explore our computer system to see if I can find a solution to your situation. Please hold the line for a moment.’ When there is a space it can also be filled with, ‘Sorry, to keep you waiting’, or, ‘Just looking for you.’ If it is going to be a long time then the offer should be made to call the customer back.

On occasions the CSR may need to use the mute control when he or she wants to sneeze or cough; or ask a colleague or supervisor for information. This is normal use of the technology; however, it should not be used to make fun of or abuse a caller. There have been recorded instances when the mute did not work and the customer heard this ‘private’ conversation. Naturally, this is not good for business and, furthermore, indicates a culture that suggests a lack of respect and professionalism.

The conversation cycle | COMMUNICATION SKILLS TRAINING

2011-11-12T07:56:00.000-08:00

The conversation cycle (Figure 1 describes in a simple yet effective way the basic structure of many conversations. In particular, its main value is to allow the customer service representative (CSR) to effectively guide the interaction so that the customer feels valued, and the call achieves a satisfactory outcome in a short period of time. The whole conversation should have a balance between speaking and listening so that the customer feels he or she is being listened to and action is being taken.

Figure 1: The conversation cycle

It is especially important that the CSR takes responsibility for the conversation because it is less likely that the caller has the same degree of communication skills. If the CSR feels the other person is talking too much, or they are not making themselves clear, or that they don’t understand properly, then it may be the result of the CSR not using his or her communication skills effectively and he or she should recover the situation as quickly as possible:

Inform: Provide information/explanation so that the other person knows what you are doing or planning to do.
Invite: Invite the other person into the conversation or encourage them to make a response.
Listen: Stop talking and actively listen to the other person.
Acknowledge: Verbally acknowledge what they are saying by using: I appreciate; I understand; ok; I see, etc.

Once the cycle is completed you continue with ‘Inform’ and so the cycle begins once again, eg:

Inform: ‘Good morning/afternoon/evening, Home Banking, Jane speaking.’
Invite: ‘How may I help you today?’
Listen: ‘May I check my account balance, I need to see if I can pay a large bill?’
Acknowledge: ‘Yes, of course Mrs Jones. Just let me get you the details.’
Inform: ‘You have £867 in your account.’
Invite: ‘Would you like me to make a payment for you?’ etc.

SPOKEN COMMUNICATION

2011-09-30T02:22:00.000-07:00

Spoken communication requires a number of elements to make it effective and successful. One of these is fluency, which helps the communication to flow through the correct choice of words and avoiding unnecessary and ‘deafening’ silences.

Another important aspect of spoken communication is for a voice to have intonation. This is the melodic rise and fall of a sentence and if a person doesn’t have this in his or her spoken voice then it can become very boring to a listener.

Pitch is the level or frequency at which a person speaks. A deeper pitch is considered to communicate authority, which is why many news-readers have deep voices to convey the gravitas of what they are saying. Yet voices that are higher in pitch are often more accessible and may explain why women are particularly successful in call centres.

It is important to communicate certain key points during the call. The English language is stress-timed ie, we emphasize certain key words at regular intervals while the less important ones are spoken more quickly and with less emphasis. Compare this to languages that are syllable-timed such as French or Italian where there is o en equal emphasis placed on each syllable.

Neuro-linguistic programming

It is becoming increasingly common for aspects of neuro-linguistic programming principles to be incorporated in training. NLP, developed by Bandler and Grinder (1976), is an interpersonal communication model that draws on a wide range of sources to inform its practices.

The particular elements that are useful in call centres (and which, incidentally, have been used by people in the distant past, long before NLP) are to encourage employees to mirror the speed, tone and volume of a caller, and to adjust their vocabulary to suit the caller. In this way it is possible to quickly develop empathy with the caller and thus encourage a productive interaction.

SOUNDING RIGHT – THE AESTHETICS OF SPOKEN LANGUAGE

2011-09-27T05:51:00.000-07:00

It is taken for granted in call centres that advisers should be able to speak clearly and this ability is looked for during recruitment and selection. ‘Sounding right’ is a very important component of the image an organization wishes to transmit to callers:

In relation to customers’ aural aesthetic, the voice and accent of employees was important. In the hotel, the personnel manager was adamant: ‘We don’t want someone who spoke in a very gu ural manner.’ In the banks, again, one respondent claimed that having a ‘clear accent’ was an absolute essential.

So, because it is o en very difficult to change the way in which a person speaks (which is o en an important part of their personality and therefore is very difficult to change) people are frequently selected who already possess the language qualities required. It would appear that some employers are prioritizing aesthetic ‘sense knowledge’ over ‘intellectual knowledge’ and seek to recruit workers with ‘embodied capacities’ that they can ‘commodify’ and thus create a specific type of service experience.

It is argued that some employers select staff who already possess the qualities needed to work as advisers and just style and polish these surface features:

This, arguably, would be a more accurate description than ‘skilling’ of what goes on in many regimes of customer care, where there is little engagement with the underlying purposes and principles of verbal interaction, but rather an intense concern to manage what might be called its aesthetics.

Of course, where only styling happens, employees may not fully understand what they are doing nor be able to improve their performance without guidance. It is essential that training involves providing the conceptual understanding to make sense of what is happening. Without this, advisers may know what to do but don’t know why – it is the essential difference between training and education.

Traditionally, English grammar was based on Latin structures, which are not fully suited to explain the various grammatical forms that have developed over the centuries. These traditional grammars have now been partly replaced by descriptive grammars that illustrate structures with examples of language taken from everyday situations.

This approach to grammar, which recognizes that language is dynamic and cannot always be shoe-horned into a particular structure, is enlightening. Communicative competence is more than just understanding the grammatical rules: it is also about knowing when to use them. ‘There are rules of use without which the rules of grammar would be useless’.

Such a short-term styling approach by employers, where it occurs, is strongly discouraged. Instructing people from scratch about the nuances of language is difficult, and even linguistics specialists find it difficult to fully describe all the interacting aspects of language. So it is understandable that people with life experience, perhaps raising children, are actively sought because they o en have the innate language skills required for successful communication. But, if contact centres wish to raise their skills levels and raise the public’s perception then deeper knowledge and understanding have to be developed.

Scripts and prompts

Scripts, or prompt sheets, are commonly used in call centres because they allow a consistency of approach and maintain a level of quality that may not be the case if people are allowed to go in any direction they choose. However, the extent to which they are helpful depends very much on the circumstances, for example, a telephone directory enquiry is a brief transaction that only lasts a short period of time and needs standardized procedures. On the other hand, a call to an advice line may require much more flexibility, particularly if the caller is emotional.

If advisers are constrained too much then the spontaneity of conversational language is lost and monotony and boredom can set in. Normal everyday conversations tend to be relaxed and informal and it is these elements that many organizations try to replicate so that they can build a relationship with the customer. It is therefore a balancing act between allowing flexibility and ensuring consistency and quality of service.

Although scripts can be helpful they cannot fully anticipate the response of the caller. There is a grammar of consequences in which ‘Speakers are free to make any choices, but how their choices will be interpreted is not free’. Where there is an unanticipated response the strategy encouraged in many call centres is to repeat the question in the hope that a more suitable response is obtained. This sometimes works but the overall conclusion is that the customer should not and o en cannot be constrained by pre-judged questioning.

Where scripts are too tightly enforced they may inhibit the adviser, and this verbal straitjacket may then have repercussions for a caller requiring an individualized response. The scripts used by Lloyds Bank overseas call centre so annoyed customers that it abandoned them.

Some call centres do not require linguistic uniformity and allow a considerable amount of flexibility. At one centre that focused on technical telecommunication enquiries, there is little enforcement of protocols. It ‘hardly regulated employees’ communication strategies at all, nor did it record or systematically monitor calls (a manager told me he believed that would be “devastating for morale”)’.

So what can be learnt about the use of scripts? Essentially, scripts provide a guide for the adviser, and for probationers and novices they are an important tool that gives confidence and support, helping to improve the interaction. As advisers become more experienced they internalize the language structure, making it more fluent and natural, allowing them more scope to personalize their communication with the customer.