Increase Your Company’s Close Rates by 30% and Extend Add-On Sales by 20%

Contact center agents need to be as sharp as the savvy consumers they sell and serve. They are—when educated virtually by degreed educators who immerse agents in a client’s operations.

Taught to articulate business value, agents know how to help customers spend wisely. At the same, they can increase close rates and extend add-on sales—up to 30% and by at least 20%, respectively.

Transforming Sales through Virtual Education

It all begins by fostering a caring culture, infused with emotional intelligence. A welcoming workplace where Working Solutions educators first engage agents in the virtual classroom.

Through instructor-led classes, agents become extensions of a client’s brand. Believing in what’s being sold, they’re motivated to upsell and cross-sell.

By using the same products and services, agents identify with customers. They know the goods firsthand. This personalization makes selling more conversational, not scripted. Convincing, not contrived.

For example, working for a retailer of women’s footwear, on-demand agents talked shop and shoes with regular customers season after season, sale after sale. They compared styles, fit and wear. Comfort, of course. And toe cleavage, too.

Agents could do all of that after being schooled in the products. Plus, they wore—even adored—them.

Most important: Agents, some of whom served the client for 10 years, bonded with the brand, taking ownership of the business, having increased revenue while cutting operational costs.

Educating Agents in the Business

How are such results achieved? Here’s how: Agents became one with the retailer through tailored teaching to really learn the business.

And it’s done through lessons adapted to different learning styles: auditory, verbal, physical and logical. Hear, say and feel to engage and educate.

Working Solutions educators know how to transform a client’s call center agent curriculum—usually taught by rote in traditional classrooms—into interactive, online learning that measurably increases performance.

In fact, courses are prepared in ways to achieve desired business outcomes, such as boosting online sales by 15% at year-end. What gets measured gets managed—and baked into the instruction.

Educators break down curriculum into real-life lessons, based on customer scenarios. They employ micro-learning with Powtoon and use Biteable infographics to connect the dots. For 100% agent engagement, tools such as Umu and Kahoot come into play.

Through role-playing and gamification, agents practice “what-if” and “then-what” situations encountered in actual customer interactions. Realism drives revenue when learning is aligned with the bottom line.

Making the Investment

With agent education, the lessons never end. That’s because clients always roll out products and services. Agents evolve with them. Expanding markets require a broader curriculum to capture more business.

For instance, an educator might put together 30-, 60- and 90-day plans for agents during a marketing campaign. Metrics—daily, monthly, quarterly—gauge progress. Achieved objectives reflect exacting focus on financials.

Ongoing development also continues through Working Solutions University, a learning management system, and Vyne, our agent portal. There, agents refresh or learn skills; assess and improve performance.

They collaborate with colleagues, sharing lessons learned. Camaraderie builds community, as does a caring culture. Enthusiasm carries over when engaging customers, whether highlighting an offering or promoting a product.

Investing in agents pays big benefits. Educated a client’s operations, they feel part of the business, a vital member of the team. Knowledgeable and valued, they naturally outperform.

And in the call center industry, where turnover is a revolving door, our agents stick around. Three years on average—with five-, 10- and even 15-year anniversaries celebrated.

Their longevity translates into long-term client commitment and double-digit results. Education keeps agents sharp. And that’s good business, which informed consumers appreciate, buy and come back for more.

Promoting Real-time Teamwork – Alison

As an agent education and development manager, Alison created a real-time assessment tool to foster better collaberation. “I can go in live, watch agent performance and enter information as other team members work with agents. So you can paint a picture of how each agent is really performing.” The new process enabled the team to provide feedback to agents then and there, plus establish a historical record.

Happy Agents = Happy Clients – Carla

Carla, who designs curriculum and oversees the instruction of agents for travel companies, understands the importance of investing in agents. “We want them to be happy because happy agents mean happy clients.” And it’s this caring culture that “sets us apart from competitors.”