I was recently at a customer site when they went live and had the opportunity to sit down one-on-one with their seasoned agents and train them on their new cloud-based contact center software.
What stuck with me most was that these agents wanted to know more than just how to handle their calls and emails coming in; they wanted to understand how the system worked and why this new contact handling system was better than their old one and what they needed to know to enhance their performance.
Too often in contact centers, I have seen the agents thrown new software, new procedure, or other change at them with the expectation to for them to figure it out if they want to keep their job. No one likes to be treated this way. Trainers and managers will best serve their agents if they take the time to get down on their level—literally sitting down next to them at their desk, not standing over them—and take the time to walk them through the advantages of change, how they can maximize the new process, software, etc., and why the company made the change. When this is done, you will see your agents appreciate your time and the respect you have shown them. Respect then is transferred over to the customers they work with and there is where we will see customers satisfaction shine!
