The job of an agent has become more complex, and his responsibilities are not getting easier. Convergys Corporation’s Director of Global Training Support, Jason Mitchell, believes so. Technical support, customer service or sales representatives from call centers in the Philippines have complex responsibilities ranging from addressing intricate customer questions and needs, deploying strong selling or service skills to exhibiting detailed service or product knowledge. The burden of being in the frontlines is what agents from call centers in the Philippines experience day in and day out.
To prepare agents in providing great service to clients’ customers, they undergo several processes. Passing the initial screening and getting hired in call centers in the Philippines do not necessarily mean that agents are already capable of handling customer or technical support. They undergo traditional knowledge-based learning (KBL) which includes an orientation session, new-hire training that can range from a few days to a few weeks and a transition period where they receive additional hands-on support. Call centers in the Philippines then push these agents to the frontlines where they take calls from customers to address questions or needs.
Convergys Corporation’s Jason Mitchell, however, believes that the typical KBL approach is not enough to ensure that agents in call centers in the Philippines can provide superior service and show a stellar performance, much less continue to improve their skills in dealing with customers. Mitchell suggests that the training process for agents in call centers in the Philippines should evolve with their roles. More training is not the answer as it takes too long, is too costly and does not always produce the results senior management wants. What companies should do is train and work smarter, faster and better.
The current practice of training agents in call centers in the Philippines using knowledge-based learning is not enough to make agents provide superior service while attempting to upsell new products or services to the customer base. Many agents in call centers in the Philippines try to balance hitting upsell targets, building customer loyalty through superior service experience and learning complex knowledge at a fast pace – all in the context of one phone call to a customer. The call, ironically, is measured for productivity based on the agent’s length of interaction with the customer. Call centers in the Philippines that use the KBL approach to train agents have common drawbacks. One such drawback is the lack of regular trainings. Training is usually offered once during the new-hire process, but regular, ongoing, formal sessions that are part of an agent’s development plan are rare.
Ineffective service in call centers in the Philippines is also a drawback associated with KBL approach in training. Because standard curricula are created without a valid adult learning methodology, knowledge retention can be abysmally low among learners. This translates into poor call quality and lowered customer satisfaction. Agents in will also deliver a lackluster performance in terms of providing service to the customers. Curricula in call centers in the Philippines are also usually outdated and old. It will be a problem for the representatives, clients, customers and contact centers if the curricula cannot keep up with the changing support technologies. KBL training usually promote one-way communication from instructor to the students, and this type of training become mute and unimportant when agents in call centers in the Philippines reach the floor to take calls.
Oftentimes, standard curricula are not relevant to the job of agents in call centers in the Philippines. A KBL approach in training relies on textbook methods or chapter by chapter learning which is not always applicable to actual customer interactions.
Because of these drawbacks, Mitchell suggests that call centers in the Philippines use performance-based learning (PBL) as a new training approach. In this approach, agents in learn by doing tasks rather than by reading from books or listening from an instructor. PBL approach requires engaging the agents in simulations, e-learning, role-plays, learning delivery methods and performance support systems. With a PBL approach, new agents get to learn the skills and techniques that are already proven successful in call centers in the Philippines.