4 min
Customer behavior has changed. This is not new. Customers are using more channels than ever before and easily adopt new media as they emerge. And as their communication preferences become more complex, they expect customer service to handle the most complicated inquiries.
A noteworthy fact is that the average interaction between the client and the agent is about six minutes. In that time, call center agents are expected to solve problems accurately, drive customer loyalty, and deliver exceptional experiences across all channels.
Therefore, agent training has accelerated. There is no one-size-fits-all training, in the same way that no two-customer journeys are exactly alike. For this reason, agent training must be proactive, personalized and specific to their needs, as well as to the channels they offer support.
Fortunately, cloud contact center technology can help supervisors identify training opportunities. This enables call center leaders to continually optimize CX by honing agent skills through targeted training.
The Changing Role of Contact Center Agents
There is a renaissance of agents within the call center. They now handle more complex digital interactions and are expected to establish stronger personal connections with customers across multiple channels. Also, many of them continue to work remotely. That variable alone introduces complexity and challenges that supervisors weren’t grappling with 18 months ago. But that doesn’t mean that delivering a good agent experience (AX) is impossible. Telecommuting has “exploded” years of best training practices, but with the right workforce engagement tools in place, supervisors can continue to train agents remotely.
What Factors Influence the Detection of Training Opportunities for Agents?
- More Complex Interactions. Digital customer journeys don’t start with an agent. Users have already searched online and visited the company’s website. This means agent support is more complex than ever, a trend that is here to stay with the growing adoption of customer self-service. Perhaps, as a result, 52% of companies see the ability to handle complex products and processes as an essential characteristic of employees.
- Relationship Builders. Contact center agents have always been encouraged to build rapport, but expectations have evolved. They are now expected to establish deeper personal connections that can strengthen long-term relationships with clients. This requires competencies in social skills such as empathy and active listening.
- Digital Channel Support. The proliferation of digital channels such as social media and chat has also required agents to acquire new skills, such as digital, that are essential in the modern call center. However, Forrester Consulting indicates that 41% of respondents believe their employees are concerned that their existing digital skills may not match what their job will require in the future.
- Remote Work. The pandemic forced organizations to rapidly adopt hybrid and remote work models, and now that companies and agents have experienced the benefits, many of them will continue to work from home. With the right tools, supervisors have as much visibility into performance and behavior as they do with agents in a physical call center.
Agent responsibilities and a dispersed workforce make it crucial for contact centers to always be on the lookout for training gaps. In this sense, the participation and optimization of the workforce, and analytics technology, which are part of all modern CCaaS platforms, can be leveraged to help ensure that training is oriented to the right topics and agents.
What Are the Keys to Identifying Employee-Training Opportunities?
Call centers should periodically assess where agent skills can be improved and prioritize training topics based on their evaluations. Here are three keys to success:
1) Analyze Interactions Across All Channels
Digital interactions are very different from phone calls and have their own quality standards. Interaction analytics software can analyze all of them across the various channels, including transactions between them, to ensure that call centers don’t miss out on training opportunities. Managers must leverage these capabilities to categorize interactions based on query topics, frustration detection, and expressed sentiment to see where problems occur and what causes them.
For example, customer sentiment scores can highlight underperforming agents. Further analysis can identify specific training opportunities for these agents. Agent-specific training is much more effective and will strengthen the overall quality of CX.
2) Adapt Training to the Needs of the Agents
Voice and digital channels capture large amounts of data on agent behavior and performance. And supervisors have more tools than ever to use this data to identify training opportunities for each agent, including those who work from home.
A common contact center theme is when conversion rates drop. In this case, training is most effective when the right officers receive the proper one.
Advanced tools such as engagement analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI) quality management analytics, and real-time engagement guidance software provide insight into agent performance. Therefore, supervisors can focus on both individual and group needs and apply the training where it will have the greatest impact. Using these tools results in a more complete view of opportunities while optimizing agent time and training resources. You can also increase employee engagement when training is tailored to their skill gaps.
In conclusion, today’s users expect a lot from businesses, especially in customer service functions. Poor call center interaction can result in the loss of a customer. This reality makes it vital for agents to continually improve their skills through specific training. To maximize training results, contact center leaders need to analyze all channel interactions and tailor training to agent needs.
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