Confidence-based learning removes the supervisor or trainer from being the single source of knowledge and builds a community of knowledge sharing throughout the entire organization.

– Jon Folkestad, Former Director of Customer Service Training, CLO Magazine

The Situation:

Training had been delivered in an instructor-led format, followed by role playing and mock customer interactions in a simulated lab where new hires could practice their skills. This approach required a heavy engagement with trainers and evaluation was too subjective.

The Solution:

The call center brought in Amplifire to re-invent training and educate customer service representatives.

The Challenge:

1. The organization was losing talented new hires because they were required to wait until the department could fill a class before they conducted a new hire training program.
2. Employees often had prior call center experience, and the existing training program was not able to leverage the knowledge and skills they already had.
3. Salespeople were not maximizing each sales opportunity due to lack of product expertise, and low retention levels following product training.
4. New hire training and time to proficiency was slow.
5. Customer satisfaction was relatively low, and there was a need to improve to remain competitive in the market.

Moment of Excellence
The Results:

  • Cost savings of $800 per call center representative.
  • Reduced time to proficiency for call center representatives by greater than 40%.
  • Increased revenue per employee by 7% over traditional new hire training.

Return on Investment. Amplifire delivered results by:

The shift in program design and delivery allowed new hires to immediately participate in education and training. By reducing time to proficiency by greater than 40%, customer service representatives were able to better manage calls and achieve higher levels of customer satisfaction. Additionally, Amplifire’s reporting capabilities provided the organization with an understanding of how the knowledge gaps closed significantly as new hires progressed through the program.

The use of self-directed learning created a new training atmosphere that allowed more time for peer-topeer interaction, instructor-led coaching, and role-playing without increasing the staffing requirements. Customer service representatives demonstrated greater overall sales proficiency and skill in positioning the right solutions to clients.

While the increase in performance was tracked among new hires, the client also noted that as new hires moved to the floor, they were better prepared than those who had received previous new hire training. One particular new hire trained with Amplifire handled a call during his first day in which the customer asked to speak with his manager. The customer stated that his experience was the best customer service experience he had ever had when dealing with a call center. The organization called this “a moment of excellence” – a level that had never been achieved so quickly by a new employee.