If simulation training isn’t part of your training regimen now, it will be soon. Today I’m going to show you why I’m so confident that simulation training is in your future and how you can approach the process to gain the most benefit for your call center.
How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice.
In today’s call center, agents must train on all products, protocols, compliance, customer service, processes, and application topics. It’s not just a lot of knowledge, but a lot of skill to master as well. I just finished teaching a two-week training, and the most common thing I heard from the learners was, “When are we going to practice?”
Learners know they need repetition to master skills. The problem is knowing where to fit practice in during training and what kind of practice to use.
For years, researchers have been exploring the question, “What creates an expert?” and the benefits of deliberate practice. Studies have shown that learners who engage in focused, repeated practice with clear goals and feedback achieve expert-level skills 26 percent faster.
Over the years, we have tried a myriad of methodologies to increase effective practice. We’ve added role plays, e-learning, and case-based learning to augment instructor-led training to avoid “death by PowerPoint.” These augmentations helped, but there was a missing ingredient.
Fly high with high fidelity.
These well-intended augmentations didn’t create the environment and practice we needed because they lacked high fidelity. When a training simulator has high fidelity, it means the reproduction of the simulator’s experience is as close as possible to the original.
Think of a flight simulator that perfectly models the real-life look and feel of flying an aircraft. Many who have taken flight simulators report forgetting that it wasn’t real life. This is because flight simulators are high fidelity –they accurately represent the experience of flying the actual airplane.
An effective simulator represents the production environment as much as possible and allows learners to perform deliberate practice within that sandbox. High-quality simulation training requires realistic customer/agent dialogue and the agent’s process’s application and data side built into the tool.
Production is a poor substitute for the classroom.
I remember the very first call I got as an agent, just starting in a call center. We had just come from training and hadn’t received much practice. We got to roleplay a couple of times with other learners who were also new hires. None of us had much insight into presenting as a real-life customer. When that first real call came in, I sat there, like a doe in headlights thinking, “Do I talk? Do I listen? Or do I type?” I just froze.
When agents learn to listen while they navigate complex protocols, processes, and applications, how many customers do we lose in the process? If agent development happens in production, how many repeat or escalated calls do we have to handle while they figure it out? Our goal is to make all the mistakes on simulated customers who are, after all, much more forgiving.
Simulation training in a high-fidelity environment gives agents the ability to develop muscle memory. They learn to navigate complex applications with ease while asking the right questions with proper documentation.
Training is especially effective when simulations model the highest volume and the most challenging scenarios and situations in production. By staying up-to-date with the common call types and complaints that rack up questions among your agents, simulation training keeps learning curves in the classroom and expert-level skills in production.
So, what’s the ROI?
I know that selecting and integrating new technology can be overwhelming, especially with simulation applications growing in number with varying benefit claims and a range of promised returns on your investment.
Nailing down the actual results can be difficult. Will a simulation decrease your training time by 10, 20, or 30 percent? Many factors go into that:
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How long is your training now?
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How complex are your calls?
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Do you train specialists or generalists?
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How long has it been since you’ve updated your content?
We know that simulations do change your training program, and they may provide one or more of the following benefits for your organization.
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Decreased training time
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Decreased call handling time
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Increased uniform call handling
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Increased accuracy
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Increased compliance
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Increased customer service skills
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Reached higher productivity levels faster
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Increased agent retention/decreased attrition
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Increased agent engagement
When we surveyed people which benefit was most important, they said:
Benefit
Percentage of Responses
Reach Higher Productivity Level Faster 32%
Increased Uniform Call Handling 21%
Increased Customer Service Skills 16%
Increased Agent Engagement 16%
Decreased Training Time 10%
Increased Accuracy 5%
Ten years ago, ResponseLearning did a study comparing organizations using simulation, the other without simulation. In that one instance, the simulation-trained agents’ call duration was 13 percent shorter than those trained the traditional way. The simulation-trained agents were eight percent more accurate in their call handling. When quality assurance scored “pleasantness,” the agents trained by simulation scored higher.
The data clearly shows that simulation training yields a variety of benefits. Below are some steps you can take to quantify those benefits and prove your case to executives.
The Goldilocks Zone
When we’re ready to add Hi-Fi practice to our training, we need to do it without breaking the bank. Our first step is to define what a “just right” simulation solution looks like for our organization. Step two is to build a business case to justify the expenditure.
To define the simulation solution that’s right for your organization, explore the simulation features and functions in different applications. Prioritize which features and functions are critical for your organization. Trying to “have it all” is seldom the best technology investment tactic unless you have an unlimited budget.
Next, document an RFP to see what the various vendors can offer and at what cost.
Finally, calculate your return on investment. Will you break even, or will the financial gains prove the viability of your investment? A compelling business case equals prioritized features plus a calculated return on investment.
My team has made a list of simulation features and functions to jump-start your prioritization to help you with this process. To receive a copy of this list, email kjackson@responselearning.com. We are also building a prioritization tool and ROI calculator to help you when you’re ready to find your Goldilocks solution.
We’d love to hear from you to discuss questions, concerns, or comments about simulation training technology and the features and functions most important to you!
