Stores Magazine - November 2007 - (Page 48) WORTH WATCHING / EMPLOYEE TRAINING ance against specific metrics. These can be linked to recorded calls or chats. Establishing the correct metrics can be a challenge for many companies, says Smith, who spends plenty of time on that topic with Envision clients. “I work with them on how to define things like empathy and tone, which are two of the hardest things to evaluate,” she says. Subjective questions, such as “Did she sound empathetic?” or “Did she have a good tone?” don’t accomplish much, she says: Better questions might be, “Did the agent say she was sorry?” or “Did her inflection go up and down?” D’Andrea says he’s a stickler for details during evaluations, and after a few months of intense training of the roughly 44 agents working at Vermont Teddy Bear during the summer, the lowest score on an evaluation was 91 percent. That type of performance will be vital in coming weeks as Vermont Teddy Bear swells its call center ranks. The company expects to need about 700 agents during peak times when radio airwaves will be crackling with bear promotions. “I want to have 44 awesome agents leading out there … so that the 700 we bring on will be taking their lead,” d’Andrea says. And those agents will have back-up in the form of the systems put in place through Envision. “Whether it’s 45 or 700, they can find out where the skill gaps are,” Smith says. Click2Coach clips combine voice and visual clues to appeal to a variety of learning styles. D’Andrea describes the reaction of a new agent fresh out of high school. “She thinks this is the neatest thing ever,” he says. “With someone who has been here for years? It took a little longer to convince them. With them, it’s more of a sell.” Wearing PJs to work At first, the idea of being monitored and evaluated on a regular basis was an adjustment for most Vermont Teddy Bear agents, given the company’s history of — and continued efforts to create — a fun contact center atmosphere where wearing pajamas to work is welcomed. “And they’re living in Vermont, [where] you have a very relaxed environment,” he says, “so early on this was a rather large shock.” Now, d’Andrea says he sees “absolutely no rolling of the eyes” and insists the agents have embraced the Click2Coach technology as a way to improve. Smith recently hosted a call-in session municating with the public via computer, Envision’s monitoring system can capture what is going on with their computers during the calls. Capturing voice and screen records simultaneously is becoming the norm, according to a 2007 Forrester Research report on contact center quality monitoring software. “Companies first began using this software to abide by compliance regulations,” the report states. “However, it is increasingly used to provide quality assurance for interactions, gather business intelligence, aid in individual agent performance management and At first, the idea of being monitored and evaluated on a regular basis was an adjustment for most Vermont Teddy Bear agents of contact center leaders from several companies, during which the subject of blending agents across communications channels was discussed. Most who talked during the call said they still keep agents separate so that one group handles calls, while others handle e-mail and chats. Vermont Teddy Bear fits that mold. The company has, however, meshed the type of merchandise that its agents must handle. Before, some agents dealt only with the bears, while others might take orders for pajamas or flowers. “But the solidarity was missing and we wanted to change that,” d’Andrea says. Now, agents take calls for all concepts. Even if telephone agents aren’t com48 STORES / NOVEMBER 2007 identify areas for agent development and coaching.” The additional information is valuable, Smith says. “When you were monitoring only the calls and an agent said, ‘I’m sorry, my computer is really slow today,’ you didn’t know if that was what was really going on,” she says. By capturing screen information, supervisors can tell if that agent’s computer was actually slow, or if that was only an excuse to disguise her own problems or distractions. “With this, you see the whole picStORES ture,” Smith says. Rebecca Logan is a Fort Leavenworth, Kan.-based writer. WWW.STORES.ORG http://WWW.STORES.ORG
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