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y Arent
hing inall
hts from
Coachpa looza 05 : A Call Center FocusGroup Series
A White Paper from Knowlagent
Authored by: Debbie Qaqish & Dwight Lucas
Fall 2005
WhTheyCoacthe C
Center? Highlig
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demark of Knowlagent, Inc. Value-Driven Coaching Model fore-Driven Coaching Model are trademarks of Knowlagent, Inc. All
ks used in this document are the property of their respective owners.
The information contained in this document is proprietary to Knowlagent, Inc. Unless you arethe intended recipient (or authorized to receive for the intended recipient), you may not read,print, retain, use, copy, distribute or disclose any information contained in this document.
Copyright 2005, Knowlagent, Inc.All Rights Reserved
Knowlagent Inc.
Knowlagent is a registered trathe Call Center and Valuother trademar
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Driving value at the front line of business.
Table of Contents
............... 4
............... 5 I. Time.................................................................................................6II. Information ...................................................................................... 9
............. 12
............. 14..............17 ............. 19
II. Information .................................................................................... 19III. Process......................................................................................... 19IV. People........................................................................................... 19
Conclusion .............................................................................................. 20
Overview ...................................................................................
Coaching Inhibitors and the Parallel to Customer RelationshipManagement (CRM) ...................................................................
III. Process............................................................................
IV. People..............................................................................
The Value-Driven Coach ing Model..........................................
I. Time..................................................................................
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Driving value at the front line of business.
Overview
We recognize the value of coachingwe just dont have time to do it.
- Coachpalooza 05 participant
Coaching is one of the highest impact, yet overlooked, wacompany goals in the call center. The best centers know this and
attempting to develop coaching models,
ys to achieveare
tools and initiatives to drive
ough quality
nter coaching
es of Supervisoralso provides
model The
Value-Driven Coaching Model - to address these inhibitors. A fullreport of findings, including all em survey results and the distinct Key
Coachpa looza 05 Sum m ary Repor t at
coaching, yet even the best are struggling with how to deliver encoaching in the unique call center environment.
This paper discusses the primary inhibitors to successful call ce
as discovered by Knowlagent during Coachpalooza 05, a seriFocus Groups held with seven large call centers. This paper
both a set of recommended best practices and a suggested
itFindings, is available in the
www.knowlagent.com.
W hat i s Coachpa looza 05?
To better understand the call center coaching environment, Knowlagentp series with seven large call
articipants.
ching
gets coached the challenges to coaching in the dynamic call center environment
Participants in the focus group series included leading Fortune 1000companies from a variety of industries, including financial services,insurance, retail, telecom and travel, with agent populations ranging from
450 to 12,000.
conducted Coachpalooza 05, a focus grouce cluded 53 supervisor and manager level pThis strategic initiative allowed us to better understand:
nter groups that in
the attitudes towards and the perceived value of coa how coaching is conducted and measured
what
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Driving value at the front line of business.
Coaching Inhibitors and the Parallel to Customer
this white paperer, these themes
call centerced a
, successinhibitors.
), looked to
ey assumed
ies, itt we observedg issue. It is not
simply tell the supervisors they need to coach more and assumethey can make it happen. By taking this one-dimensional approach to a
p for
g failure or under-achievement of goals, just like CRM in its earlyns.
our key themes, or inhibitors, as part of our coaching research.
They are:
e
People
The following section explores each of these themes and Key Findings via theCRM analogy and presents recommended Best Practices for each. For
additional detail, please see the Coachpa looza 05 Sum m ary Repor t ,available at www.knowlagent.com
Relationship Management (CRM)
Several recurring themes emerged that became the basis forand the separate Coachpalooza 05 Summary Report. Furth
suggested an interesting parallel between the state of todayscoaching and the early days of CRM. In both cases, businesses fa
number of unexpected inhibitors to success. And, in both casesmeans taking a multi-dimensional approach that addresses all the
Early adopters of CRM, then called Sales Force Automation (SFA
improve the productivity of sales reps and often failed because th
a one-dimensional approach to solving the problem. For these companwas all about the technology. Similarly, most call centers thaare taking a one-dimensional approach to solving the coachin
enough to
multi-dimensional problem, we believe call centers are either set u
coachinincarnatio
We observed f
Tim
Information
Process
.
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Driving value at the front line of business.
I. Time
I have sufficient time to coach each day
(Supervisor Responses)
32%
39%
5%
20%
4%
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
No Opinion
Agree
Strongly Agree
71% of participating supervisors felt they did not have sufficient timeto coach each day, with the vast majority (80%) spending a total of
less than two hours a day on all coaching activity.
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Driving value at the front line of business.
Key Find ing 1
CRM: Finding time to sell is a
foundational necessity
Coaching: Finding time to
coach is a foundationalnecessity
The early promise of CRM/S
Automation systems was that
find time for salespeoplecould spend more time in front of
customers. This was, in effeefficiency play but one that w
definitely the first step towards o
sales effectiveness. Both early Ssystems and the later CRM syst
ales Forit wo
so they
ct, a pu
asve
FAems
produced large gains in sales
productivity, so much so, that theynow standard parts of any professiosales organization.
executived during
pressed ave more time to
ents. When we
uld changet their coaching
of alls responded
ach!
o show thecoaching
erformance, all
strongly believed thatving more time to coach,
rmance against all key
performance indicators could bedrastically improved.
ce
uld
re
rall
Every supervisor and
sponsor we interviewe
Coachpalooza 05 exstrong desire to ha
coach their ag
asked them if they coone thing abou
arenal
environment, 100%supervisor participant
Find more time to co
While it is harder tdirect correlation thathas on call center p
supervisors
by hacenter perfo
Recommended Best Practices:
Make time for supervisors to coach. Make time for agents to receive coaching.
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Driving value at the front line of business.
Sometimes it can take up to 1 week from the time we get information
until the time we can take action. Then the coaching session is allabout trying to recreate the event. Thats hard on everybody.
- Coachpalooza 05 Participant
Key Find ing 2
CRM: Time delays in sales
activities are detrimentalCoaching: Time delays in
delivering coaching aredetrimental
Time delays can kill a sales
rep waits too long to call backor takes too long to respond to
RFP. In both cases, the urgencclarity of the situation is lost o
time, and the deal is threaten
cycle. T
a leaan
y anver
ed. CRhelped address these time delays w
prompts and sharing of informationsuch a way as to gain quick answer
both for the sales person and across
the sales team.
ill coaching
all therequently
romd us that
ntat the
be aware of it
weeks or even more. So,when the supervisor sits down to
ch the agent, the event may
agents mindally reduce the
ng.
he
d
d
M
ithin
s,
Time delays can k
effectiveness. Acrosscenters we visited, we fheard this complaint f
supervisors. They tol
when a coaching-warranted eveoccurs, it is often th
supervisor may notfor 1 3
coanot be fresh in the
which can drasticimpact of coachi
Recommended Best Practice:
To optimize the coaching that does occur, deliver it asclose as possible to the most coach-able moment.
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Driving value at the front line of business.
II. Information
There are 6 different documents, 6 different systems, 2 or morereports, email, and Excel spreadsheets. Its really time consuming.
- Coachpalooza 05 Participant
Key Find ing 1
CRM: Information gets in theway of sales
Coaching: Information getsin the way of coaching in
the call center
Companies bought CRM solutibecause they helped organi
about prospects and sales in sway that it freed up the time
onsze data
uch a
salespeople spent on administrativ
clutter. The reasoning was that ifsalespeople had more time, they
would be in front of more customer
more often, and sales would increa
finds itself in awe considerachpalooza 05
visors areom multiple
mselves
ounts of timepreparing
information
effectivelycoach and manage their teams.
heard many expressions of
frustration over the time wasted inhroughinformation in order to properly
prepare for a coaching interaction.
e
s,se.
Todays call centersimilar scenario as
coaching. During Cowe found that super
deluged with data frsources and find the
spending large am
compiling, massaging,and distributing key
required to help them
We
trying to filter t
Recommended Best Practice:
Clean up the data clutter to free up more time forcoaching.
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Driving value at the front line of business.
We dont have any real visibility into how much coaching is happening
or how effective coaching is in our center.
- Coachpalooza 05 Participant
Key Find ing 2
CRM: What gets measured, getsdone
Coaching: What getsmeasured, gets done
An additional impetus for CRMthat management had no
key sales activities and no way
measure or to assess saleand/or effectiveness. To gain
information required to run thebusiness, salespeople were req
spend hours manually prepari
was
view intoto
s efficienc
uiredng
weekly activity reports detailingaccount updates and forecasts. It w
also difficult for a company tounderstand or create a standard sa
process in the absence of key data.
oaching in
hile it isxtremely
re is nong events, noevents, and
asurement offectiveness of
hat seniorlittle to no view
was being
oaching wasefficiency and
ctiveness of the coaching that
n the rare instance
cked ands a cumbersome and
manual reporting process.
y
to
as
les
The same is true for ctodays call center. W
considered to be an e
valuable activity, theforecasting of coachi
tracking of coachingno direct tie-in or me
the efficiency and ef
coaching. We found tmanagement had
into coaching -- whatcoached, how much c
taking place or the
effedid occur. I
where coaching is trameasured, it i
Recommended Best Practices:
What gets measured gets done. Implement a tracking andmonitoring program for coaching activities.
Make coaching a metric.
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Driving value at the front line of business.
We work in a real time environment and have real time accountability
but we sometimes dont have access to information for days orweeks.
- Coachpalooza 05 Participant
Key Find ing 3
CRM: Good decisions require
timely and relevant informationCoaching: Good decisions
require timely and relevant
informationAs Sales Force Automation (SFsystems matured and the com
that bought them matured in thof technology, the term Cu
Relationship Management (CRM
born. Using SFA as a core plaCRM solutions became strateg
drivers for businesses by incother types of data into the sa
system such as pricing, market
A)panie
eirstomer
) wa
tform,ic
orporatles
ing a
support cases. The idea was if salesreps had the rig
right time, they could make better
is key to call
r of metrics,
ic nature ofronment. Just
an
presenting datasalespeople
e, call center
a similarfocus. This involves taking a role-
ed perspective andunderstanding what and when
needed for optimal
rive keyperformance metrics.
s
use
s
ing
nd
The role of coachingcenter success, and it is a difficult
role given the numbesystems, and dynam
the call center envi
as CRM systems begconsolidating and
in a way that helpedimprove performanc
solutions need to take
ht information at the bas
decisions, in a more timely fashion
that would have a direct and positiveimpact on sales.
information is
decision making to d
Recommended Best Practices:
Provide call center coaches w ith timely and relevantinformation that helps them make decisions that improve
performance.
If a metric is real time or almost real time, the informationrequired to coach that metric should be available real time.
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Driving value at the front line of business.
III. Process
Nearly 50% of supervisor participants answered that they did not havea clearly defined coaching process in place.
- From the Coachpalooza 05 Summary Report
Key Find ing 1
CRM: A standardized
sales process is
vital
to success
Coaching: A standardized coach ing
process is vital to success
Many companies rthat if they were goin
improve and sustain sperformance, then th
needed a stand
sales process repesustainable and
ealizedg to
alesey
ardized
atablerelevant t
their culture. Companiesturned to CRM solutions to
help implement andinstitutionalize these key
business proces
that while callthe value
ng to convert
eveloped
strong and
round
all other areas,leave it up to
the individual supervisor to decide process.
e did not provide any of the
nition of coaching we letwn. Our observation isthat the distinction between managing and
call centers.
,
o
Our research clearly indicatedcenters are beginning to recognize
of coaching, they are strugglithat belief into action. Most of th
participants in the research had de
partial and/or inconsistent coaching practices.In some centers, we observed
consistent coaching processes aadherence and attendance. In
we saw wide variations and a
ses. Additionally, w
participants a defithem evolve their o
coaching is not clear in most
Recommended Best Practices:
Review all of your current coaching practices. Look for w hat is formal and company mandated versus
informal and dependent upon the experience of the
individual supervisor.
Create, document and communicate a complete set ofcoaching best practices.
Define the difference between managing and coaching.
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Driving value at the front line of business.
80% of Executive
Participants felt tha
tsupervisors do not havethe right tools to be an
effective coach.
- From C achpalooza 05o
Summary Report
Key Find ing 2
CRM: Sales is a key process thatbecame institutionalized with
the help of software CRM.
Coaching: Coaching is a keyprocess that is not yet
technology enabled.
Prior to CRM, sales administration
labor intensive process. Manage
challenge in directing the businesthe information they used was on
good as the latest manua
wa
rs ha
s asly a
lly preparedsales forecast. They did not have a v
into the business. With technology thautomated many of these manual
processes, mana
and timely information which allowed
ll center is still athe key
are peoplether elements
ould look to CRM
For example, we
managers havelittle visibility into what is being
ched, how often, by whom and
with what effect. Automating this
ne of themost fundamental issues
ddressed by CRM.
s a
d a
s
iew
at
Coaching in the ca
manual process. While
elements of coachingintensive, there are o
of coaching that shfor guidance.
observed that most
gers had more accurate coa
them to make better decisions. kind of visibility was o
successfully a
Recommended Best Practices:
Use technology to forecast, track and measure the impact ofcoaching.
Use technology to help institutionalize coaching bestpractices.
Supervisors have all the right tools to bean effective coach
(Executive Responses)
20%
0%
20%0%
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
No Opinion
Agree
Strongly Agree
60%
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Driving value at the front line of business.
IV. People
While 87% of Supervisors felt they had the required skills to be an
effective coach, 80% of the participating Executives disagreed withthat assessment.
- From the Coachpalooza 05 Summary Report
Supervisors have all the right skills to be an effective
coach
5%
60%
46%
41%
5%2%
0%
20%
0%
20%
0%
25%
50%
75%
Supervisor
Executive
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree No Opinion Agree Strongly
Agree
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Driving value at the front line of business.
Key Find ing 1
CRM: Sales reps don t think
they need sales training (buttheir managers do)
Coaching: Supervisors dont think
they need coaching training (buttheir managers do)
Salespeople are by nature hig
confident in their skillsFor this reason, they were
highly resistant to CRM proje
required learning new salesprocesses and trai
hly
and abilitie
oftencts th
ning on how to
optimally execute those processes
Ever tried to get a sales rep in sal
training?
ude amongr. As a group,
t in their skills and
need foraching from
moren Key Finding
s we visited was
are comfortable coachingon traditional call center metrics like AHT
ndance, but are not comfortable
coaching on more complex issues like
s.
at
.
es
We found a similar attitsupervisors in the call cente
they are very confiden
abilities and do not feel thetraining for themselves or co
their managers on how to beeffective coaches. A commo
in most of the call center
that supervisors
and atte
revenue or career growth.
Recommended Best Practices:
The managers are right supervisors need training on how tobe a complete coach together with expanding their skills to
include coaching on less traditional metrics like revenue,customer loyalty and career goals.
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Driving value at the front line of business.
Sometimes reps dont think they need to change but it is rewarding
when you coach them and then they see that they could and did
improve!- Coachpalooza 05 Participant
Key Find ing 2
CRM: CRM creates sharedaccountability
Coaching: Coaching createsshared accountability
As Sales Force Automation e
into Customer Relation
Management, it became morepeople and changing the beh
all the people who interact wcustomer. B
volvedship
abouavior o
ith the
y providing clearguidelines and with monitoring of a
activities, CRM enabled sharedresponsibility for the client across a
team of people.
ry focus groupd that call
re passionatee performance
el strongly
nd shoulde responsibility
rformance. Therviewed felt
its of setting upching
at it would
empower agents to improveividual performance, foster a
e of accountabilityd agent andhuge positive
ess.
tf
ll
We observed in eve
session we facilitate
center supervisors aabout improving th
of their people and fethat their agents can a
be accepting mor
for their own pesupervisors we inte
like the key benefa best practices coa
environment are th
ind
shared sensbetween coach an
ultimately, have aimpact on the busin
Recommended Best Practice:
Supervisors believe that good coaching creates sharedaccountability for agent performance. Create programs
that allow agents to take a more aggressive role in theirown performance improvement.
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Driving value at the front line of business.
The Value-Driven Coaching Model
al, cultural
quency ofe generally
the shoulders ofisors alone, with little regard to helping the supervisors juggle all the
day to day realities of their jobs. The following graphic illustrates thissituation.
As this paper has indicated, there are a number of environmentand technology driven inhibitors that reduce the amount and frecoaching, as well as obscure its effectiveness when delivered. W
observed that coaching is an activity that falls squarely on
superv
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Driving value at the front line of business.
Based on our extensive research and findings from Coachpalooza
model emerged that addresses these inadequacies and provfor a multi-dimensional approach to ensure coaching
05, a
ides the structure
delivers the value
ter - seelief in the value
At the same
s andright
approach and structure, call centers can begin to put coaching into action to
its maximum effectiveness. Based on our Key Findings, this model addresses
four dimensions for creating coaching value.
promised to the agent, the customer, and to the business.
We call it the Value-Driven Coaching Model for the Call Cenillustration below. Our research clearly indicates a strong be
of coaching and the strong impact it can make on the business.time, we saw little action behind the words. This model recognize
enables the value coaching can bring. Our expectation is that with the
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Driving value at the front line of business.
The following set of questions can be used to help you apply the model to
your coaching environment.
time to
g time for
time delays indelivering coaching?
pact the effectiveness of the
coaching that gets delivered?
tion
formation they work with timely and
?u established coaching metrics?
u have a clearly defined coaching process for all metrics bothional (ex. AHT) and non-traditional (ex. revenue)?
of the coach in your center?based on a value-
aching process?
Are your supervisors prepared to coach? Are your supervisors and ts ready for a new coaching
relationship? Are your agents ready for a new level of accountability and
responsibility? Are your supervisors ready for a new level of accountability and
responsibility?
I. Time
Are you challenged with findingdeliver coaching?
Are you challenged with findinagents to receive coaching?
Do you have too many Does this im
II. Information
Are your supervisors on informaoverload?
Is the inrelevant
Have yo Are these coaching metrics tracked and
monitored?
III. Process
Do yotradit
Have you clearly defined the role What other work processes will need to change
driven co
IV. People
agen
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Driving value at the front line of business.
Conclusion
oaching isa high value activity, yet few agree that coaching is happening at the rate or
s it should?
the specific
andfollow up
question
answered. At the most basic level, our research indicates
l issue ofg less
sts that multipleto create
n the call
powered to prioritize coaching, theamount and effectiveness of coaching in the call center will continue to lag.
Additionally, until coaching becomes a metric that is tracked, monitored and
coached to, like AHT, adherence, quality and revenue are, it will continue tobe pushed to the bottom of the to do list.
Our research indicates that most call center executives agree that c
level of effectiveness they need for their business.
So, why isnt coaching happening as much or as effectively a
While the Knowlagent team did not begin Coachpalooza 05 withintent of answering this question, it emerged as THE significantpervasive issue. During the course of all of our interviews and the
with each company to present their Key Findings, this was the
everyone wantedthat many companies are addressing the complex, multi-dimensiona
coaching with a simple, one-dimensional approach and are achievinthan desired results.
Just as with successful CRM initiatives, our experience sugge
dimensions must be addressed, aligned, and carefully monitoredand sustain a comprehensive, value-driven coaching dimension i
center. Unless supervisors are provided with the appropriate supporting
environment to find time, and are em
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About Knowlagent
gement
agent managemenhiring reduce
ties whileimproving the key metrics that matter most to you.
ase the amountfectiveness of coaching, ultimately
versions and
g solution, you
trol by as much a
tools to
and create individualize
solutions.
hedule time for coaches and age
gaps.
and
ctiveness of coaching.
eness of coachin
en supervisor
With Knowlagent, you can optimize frontline performan
faster and more affordably than ever before. You canspend less and get better. For more information aboutKnowlagent Coaching and our other on-demand agentmanagement solutions, visit us at www.knowlagent.com
By automating traditional call center manaprocesses, Knowlagents on-demand
solutions for training, coaching andspending attributed to off-phone activi
Knowlagent Coaching helps you increfrequency and efimproving key metrics such as sales con
overall agent productivity.
With Knowlagents on-demand Coachincan:
Increase supervisor span of con
20%.
Provide supervisors with easy-to-use
diagnose agent problems
Automatically sc
to meet to review performance
Dramatically increase the amount, frequencyeffe
Measure the impact and effectiv
Create shared accountability betweand agents.
57 Royal Drive, Suite 100haretta, GA 30022
8-566-9457w knowlagent com
11800 Amberpark Drive
Suite 200Alpharetta, GA 30009
Main: (678) 356-3500Toll Free: (888) 566-9457www.knowlagent.com