The historical focus for communication skills in large call centres has been on the spoken voice as this has been the main channel for customer contact. The improvements in technology have driven the introduction of intelligent self-service channels that provide customers with the option to ‘self-serve’ on simple transactions. As IVRs, websites and mobile phone technology increase self-service capability, the requirement for simple transactional interactions between customers and advisers will reduce to that of only those customers who choose to speak to someone over the phone. This choice is important and should not be removed; however, it is expected that this will be a minority of calls into centres. This is expected to reduce all forms of transactional contact and in turn impact on the profile of the customer service adviser. Voice contact will be driven by more complex queries and with an increase in the internet channel, the split between voice and written contact is expected to change. Induction programmes in call centres focus on developing brand identity through voice communication and it is a huge challenge to transfer this identity to the written word, particularly in large organizations.
Basic skills challenge
Contact centres attract a wide range of people, from graduates to school-leavers, with varying ranges of qualifications – in some cases none at all. Most contact centres recruit advisers by attitude and behaviours rather than academic skills or qualifications. Recruitment activities usually assess basic skills in English, maths and computer skills during recruitment, although it is not certain that this provides evidence of someone’s correspondence ability. A recent evaluation of the skills in an established correspondence team in a contact centre demonstrated that basic grammar, spelling and punctuation was poorly applied to e-mails and letters sent to customers. The individuals in these roles were recruited internally as having the ability to write effectively, so this implies that there are even lower standards in the general customer service population.
Differentiation
To address the skills described above and be ahead of changes to the profile of advisers, customer contact organizations should ensure that advisers are multi-skilled to respond to complex calls and written correspondence whilst maintaining the quality of the brand and customer experience. A number of companies now align the written voice to their brand, which is communicated in external marketing material that is easy to read and uses warm, engaging, conversational language. This same approach should be reflected in written communications used by customer service organizations, but this is rarely addressed.
Mandy Scott-Hopkins, O2
A large customer service organization recently implemented a written correspondence programme to develop a consistent standard that reflects the brand and positively impacts on the customer experience for people who need to or prefer to make contact through e-mail or letters. Using an external company to provide the expertise to initiate this project, the organization developed an effective programme that has had a substantial impact on setting and improving consistency and standards. With the expected increase in written correspondence the success and further development of this programme is vital to adviser performance.
Approach
A working group was identified with key stakeholders within the organization. The agreed approach was as follows.
- Design and deliver a bespoke workshop for line managers and champions
- Identify current skills gaps within pilot team.
- Identify the correct brand and written voice, working with central brand team.
- Design a writer’s guide and letter/e-mail template library.
- Design and deliver a workshop for line managers and champions.
- Design an assessment template for measuring improvements.
- Develop and agree an exit strategy
- Design a correspondence workshop for advisers.
- Identify current skills gaps and provide individual training programmes for internal trainers with the best grammatical skills to deliver the correspondence workshop.
- Design and deliver a Train the Trainer course to internal trainers and assess competence to deliver.
- Review existing training content, identify any conflict and make recommendations to align with the fundamentals of the correspondence course.
- Deliver post-course evaluation and recommendations for future guardianship.
The course
Masterclass for line managers and champions – two-day workshop
Through identifying the skills gap the criteria for the needs of the correspondence department were identified. This was the flagship course that defined the content requirement for the correspondence workshops for advisers.
Pre-course
An initial health check was conducted to identify the level of competence against set criteria that demonstrated competence in effective writing and understanding of language. This consisted of completing three pieces of writing, which measured:
- clarity;
- accuracy;
- layout;
- language;
- language awareness: verbs, punctuation, grammar, spelling, etc;
- tone: direct, natural, clear, personal, customer-sided.
- Course content
Based on the outcome of the pre-course work, a two-day workshop was developed that focused on the following areas identified for improvement:
- writing in a standardized tone that reflects the image of the company;
- sentence design;
- punctuation;
- letters vs e-mails;
- structuring responses;
- apologizing;
- opening and closing effectively;
- cutting out unnecessary words;
- using everyday English;
- avoiding jargon;
- avoiding passive verbs;
- contractions;
- layout and bullet points;
- saying no;
- softening bad news;
- using standard paragraphs.
Tools
Standardized writing guide. Samples of actual letters from the department to work with in the workshop.
Post-course
Competence test designed and implemented in regular quality checks to maintain standards and identify knowledge gaps for further training.
Evaluation
- End-of-course reaction questionnaire.
- End-of-course test of learning.
- Follow up health check of the team at three months.
- Follow-up return on investment at six months.
Results
Key writers workshop
One course was delivered with six attendees and the assessed level of competence improved from an average level to 90 per cent in an end-of-course evaluation. One hundred per cent of delegates improved as a result of attending the workshop. The delegates returned to their roles as champions of the standard and now use an improved quality check process to ensure consistency is maintained.
End-of-course evaluation indicated that most delegates improved their capabilities as a result of this training and have improved across the board in their letter and e-mail writing skills.
Exit strategy
The trainers believe that they have a higher level of awareness of grammar, punctuation and spelling as well as a good understanding of the ‘brand voice’. By the end of the intensive training programme they felt competent to deliver the workshops. They received a mixture of delivery styles that included remote learning, face-to-face, telephone feedback, group and individual coaching. The trainers’ skills increased to more than the minimum level required and they have all delivered a significant number of sessions following the implementation, which have received very positive end-of-course feedback scores.
The pilot review recommended that the implementation of the following will increase the effectiveness of the programme:
- Guardianship policy to maintain the integrity of the template library and course content.
- Development programme for in-house trainers to maintain quality and competency.
- Bi-annual health checks completed by the external consultancy.
Overall business improvement
Pre-course evaluation
Pre-evaluation of the skills in the pilot groups identified that three-quarters of the team scored five out of seven on a set of criteria provided by the external consultant. The remaining quarter scored six, indicating some common issues.
End-of-course evaluation for correspondence courses
End-of-course evaluation indicated that most delegates found the workshop an excellent experience that challenged them to change the way they constructed their letters and e-mails and increased their confidence in their skills and knowledge as a result. They felt very confident in the trainer’s level of understanding and delivery and thought the overall structure and content of the course was very good.
Post-course evaluation
A review was completed 16 months later to check that the skills were being put into practice and to identify further development areas. On the whole the teams are using the skills well and the collective team rated as an average level 3. Further opportunities to maintain standards and improve to higher levels of competency were identified and recommended.
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Quality and observations
The new quality check form has been introduced and the average improvement was 6 per cent during the first three months. Five months later quality had increased by 14.6 per cent in comparison to January’s results. The effect on repeat correspondence has not been as successful and further investigation is required.
