The challenge

A well-informed and professional associate can leave a lasting impression on brand, whether it’s creating memorable interactions or building customer loyalty. One leading automaker wanted to improve its own customer experience and streamline operations in a number of areas. It understood that its associates were a secret weapon that could unlock both efficiency gains and excellent service when trained to be experts with access to the most accurate information.

We partnered with the company to innovate different aspects of its learning and training initiatives to help associates deliver a top-quality customer experience at all levels. Our team took several steps to make improvements to the knowledgebase and educate associates on quality customer service.

Our solutions

Our approach assisted the company in a number of areas. We deployed speech analytics to gather insight on improvement opportunities in the contact center, elevated service expertise for luxury brand drivers, and changed knowledgebase curriculum to strengthen associate training.

Speech Analytics: Its current knowledgebase was excellent, but occasionally associates hit information roadblocks when they couldn’t locate proper information for general front line calls. The company wanted to improve access to information in a timely manner.

We used speech analytics tools to identify areas of friction and wasted effort during customer calls. Mishandling information can waste both the customer’s time and keep the associates from helping more people. The client also wanted to maintain the high first-call resolution it earned over time.

Our team split the calls into two distinct groups: 1) a document did not exist or did not effectively answer the customer’s question, or 2) a suitable document was available, but the associate was not able to find it. Isolating the root cause – missing document or associate behavior – led to a variety of new coaching practices for efficiently searching databases.

Luxury-level concierge: When the manufacturer rolled out a new luxury vehicle, it knew that drivers would come to expect experienced associates. It needed a top-notch knowledgebase and training curriculum for associates that would focus exclusively on the luxury brand.

The manufacturer recruited top-performing associates with a minimum of six months in its customer care team to operate all luxury customer concerns from warranty inquiries to account managements.

Their training was comprised of five days of in-class blended learning that encouraged roleplaying through simulated learning techniques, online tool mastery, micro-drills using key processes, and community research activities. The training also included a five-day nesting session that took live production calls in a supported environment.

Our business analytics team focused on trigger words to address gaps in their knowledge right away during the training program. After the call we listened in-depth for areas of improvement and coaching opportunities. The curriculum and insight generated was stored in our Social Knowledge Engine to keep info fresh for future programs.

Training Courses: We developed courses to assist associates in their professional development. Courses focused on the latest customer service and technology topics, so long-term associates could improve their skills. The courses also included simulated situations that gave the learners insight toward future calls. The program keeps associates current about customer topics and CX tools, giving them a strong foundation to deliver a superb customer experience in the front lines.

The results

Speech analytics: The program identified the need for 49 new knowledgebase documents, 90 updates to existing knowledgebase documents, and 25 new coaching opportunities. The coaching opportunities, focusing on searching knowledgebases effectively, led to a 40% reduction in associates misplacing documents. In addition, the average handle time was reduced by 30 seconds, lowering contact center costs sizably.

• 40% reduction in misplaced documents
• AHT dropped by 30 seconds

Luxury-level concierge: We saw significant improvements in quality assurance, rising as high as 83% in one month, and average handle times between 13 and 14 minutes.

• Quality assurance jumped by 83% in one month
• AHT of 13 to 14 minutes

Training Courses: The training was put to the test when the client needed to double its staff to handle a recall incident. Our streamlined approach to education and training led to one less week of training and expert associates ready to resolve issues. The team ramped associates faster with the same quality the car manufacturer prided itself in.

• One-week reduction in training time