Here are my 10 tips to writing Call Center scripts:

1. Never have more than 2 – 3 sentences in a paragraph to avoid mechanical sounding.
2. Prioritize your relevant information.
3. Have agents present themselves as consultative with the words you choose them.
4. Find a way to ask customers what is most important to them, all customers appreciate the concern.
5. Use questions to proactively build relationships with customers.
6. Depending on your goals, include a follow-up plan or review account status before end of call.
7. Establish your thresholds for QA; Dead-Air Time, how far an agent can steer-away from script, etc.
8. Make greetings and closings short; Identify the brand, introduce yourself and understand issue at hand.
9. Use Ownership Statements to confirm assistance; For example, I can help you with that.
10. Know your IVR.  If at all possible, avoid repeating asking for information that has already been inputted.  It is a big annoyance for customers.

Last, but certainly not least, consider creating a theme for your Call Center.  For example, “Be the Best” is a motto that can be integrated in everything that you do.  Trainings, team meetings, 1-on-1 reviews, etc. can all incorporate “Be the Best.”  It is a expectation that is known and supported by your entire Call Center.

I was in a call center yesterday of about 600 reps. I did 4 side-by-sides in my approximate 6 hours on the floor today. I thought and felt it was time well spent because I witnessed behavior changes on each call with my side-by-side coaching.  With that said, I felt a bit of apprehension with 596 reps not getting any attention that day . How do I measure my ROI?  How do affect change in such a large environment?  I am focusing on increasing sales of 1 product that is offered among 5 others by the sales agents.

UPDATE: 9/1/09   – Thank you everybody for your amazing responses.  I received so many!  Your feedback sent me back to the design table!  I was inspired to create 8 modules  based on customer satisfaction.  It is important that we lower churn and increase c-sat scoring for the call centers.  The falling call volume due to a shift in the call centers core product (home land line services) means that my reps need to make each call a quality call.  Taking every call (aka ‘opportunity’) is the only option.  My specialists now have Facilitator guides, training aids (job aids, side-by-side coaching cards, self-paced learning, etc) as well as a variety of application and presentation styles and activities focused on c-sat.  One critical module that I would like to highlight, focused around the statement, “Nothing Happens Unless the Coach Makes It Happen.”  I love this statement b/c it is my strategy to affect change in such a large environment.  Recognition and responsibility motivational methods will now be in my Specialist’s front right pocket.

The support from everyone who replied to this blog was truly moving.

Samantha (9/1/09)

This past Sunday I had an amazing experience at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, CA.  The Museum of Tolerance (MOT) is a human rights laboratory and educational center dedicated to challenging visitors to understand the Holocaust in both historic and contemporary contexts and confront all forms of prejudice and discrimination in our world today. 

This museum was an Instructional Designers dream!  It was the most experiential and learner-centered museum I have ever been in!  One of my favorites exhibits was the Point Of View Diner.  A recreation of a 1950’s diner, red booths and all, that “serves” a menu of controversial topics on video jukeboxes. It uses the latest cutting edge technology to relay the overall message of personal responsibility. Following scenarios focusing on drunk driving and hate speech, this interactive exhibit allows visitors to input their opinions on what they have seen and question relevant characters. The results are then instantly tabulated. 

The MOT creates a safe environment for probing dialogue around difficult issues rarely discussed in the workplace and homes of participants. The Point of View Diner challenges participants to question their own assumptions, raise self-awareness, and present fresh perspectives to redefine personal responsibility and taking action. 

It is important for an Instructional Designer to create a safe environment for the learners.  This is so they can feel safe while sharing their views, expressing their opinions and ultimately not feel ashamed … after all this is a LEARNING environment.  I am also a big fan of self discovery which this museum, and in particular this exhibit does. 

I was SO INSPIRED by this visit that I am going to research how the ideas are generated for each of these exhibits.  I am interested to know who puts it together, what sort of piloting they do and what they do with the data they collect from each visitor.

The MOT is a MUST SEE if you are in Southern California.

To schedule a visit, call, 310-553-8403
for group tours, 310-772-7639.

Coaching is a critical component of a sound sales training campaign in an organization.  Coaches design an action plan for each sales agent based on their identified strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for growth.  The design of this action plan will show the creativity of the coach including their ability to relate to and influence the sales agent by changing their behavior.  That is the ultimate goal of this action plan, to change behavior.  The behavior change is what should move the sales needle in the positive direction for the organization. 

Here is a creative way to communicate required behavior changes and a fun and easy way to document the coaching session.  This is called the Coaching Prescription.  It is a play-off of a prescription pad that comes from the Dr. 

*Note:  This by no means is an all encompassing action plan.  This is an on-the-spot solution used to document the coaching session. 

Coaching Prescription Card

FedEx Office

FedEx Office (formerly FedEx Kinko’s), an operating company of FedEx Corp. is offering its printing services in an effort to help job seekers across the nation. FedEx Office cites the unemployment climb of the past six months for the special promotion. The company will host “FedEx Office Free Resume Printing Day” on Tuesday March 10, 2009, offering to print up to 25 copies of each customer’s resume for free. 

As reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor, the nation’s unemployment rate rose to 7.6 percent and the number of unemployed persons increased to 11.6 million in January 2009.  With so many people looking to get their printed resumes in the hands of recruiters and hiring managers, FedEx Office is prepared to help.

The company invites customers to take advantage of this one-day event by visiting any of its 1,600+ FedEx Office Print and Ship Centers in the United States during regular business hours.  This offer is good for 25 black-and-white resume copies per customer and is only valid for orders placed and picked up in-store.  Customers may place orders by submitting their resume in printed format or as a digital file, and the copies will be printed single-sided on resume-quality paper.

Philips, who said hard copy resumes have not fallen out of favor despite the growth of online job search sites, admitted that there is nothing to stop a job hunter from getting free resumes at more than one of its stores. “We weren’t worried so much about people going to multiple stores and gaming the system. We just want to make sure people have access to this service in a time of need.”

Some FedEx employees may also be in line for the free printing services.  FedEx Freight, a unit of FedEx Corp, last month announced it was cutting 900 jobs at 130 locations. In December, the corporation said it was suspending its 401(k) match and forcing its salaried workers to take at least a 5 percent pay cut.

To find the nearest FedEx Office Print and Ship Center, visit http://www.fedex.com or call 1-800-Go-FedEx (1-800-463-3339).

In California’s Mojave Desert, the US Army has built a “Virtual Iraq,” a billion dollar urban warfare simulation, and populated it with hundreds of Iraqi role-players.  Full Battle Rattle (http://www.fullbattlerattlemovie.com) follows an army battalion through the simulation as they attempt to secure the mock Iraqi village from slipping into civil war.  This documentary unveils the facts and conditions of the training facility.

Full Battle Rattle is a MUST see movie for all Instructional Designers because of the military’s testing facilities.  As ID’s, we all know that tests are used to simulate jobs as closely as possible and to check the learning of each sub-task.  This movie shows how the US military is able to measure skill and not just knowledge in a revolutionary way.  The simulation conditions are almost identical to Iraq including the language being spoke by the role-players, the weather, the media / press presence and the wounds that are inflicted during warfare.  Soldiers who do not meet the standards can be re-instructed and coached until they are able to perform the task to standard (and before going to Iraq).

Now we all needs budgets like the US military!

In February, job losses were large and widespread across nearly all major industry sectors.  The current unemployment rate is 7.6%.  If you are a part of this statistic, it is important to know what you should do differently when you get the opportunity to interview with a new potential employer. 

Below are my tips for a positive interview in this economy:

1. Go to as many interviews as possible; Even if it is not a “dream job.”  Interviewing is an art and practice makes perfect.
2. Research as much as you can about the organization you are interviewing with.  Be creative, read reviews, check their financials (if available) and scour their website!
3. ASK QUESTIONS!  Try not to wait and think of them on the spot.  You know the hiring manager is going to ask, “Do you have any questions?”  AT MINIMUM, ask “What is the next step in this interview process?” OR “After meeting with me today, do you see any reason why I would not be invited to the next round of interviews?”
4. MOST IMPORTANT:  Put on your game face!  Sell yourself!  Prepare yourself with a mental checklist of what you want them to know and remember about you after the interview is over! 

This is a tough employment market.  Organizations have many candidates and only a few jobs to fill, be different!

All of us need a mentor.  Did you used to have one, but don’t anymore?  Who was your 1st mentor?  How did your mentor change your life?  Do you currently have a mentor?  Who is he/she?

A mentor can help assess strengths and weaknesses, as well as help you develop new skills for success and help keep your creativity loose. If you and your mentor share the same employer, your mentor can foster your sense of belonging within the organization, help you navigate the company culture and politics, as well as let you know who the organization’s key players are.  If you own your own business, do not think it is not important, an outside mentor can provide you with warm leads, ask you tough questions about your own business (prepare you for the ‘real world’) and give you confidence that you are moving your organization in the right direction.  All mentors provide a fresh perspective — a new way of looking at a problem or issue. Ideally, your mentor will motivate you to do your best work.

• What does an Instructional Design / Training & Development / Knowledge Management  mentorship look like? 
• How is one created? 
• What would both parties benefit from the relationship?

I look forward to your best practices and discussion points on this topic.

Many of you have read my call for Instructional Designers to be a part of the Social Responsibility Movement.  I am asking designers to design for a civilization that will positively impact customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, communities and other stakeholders, as well as the environment.

I would like to highlight the Instructional Designer-Centric approach to offsetting carbon emissions by Will Thalheimer, PhD and President of Work-Learning Research Inc.   The Carbon Offset idea works like this. We all pollute, but when we do so we can help limit the damaging effects by either (1) offsetting our damage by doing good in other ways (for example if we have to drive a large car we can replace all our light bulbs with energy-saving flourescents), or (2) we can donate money to projects that help support renewable energy, energy efficiency, and reforestation.

What EXACTLY is a Carbon Offset idea?  Watch this 2 minute 40 second YouTube video.

Below are Will’s ideas for Training & Development departments so they can do as their part of the Social Responsibility Movement and REDUCE their Carbon Footprint:

1. Encourage the use of e-learning, which limits the carbon footprint of travel. And, make sure you build e-learning that is effective and engaging, so more folks will want to use e-learning.
2. When calculating the “cost” of training, calculate carbon footprint costs as well. See for example, The Carbon Fund’s calculators or The Clean Air Conservancy’s calculators. Make these costs evident.
3. Encourage your company to buy carbon offsets when utilizing training. It’s not just a good thing to do, but it may help your company attract business and recruit highly-educated employees.
4. In your e-learning courses, provide an option for learners to calculate how many tons of carbon dioxide they would have utilized had they had to travel from their location to headquarters.

 What are YOU doing to help the environment?

“The meta question for all of us is: Which civilization are you a designer for? The one that’s dying, or the one that we are trying to create?” – Paul Hawken, Author.

This is my call for Instructional Designers to be a part of the corporate social responsibility movement.  Designers must use creativity, design cycle(s) and ultimately their passion for education and development to positively impact customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, communities and other stakeholders, as well as the environment.

Instructional Designer contributions can be small yet very impactful.  Suggest e-learning instead of printing 100-page manuals everytime you have a new hire orientation, record your webinar sessions so they can be “used again” and ask your learners to contribute back to the society by using their newly found skills in a volunteer opportunity.  This is also a way for you to ”market” your training and development departments within your organization!  

What are YOU doing to help? 

I look forward to your replies.