Stores Magazine - November 2007 - (Page 46) WORTH WATCHING / EMPLOYEE TRAINING Supporting a Bear Market Vermont Teddy Bear boosts call center proficiency through enhanced training BY REBECCA LOGAN A t the Vermont Teddy Bear Co., contact center agents who choke on the cost of critters or struggle with the sizing of silk pajamas will soon be watching some videos. Anthony d’Andrea, who coordinates agent training at the Shelburne, Vt.-based bear manufacturer, is armed with a library of “eLearning clips” designed to target specific problems — and he can make new clips within a matter of minutes by using technology from Envision Telephony. Vermont Teddy Bear uses Envision’s Click2Coach solution, which also comes with Envision’s quality monitoring and e-learning offerings. These are designed to work together to deliver immediate feedback to sales agents’ desktops. Gone are the days of waiting for end-of-month incident reports to identify and correct problems, d’Andrea says. Reaction is WHY USE CONTACT now immediate should agents forget to identiCENTER MONITORING fy certain credit card information or verify conSOFTWARE? tact numbers. By using Click2Coach, d’Andrea simply whips up some clips, pushes them Abide by compliance out, and “within a week, those problem areas regulations no longer exist.” Identifying and fixing such problems is critiProvide quality assurance cal for a company like Vermont Teddy Bear, for interactions where agents are encouraged to cross-sell and Gather business intelligence up-sell, says Connie Smith, chief evangelist for Aid in individual agent Seattle-based Envision. performance management “They’re not just taking orders, so this was huge for them in terms of finding out who it Identify areas for agent was that needed that additional development and coaching coaching to be able to sell a candy bar to go with the teddy bear,” Smith says. “And they have clips for all of that.” This is not the plodding, hour-long training that may leap to mind when somebody mentions computer-based learning, Smith says. These videos are quick — and they’re specific. “It can be so easily customized, and that’s the key,” she says. “I’m 46 STORES / NOVEMBER 2007 not at all technical and I can create a clip.” In addition to cuddly creatures, Vermont Teddy Bear also sells the wares of sister companies PajamaGram, Calyx Flowers, TastyGram and Gift Bag Boutique. That can mean plenty of promotions for agents to keep up with. Using Envision, they are able to quickly educate or refresh themselves on a particular promotion. Click2Coach also allows for motivation along with education, says d’Andrea, who regularly selects examples of well-executed calls and combines them in a “kudos” clip sent out to the entire center. Agents hear specific evaluations of their own calls — and actually listen to those calls — at least once a week. Agents also learn through other agents’ successes, he says. Empathy and tone Envision offers customizable templates that help measure agent performWWW.STORES.ORG http://WWW.STORES.ORG
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