The challenge

When customers contact a help desk for technical support, they expect accurate and up-to-date information. At a major health insurance provider, however, many of the associates who had several years of experience providing technical support to members relied largely on their existing knowledge of the products and missed product updates in the shared knowledge portal.

As a result, members sometimes received outdated or incomplete information and had to call back multiple times to resolve an issue. Metrics such as customer satisfaction and Net Promoter Score reflected the subpar member experience.

Our solution

As a trusted partner that has helped the client troubleshoot previous issues, TTEC was quick to notice the emerging problem and identified a solution. We launched a Continuing Education Corner initiative to help associates increase their knowledge and confidence to deliver effective and efficient member support. The initiative included process reminders and updates, reinforcing the use of the knowledge portal.

The Continuing Education Corner was composed of two learning initiatives:

Tip of the Week (TOTW) – A one-pager highlighting process reminders and updates, referring associates to the knowledge portal to promote its maximum use. This allowed associates to refresh and expand their knowledge. In addition, associates were required to electronically sign the TOTW stating that they read and understood the content.

Product Mastery Assessment (PMA) – a five-question assessment that evaluated the associates' knowledge and understanding of the processes in the knowledge portal. This enabled program leaders to address any opportunities identified in the PMA with associates during one-on-one coaching.

With the client’s approval, the Learning & Performance and Operations and Training teams implemented the initiative, making it mandatory for all associates, supervisors, and support staff to complete.

The results

The initiative was highly successful and delivered fast results. For the first time since the associates began operating the help desk, they achieved and at times exceeded their 70 NPS target. This success prompted the consistent use of the knowledge portal in addition to creating a domino effect of improvements across other key performance indicators (KPIs) of the program such as customer satisfaction (CSAT) and first call resolution (FCR). From January 2021 to August 2021:

• CSAT, FCR, and the Aggregate Survey Score's goal percentage each improved by 9%
• The average handle time (AHT's) percent to goal improved by 10% and in July 2021, it reached a peak improvement percentage of 16%

We also received abundant feedback about how helpful and relevant the initiative is to Operations and Training teams, especially for the associates:

"The TOTW in the Continuing Education Corner is very helpful in addressing the knowledge gap of new hire and tenured agents. The topics are strategic as it's directly from the agents' recommendations, the clients' process updates, or an identified call driver. It also helps ensure that everyone in the program is aware and aligned with the process or topic as it's a mandatory course for everyone. For PMA, it serves its purpose to gauge our agents' knowledge of the process. It allows us to relate it to the root cause and be more targeted in addressing gaps through TOTW or coaching. It gives us more confidence that our agents are knowledgeable and aligned." – Grace C., Operations Manager

"The TOTW and PMA help us, not only the agents but also the leaders, refresh our knowledge about the processes. It helps minimises repeat questions and focus our coaching on any identified opportunities we can generate through this continuing education corner initiative." – Nosie S., Operations Supervisor

"TOTW and PMA are beneficial for me as an agent since it refreshes my knowledge. It gives me new process updates and tips on how to handle customers' concerns. It tests our call handling skills and product knowledge. It also gives me important information about the processes and the different products I support." – Christian V., Representative