Brian Tuite is cofounder & CEO of Zenarate, a leader in developing top-performing customer-facing teams through AI Conversation Simulation.

Customer care agent training is especially critical these days. As digital self-service solutions and chatbots handle simple customer inquiries, this leaves contact center agents with the toughest problems to solve. Agents are often the only human interaction brands have with their customers and prospects. So contact center and training leaders are looking for better ways to help agents solve complex problems while accelerating speed to proficiency, reducing agent attrition and improving critical KPIs such as CSAT, conversion rate and first call resolution scores.

And customers are demanding positive agent experiences. According to Execs in the Know, “Seventy percent of consumers want companies to focus more resources on improving their customer care agents rather than creating better self-help solutions.”

So how can businesses develop confident and proficient agents who can solve complex problems and deliver consistently superior customer and prospect experiences?

Putting Agent Simulation Training Into Action

For a long time, people have learned complex new skills through experiential, active learning. From a pilot learning to fly a plane in a flight simulator, to a basketball player honing their three-pointer in the gym, experiential learning is an effective way to learn and master new skills. And with the recent advancements in AI, agents can also learn complex new skills in a similar fashion.

Some are turning to simulation training, where agents can learn through life-like simulated experiences. (Disclosure: My company provides this solution.) It allows agents to participate in simulated experiences before they speak with their first live customer or prospect. With advanced simulation training, agents practice high-impact call scenarios they will face using their own words without scripting and receive tone, soft skills and best and required practice feedback. Simulation training provides an environment for agents to practice, solve problems, make mistakes and build confidence through simulated life-like scenarios.

Key Metrics To Prioritize

The first step in building a simulation training program for agents is prioritizing key metrics to improve, such as agent speed to proficiency, CSAT and NPS scores, first call resolution, drive to digital, conversion rates, average handle time, call quality and compliance scores. It’s common for contact center and training leaders to prioritize the top three KPIs they would like to improve throughout training.

To illustrate, here are three popular contact center metrics for improving the customer experiences while reducing cost—creating a win-win for your customers and shareholders.

1. Increase Drive To Digital: Save Customers’ Time While Preventing Future Calls

Improving the drive-to-digital metric empowers your customers to help themselves, saving them time and frustration from waiting to speak with a customer service representative. The first step in improving your drive-to-digital metric is identifying your high-frequency call types. Then evaluate each call type to determine if your agents can help your customers address the inquiry themselves, preventing them from having to call back again.

For example, if customers are calling to ask how many rewards points they have, it’s common for agents to provide the answer, then move to the next call. Instead, focus on mastering best practices for guiding customers to your mobile app to identify their rewards points themselves, so your customers don’t have to call in again. This saves your customers time and frustration and provides them a bridge to your mobile app to experience other benefits you offer, all while reducing your call volume and expense—a win-win!

2. Reduce Average Handle Time (AHT): Improve Service Delivery While Reducing Cost

To reduce average handle time, focus on your common call types and prioritize your company's best practices for speed and providing a superior customer experience, starting on day one in training for new hire agents. And for tenured agents with high talk times, train them how to streamline their conversations by mastering your company's best practices.

For example, you know how long it takes on average to satisfy a common call type such as “Waive my late fee” with your best practices, such as authenticating the customer, listening and responding with empathy, addressing the late fee objection, recapping and closing the call. Suppose you see agents taking six minutes when on average, the call type is handled in three minutes using your best methods. In that case, address the weak points in training, and you can reduce your cost by 50% while improving your customer experience.

3. Improve First Call Resolution (FCR): Prevent Callbacks And Reduce Cost

FCR is one of the cornerstone metrics for high-performing contact centers. It provides clear insights into customer satisfaction, ensures customer problems are solved the first time, and reduces unnecessary repeat customer call-back costs.

To master the critical skills necessary to handle complex problems, focus on improving skills such as listening, probing, responding with empathy, clarifying and confirming the problem, proposing the solution, recapping the actions taken and the next steps to solve the problem, and closing the call with enthusiasm. Customers will feel heard, and agents will feel proud while you save repeat calls and reduce costs.

I've found the biggest challenge in building a simulation training program is staying focused on the top KPIs. To do this, implement the 90-10 rule. This means that on average, 50-75 simulation stories will cover 90% of any call type you want your agents to be amazing at (50-75 stories per use case such as customer service, direct sales, fraud, disputes, collections). On the flip side, it may take more than 1,000 stories to cover the remaining 10% of call types that agents may face with live customers or prospects. But I've noticed that when agents can handle the first 90% of call types with superior agility and proficiency, they will often figure out how to handle the remaining 10% for the first time with finesse and confidence.

Every contact center has different priorities, and I suggest to take time determining additional key metrics to improve based on your specific needs. By focusing on key metrics, contact center and training leaders can teach their agents how to solve complex customer problems and master new skills, improving their key metrics while creating a positive experience for their customers and shareholders.


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